As president of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Marjorie Stanton has been the driving force behind some of Bermuda’s most ambitious and successful amateur musical productions.
Although she has had no formal theatrical training, her skills as a persuasive and indefatigable producer have helped to raise the artistic and technical standard of local shows to near-professional levels.
Born and raised in Leeds in the north of England, Stanton always had a passion for the performing arts. Her great-aunt once sang with Gracie Fields, the British singer and actress who was active during 1920s and 1930s, but while Stanton liked to dance as a young girl, she had no desire to perform in public.
It was not until she moved to Bermuda in 1970 with her husband, former Government statistician Keith, and their children, David and Julie, that she became involved in the theatre.
She began her association with the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society (BMDS) in 1975 as wardrobe mistress when her daughter appeared in the Christmas pantomime, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. From then until 1997, she worked on BMDS productions in a wide range of backstage roles, including set dressing, costumes, catering and producing. During those 22 years she was involved with 31 shows and seven choral or musical events, working on anywhere from two to six productions a year. She also sang soprano with the Daylesford Singers.
She first became involved with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society (G&S) in 1978 when her friend Dorothy Broadhurst asked her to help with wardrobe for the G&S production of The Mikado. Stanton eventually took over the wardrobe mistress role when Broadhurst later left the Island.
At the Society’s annual general meeting in 1984, she was urged by member Brian Foster to fill the vacancy for president, even though she had no plans to do so.
The Society was formed in 1972 as The Warwick Academy Players by school music teacher Marcia Subbards. The first play they performed Gilbert and Sullivan’s, The Mikado, and sculptor Desmond Fountain, then an art teacher at the school, created the sets and designed the programme. In March 1974, the group was renamed The Gilbert & Sullivan Society and its first production was The Pirates of Penzance.
From 1978 to 2010, with two exceptions, the Society has staged at least one and as many as three productions a year. The list includes 35 musicals, four of which were commissioned by the Bermuda Festival for the Performing Arts, including Carmen, the first full-length opera performed at the Festival.
Stanton has had a hand in all of them, including acclaimed performances of Les Misérables (the first time performance rights had been granted to an amateur group), Cabaret, Chicago, Evita, Dreamgirls, Oliver! and Jesus Christ Superstar— arguably among the most memorable and ambitious shows ever staged in Bermuda. Over the years, the Society has expanded its role and repertoire. It has staged plays, such as Animal Farm, organizes a children’s summer theatre camp and awards an annual Theatre Arts Scholarship. Between 1991 and 1998, Stanton and the Society also produced four of Marjorie Pettit’s acclaimed Heritage Concerts.
Although performed by local amateurs, the Society’s productions regularly involve theatre professionals from overseas. Starting with Les Misérables in 1998, the Society brought in musical and artistic directors, stage managers, as well as sound and lighting managers for its major productions. “They really help raise the bar for everyone involved,” explained Stanton. “We learn so much from them. We have very good people here but we are amateurs and we do very big shows so we need that extra help.”
She says her success as a producer comes down to treating the unpaid role as “a full-time job. You’ve got to make it happen, be very persuasive and never let anything go. You’ve got to know every area of the show—the sound, costumes, lighting, everything.”
“It does take a lot of time and there’s no pay cheque involved, but I do it because I love it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t do it,” she told the Bermuda Sun in a 2009 interview. “But it’s not just me, there are so many volunteers at G&S, we’re like one big, happy family.” Her husband Keith was also very involved in productions until his sudden death in 1994.
Stanton said the aim of the Society was always to “bring enjoyment to Bermuda. We try to make our productions as professional as we can. It’s not about making money, it’s that good feeling to know we are pleasing a lot of people.”
Her drive, attention to detail and dedication are legendary—she once directed a show from her hospital bed after falling into the orchestra pit and breaking a leg— and even as a grandmother in her 80s, she remains as energetic as ever, attending every rehearsal and performance of every production.
As soon as one show ends, she is at work on the next one. She eschews email and computers in favour of phone calls and face-to-face meetings. “I find you get an answer quicker that way!” she has said.
When a show is in production, Marjorie’s home Fahkee on North Shore, Pembroke is ‘headquarters’ where amidst incessant phone calls, production meetings are held, plans are made, scripts are delivered, volunteer parties are held, and even scenery is sometimes built.
Outside of the theatre, she has also found time to be actively involved with many other community organisations, including the Warwick Academy Clothing Mart, The Barn, The Bargain Box and the Harbour Swim Club.
In 2005, she was awarded the Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour for her services to the community. She was awarded the Stella Halsall Award by BMDS in 2006 appreciation of her many years of dedication and service and received the Bermuda Arts Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 for her contributions to Bermuda theatre for more than 35 years. She also received an Award of Excellence in The Bermudian magazine’s 2003 Best of Bermuda Gold Awards.
