HERITAGE

WORDS Wendy Riley

From 1919 until 1963, New Zealand audiences were guaranteed “snappy scenes, bright singing, excellent dancing, and sparkling comedy” when attending a Stan Lawson Production.

Stan wasn’t just a producer; he could dance, sing, and wisecrack. However, he was arguably New Zealand’s leading female impersonator.

In his youth, he had studied music and performed in Shakespearean, dramatic musical and costume recitals in his home town, Dunedin.

When drafted in 1916, he formed the ‘Digger Pierrots’, a concert party that entertained troops in Northern France. By the war’s end, they had become one of the finest Army troupes, touring leading Europe and Britain theatres before bringing their front-line humour home to New Zealand audiences in 1919.

Hosted by Stan Lawson as the ‘premier danseuse’ and barely distinguishable from a ‘real lady’, the New Zealand Pierrots featured 20 performers and a full orchestra. Described as ‘almost a soprano’, Stan could wear “all kinds of feminine attire, from a bathing suit to a society gown in the most becoming manner”, including costumes given by English aristocrats. He enjoyed attending fashion parades at Beaths and DIC and would entertain his friends afterwards by cleverly mimicking the catwalk movements of the models.

Stan had opened a dance studio in the 1930s and produced and performed in musical comedies for amateur operatic societies throughout New Zealand. When the newly formed Christchurch Operatic Society needed a producer for its first show, The Belle of New York, in 1938, they called on Stan’s extensive experience and successes to direct a 120-strong chorus and ballet. He returned the following year to produce a larger show with a set and costumes costing over £1200 – the equivalent of $70,000 today.

During his life, Stan staged and toured many successful productions and nurtured the talent of emerging performers. His most famous protege was Rowena Jackson, whom he sponsored to achieve a scholarship with the Royal Ballet in London.

His Christchurch friends remember Stan as “a talented performer, a remarkable producer of musicals, with the ability to foresee the potential future in young actors which he nurtured to become renowned on the stage.”