Richard Barber
IN THE celebrity-packed theatreland of London’s West End, Harry Gabriel is one of the most important people you’ve never heard of. For 40 years, he has been stagedoor keeper at the Shaftesbury Theatre, a confidant and a minder, a cheerleader in times of success and a shoulder to cry on when a production fails to impress.
His many fans number almost everyone who is anyone in the acting profession.
He is held in such high regard that there was to have been a special concert featuring many of the stars and performers he has worked with over the years to mark his special anniversary.
But now, thanks to Covid-19, the concert is going online, and will be screened tomorrow.
All the participants, including Judi Dench, Anthony Hopkins, Imelda Staunton and Beverley Knight, have been filmed separately in their own homes, along with a 40-strong gospel choir.
Musical theatre and TV star Clive Rowe will be singing I’ve Got Life from Hair. Judi Dench and Imelda Staunton will be sharing anecdotes about Harry, 83, and Eddie Izzard will be doing a stand-up routine.
Saskia Baylis, of London’s Shaftesbury Theatre, speaks for everyone: “Harry Gabriel is a West End legend,” she says. “In 2017, he was awarded an inaugural Olivier Be Inspired Award, having been nominated by friends and family for his commitment to inspiring others through his love of theatre.”
The concert will feature songs from the many musicals Harry has seen at the Shaftesbury, starting with the first show of 1980, Hello Dolly! all the way through to the hit musical & Juliet, which was packing them in until lockdown closed all theatres at the end of March.
Miriam-Teak Lee, who was starring as Juliet, says: “Harry is such an incredible person, so kind-hearted and thoughtful. If ever I want a chat, he’s always happy and willing to talk. He makes everyone feel so welcome and his sheer love for life and all people is unbelievably contagious.”
THE concert, Hello Harry! will be streamed for free on YouTube tomorrow at 7.30pm and will remain online.There will be a link to make a donation to charities chosen by Harry – Cancer Research UK, Black Lives Matter and The Black Curriculum.
The concert is the brainchild of Olivier Award-winning actor Giles Terera who appeared at the Shaftesbury in
125th Street in 2002.
Giles has written and directed the tribute to Harry and it has been produced by Saskia.
“It will feature songs and stories from the last 40 years,” she says, “a celebration not just of Harry and the thousands of lives he’s touched but also of the history of this theatre.
“We also hope the event will help to bring people together in a very difficult time for our industry.”
Giles, meanwhile, had no trouble assembling the starry cast. “Everyone was only too happy to do something for Uncle Harry, as he’s known. For instance, I got in touch with Anthony Hopkins who starred in M Butterfly in 1989 and he said yes immediately.”
So, too, did Chita Rivera
(Kiss OfThe Spiderwoman,
OUR COSY CHATS: Miriam-Teak Lee, star of & Juliet – playing when the Shaftesbury closed – says Harry has a welcome for all
1992), Clive Rowe (Carousel, 1993), Eddie Izzard (Definite Article, 1995) and Beverley Knight (Memphis, 2014) who needed absolutely no persuading. “Harry is without question the most loved stagedoor manager in the West End,” she says. “Everyone knows him, everyone adores him. “His manner, his way of making everyone who comes to the Shaftesbury feel like family, his incredible memory, all are the stuff of legend.” The late Michael Williams was part of the Theatre of Comedy at the Shaftesbury in the early 80s.
So Giles approached his widow Dame Judi Dench. She was delighted, she said, to accept the role of introducing some of the acts and sharing a few anecdotes.
“Forty years working at the Shaftesbury is a wonderful achievement,” says Judi. “I know how loved Harry is because, when Michael was acting there, he’d speak fondly about him all the time.”
Giles had no trouble persuading a standup legend to take part either.
“I called up Eddie Izzard to ask if he’d be part of the show,” he says, “and I got a 30-minute, stream-of-consciousness comedy riff down the phone.”
So it’s strange to learn now that a man so well known and beloved in his industry, fell into theatre work by accident.
Harry was a strong anti-apartheid supporter at the beginning of the 80s and a
STYLE STAR: Elegant Harry, with the stage crew, always wears black tie for premieres
fellow campaigner offered him work at the Astoria during a residency there by the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.
The theatre’s owner also ran the Shaftesbury and Harry moved there, briefly on front-of-house duties but quickly transferring to the stage door.
His first show in this new capacity was Neil Simon’s They’re Playing Our Song with Tom Conti and Gemma Craven.
Ask Harry to nominate his favourite show and there’s a long pause. “I’ve loved all of them in their different ways,” he says, carefully.
But, when pushed, he plumps for Motown The Musical – its African-American roots spoke to him, he says – which ran for over three years from February 2016, the longestrunning show at the Shaftesbury with the