Yesterday was an amazingly good day. It started very well, with a phone call from an old friend. You see, a good 20 years ago when I was a mere 12 years old, my baby sister got a part as one of the child dancers in the Panto at Belfast's Grand Opera House. My dance teacher was providing all the child dancers, and so she and my mum and I were at the theatre a lot. However, NI, and Belfast in particular still wasn't safe in 1989, and about 2 weeks before it was due to start, the Hotel next door to the theatre was seriously bombed and the theatre took too much damage for the show to happen. Well we all thought that was it. No panto for Belfast that year.
All the actors had come from England and as soon as they heard about the bomb, they hustled straight back to their homes. All but one of them. Tom O'Connor was the star comedian that year, and he decided that he wasn't going to let terrorists ruin christmas for the kids of Belfast. He went on TV and asked for help. A local hotel donated it's ballroom, another it's raised staging. A circus who was shut for winter donated their tiered seating (which ruined the ballroom floor!), and an English company gave costumes and another script. Norn Irish actors came forward to be in it, and the circus provided one of their small juggling acts to help out. Before long instead of the production of Babes in the Woods which had been planned, We had a decent production of Aladdin. Even I got a small role as a 'Lovely Assistant' in the Name That Tune section of the show and I had rehearsed til I dropped.
It was as we were applying for the children's performance licenses that Tom realised his problem. He had asked one of the small fry who had meant to be a 'Babe' in the original production to play the lead role of Aladdin in the new one. However, as he was only 7 or 8, he was only allowed to perform at alternate productions. They were stuck, and that my friends, is how I came to play the lead role on alternate evenings. I got a gorgeous pink and purple satin tunic, though as I was too young to be a real principle boy, I wore leggings below my tunic and not tights. As the kid who was sharing the role was young, the lines were short and sweet and pretty easy to remember.
Tom decided to bring a lot of his family over for christmas including his granddaughter, and as we spent a lot of time at the hotel, we got to know the family pretty well. They were the most kind a generous people I'd ever met and we had so much fun promoting the new show. I got to do lots of promotional things like go on local tv, or take advertising photos. We did two photo shoots which really stood out in my mind. The first was for a Jewellers in Lisburn. I had to sit on the counter wearing about £10,000 worth of jewels. Necklaces, rings, brooches in all shapes and sizes. Smiling was really hard, cos I was terrified that I would drop or break something.
We were there for what felt like hours while the photographers shot frame after frame, so I got a really good look at the stock. In typical 12 year old girl style, I fell in love with some of the jewellery. Not the diamonds, or pearls, or even the sapphire of my birthstone, but a small gold ring with a victorian style cameo on it. I stared and stared, memorising every detail so that I could tell mum what I wanted for christmas. Except when we left the store and got back in the car, Tom gave me a small jewellery box. slowly opening the box, I was more nervous than a desperate 30-something wannabe wife. As the lid lifted and my much coveted ring came into sight, my heart just flipped over. I still have that ring. It doesn't fit anymore, and strangely, I've rarely worn gold since I outgrew it, but I've kept it hidden away.
The other photo shoot was the ultimate dream of any child of the 80's. Those of you who love their cars, will know that the infamous DeLorean, of 'Back To The Future' fame was produced not far from Belfast. There weren't many of the unwieldy but supercool cars made and most people need to go to a museum like the Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra to see one. However, one car was kept in private ownership, and became the focus point of one of our shoots. That's right folks, I got to stretch out on the bonnet of the DeLorean, loaded down in jewels! I'll never be a page three model, but boy was it fun pretending to live the life!
Tom and his family convinced my parents to send me to theatre school, and we swapped christmas cards for years. As with many old friends, we just fell out of practice and lost touch, though I never forgot my experiences. On Monday or Tuesday this week I was calmly watching 'Come Dine With Me' on channel 4 when I heard a familiar voice. I looked up from my knitting to see Tom amongst the guests. He hadn't changed a bit and I was thrilled when he won.
All my memories came flooding back and I decided to try googling him. The first result which came up was his own website, so I emailed the address on there, never really thinking that I'd get any answer from it. Yesterday morning, the phone rang at 8am and it was Tom and his wife. It was as though we had spoken only yesterday, despite the many changes in both our lives. They had had only one grandchild when I knew them, and that number had grown dramatically, and in fact the granddaughter I had babysat for is now doing A-Levels! ok, so now I felt really old, but it was worth it. It was a wonderful way to start the day.
It really is good to talk ;)
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