Peter ‘Beef’ Anderson

Internationally known technical theatre manager, lecturer and opera lover

Peter (Beef) Anderson, technical theatre manager for Scottish Opera. Born: 25 October, 1958, in Kirkcaldy, Fife. Died: 12 November, 2017, in Glasgow

When Scottish Opera director Tony Palmer was casting around 33 years ago for someone to play the Golden Buddha in the company’s production of Turandot, he didn’t have far to look beyond a humble stagehand at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow.

Peter (Beef) Anderson, who was chosen for this “unforgettable role”, had hidden performing talents that knew no bounds, according to Alex Reedijk, the General Director of Scottish Opera.

Reedijk told colleagues: “Anyone seeing Peter’s performance as the ‘Golden Buddha’ must have been struck by the sheer radiance of his golden flesh – an image almost impossible to erase. Allegedly it took quite a lot of gold paint to cover him and his Speedos!”

Peter Anderson, who has died at the Marie Curie Hospice in Glasgow, was a widely known and hugely respected member of the Scottish and international theatre community, best known for his backstage roles at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, and latterly as a lecturer and teacher.

Peter Anderson, known internationally as Beef, was one of three children born to the late James Anderson and his wife, Margaret Anderson (nee Morrison). Born into a happy family life, he was always mischievous from a very young age. Peter was educated in Kirkcaldy and his love of the theatre stemmed from the whole family’s involvement with the Adam Smith Theatre there.

He left Balwearie High School in 1974 to start work as an apprentice coachbuilder and in 1976 he applied to join the Royal Navy but hay fever prevented him from being accepted. He then joined the RAF Regiment but left after a year and returned to Scotland where he applied to Scottish Opera to work as a stagehand but was told he required more backstage experience.

Peter then went off and worked backstage in theatres in Liverpool, Reading and at a Butlins’s holiday camp to learn his trade. He joined Scottish Opera in 1978 and eventually became chief technician with them before being recruited to join the newly reopened Edinburgh Festival Theatre as technical stage manager. He returned to Scottish Opera in 2002 for Wagner’s Ring Cycle as Head of Stage.

Anderson was unable to remain in fulltime employment from 2004 due to ill health and, in his resolute manner, continued his education with an HND in Architectural Conservation. Two years later, he won the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Student Competition for his feasibility study on the Britannia Music Hall in Glasgow. He then graduated with a 2.1 BA Hons Building Control Surveying in 2008. His dissertation was a critical evaluation of the use of the Safety Curtain in Theatre Fire Safety. He then decided to pursue a second career as a university and college lecturer in Technical Theatre and Event Management, through which he helped to inspire the next generation of Scottish technicians.

Peter married Heather Fleming in September, 2001, at Pollokshields Burgh Hall in Glasgow and the happy couple enjoyed many holidays in the Western Isles.

Over his career in theatre, his personal warmth and his great kindness and care for his colleagues and many visitors to the Theatre Royal and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre charmed everybody who met him.

Alex Reedijk said: “To a person, absolutely everybody spoke about Beef with tremendous affection for his marvellous sense of humour. This was always balanced by a strong sense of propriety and tremendous dignity most especially evident as his health became increasingly poor. Peter had a great instinct for finding and encouraging young talented people who wanted to make their way in the performing arts right from his early days in the Theatre Royal through to his last role as a lecturer.”

Headdedthatinvisiting,with Heather, their beloved cousins and families and all his theatre friends in Australia and New Zealand, Peter seemed to be especially at peace and to find a special affinity with that part of the world. He was very much at home there and particularly in one or two of the finest vineyards, where they really enjoyed the South Island and continually delighted in the Scottish place names and references.

Peter Anderson had a great love of opera and huge respect for the creative process and the artists involved. He led by example and set incredibly high standards on his stage but could also, unsurprisingly, speak most eloquently of singers, performances and repertoire. He managed to attend a performance of an opera in most of the cities that he and Heather visited.

Mr Reedijk said: “What many people won’t know about Beef is that he had the biggest collection of Commando comics which he kept in the bathroom like some defensive barricade.”

He added: “Since coming back to Scotland in 2006, I have been privileged to be able to enjoy ‘beef tea’ every three or four weeks or so, having been lucky enough to have known Beef since 1989 when he was Chief Technician at the Theatre Royal. He was known around the UK and abroad for running his stage with a wonderful combination of intense efficiency (one of the best many have ever seen in action) and an impish sense of humour.”

Peter Anderson was diagnosed with cancer of the throat in June, 2016, and is said to have dealt with this illness with his customary grace and fortitude before dying peacefully at the Marie Curie Hospice just weeks after his 59th birthday.

He had planned his funeral with care reflecting his career, beliefs and love of opera and insisted that his coffin be propped up by a bespoke stage brace. The funeral took place at Daldowie Crematorium and included a large gathering of veterans of the Scottish theatre industry. His final gift to his many friends and family was a glorious champagne reception hosted in the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, overlooking his beloved Campsie Fells. He is survived by his wife Heather, brother Jim and mother Margaret.

BILL HEANEY

“Absolutely everybody spoke about Beef with tremendous affection for his marvellous sense of humour”