The Funny Side of Life
A
terrible magician, a yellow Power Ranger and now a rising comedian - Nic Sampson (2000-2004) is pretty happy with the way things have turned out. The 24-year-old actor and comedian grew up in Wellington, attending Wellington College, and now lives in Auckland. Nic studied Drama at College, though said he never thought he would make it his career. I wanted to be a magician, but I was terrible. I was eight or nine and all my tricks came from this one book, he said. I wanted to be a rock drummer, too. I was generally either in a play or in the Music Room. Afterwards Nic travelled to London's Globe Theatre following his performance in the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare festival. In London he received news from an earlier audition that he had secured the part of the yellow power ranger in the Power Rangers television series.
Filming took a year, and Nic said the experience was fantastic. I was thinking this is what I'm going to do. If this is what being an actor is all about why doesn't everyone want to do it? I had tons of money and was running around Auckland. I had a pretty deluded idea of the acting world. When filming ended, the work he expected to keep rolling in didn't. While working at a bakery he decided to stop waiting around for someone to come to him, and began creating his own pieces. After some joint writing, mostly with friend Joseph Moore (2002-2006), Nic went out on his own last year, writing Idiots. It included actress Antonia Prebble, was part-directed by Tom Sainsbury and was staged in Auckland. I'd wanted to do something with all my friends. It was the first piece I'd written solely myself. Patrons were not charged for tickets, but rather
were asked at the end to pay what they thought the show was worth. It encouraged people to come; there was no pressure to pay. The concept, and play, obviously appealed, he said, because they pulled in about $1200 over the three nights. Nic has had a few cameo appearances including as a mechanic on Go Girls, and can be seen in the occasional McDonalds and KFC television advertisements. In 2007 he was cast in fantasy action film The Warrior's Way, which starred well-known actors Geoffrey Rush, Danny Huston and Kate Bosworth. He enjoyed acting, but said his real passion was writing and performing comedy. One of the script writers for C4's [British comedy show] The Jono Show, Nic has hopes of writing his own television series. He particularly likes Spaced, by Simon Pegg. I really like writing. It's even better when people you really respect do [perform] it for you. For me, it's more fun to see someone else do it. The Wellingtonian
Slaving Over a Hot Cello
H Old Boys in the News
aving fled from Nazi Germany to New Zealand with his family in 1937, Wilfred (Wilf) Simenauer (1944-1945) first started school at Otago Boys’ High School before transferring to Wellington College in 1944. He returned to OBHS a year and one term later. School days weren’t always the happiest for Wilf and his brother Frank (who did not attend Wellington College), with many boys of the war-time era, more than a little insensitive. However, he says his own classmates eventually came to understand the difference between a Nazi enemy, and a German refugee. Wilf was also a very fine musician, which led his father to withdraw him from the 1st XV at OBHS, Dunedin - in order to ‘protect his hands’. And it was music which became Wilf’s greatest love. Having travelled to Britain, Wilf joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra where he was sub-Principal Cellist from 1950 to 1953. He played as Principal Cellist for the Sadler’s Wells Opera & Ballet Orchestra from 1953 to 1955, while also deputising for the BBC’s Symphony Orchestra, the BBC’s Concert Orchestra, and other symphony orchestras in London. Wilf then went on to play for the Philharmonia Orchestra (1955-1957); the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1957-1960) with whom he also played four Glyndebourne Opera Seasons, and in 1959 he became a Founder Member and co-Principal cellist with the St Martin-in-the-Fields Ensemble; and from 1960 to 1964, Principal Cellist with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra . Upon returning to New Zealand, he became the Principal Cellist for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 1965 until 1970, when he went as Principal Cellist to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1970, after which he returned to the NZSO as Principal Cellist until 1993, when he retired. He has also been a regular soloist with the BBC, ABC, Radio NZ, and the New Zealand Chamber Music Federation, along with playing concertos in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Wilf was the solo cellist on the NZSO’s Tour of Australia in 1974, along with Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Michael Houston. 58 • THE LAMPSTAND, 2011
Wilf’s book -Slaving over a Hot Cello is a stimulating account of an idealist whose career was at times turbulent and possibly controversial. Although largely autobiographical, it also covers the exploits of many of the world’s greatest conductors who have ever lived, such as Victor de Sabata, Giulini, Koussevitky, Beecham, Karajan, and many others. The foibles of human nature and corruption engendered by the freelancing world, are equally exposed. Many amusing anecdotes experienced in a lifetime of playing in orchestras are liberally scattered throughout this book. Some matters of musical interpretation and technique will also be of interest to many. The strong musical opinions held by the author may be given some credence by the many testimonials by such luminaries as Sir Adrian Boult, Sir John Pritchard, and many others ( to be found in the appendix). https://www.morebooks.de/store/gb/book/slaving-over-a-hot-cello/ isbn/978-3-8443 1819-7