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HISTORY OF THE "OLD CUE THEATRE"
(Extract From The Booklet Published In 1975)
Our theatre, which has been named “The Cue”, was originally built in 1911 as a Billiards Saloon. It was one of several in Taranaki, owned, built and operated by Mr S. Huston, who also owned Livery Stables at the side and rear of the building, and a drapery shop known as the “Melbourne” in front of his Billiards Saloon. Members will remember the old shop, for after being vacated by the Cedar Dry Cleaners, it was our happy home for several years, and was eventually demolished by the Society. The Saloon was built in two stages – the front half of very solid ten inch reinforced concrete was built first, and the rear section of cavity concrete was built some time later. At the rear of the building are the remains of a bakery oven and smoke stack belonging to the former “Cramer’s Excelsior Bakery” business which was carried out in what is now the Fish Shop.
The Billiards Saloon was very popular in the early days, and there are stories of gambling dens in the back rooms during the First World War. Mr Charlie Murfitt carried on a photographic business in part of the buildings in the 1920’s and later, when owned by the Lahood’s, it was used as a hall for bowls, badminton and indoor basketball. Mr R.W. Brown recalls that he attended play readings in the Saloon in the 1920’s, so it is interesting to note that its history of drama extends well back into the past.
With the formation of the Dramatic Society in 1956 there was the old and familiar cry “What can we do about a home?” Mr B.R. Plumb was very generous in offering the building that used to stand on the site of the present-day office of Mr M. Waite. This building became known in very affectionate terms as “The Plumbery”. In 1957 the Society used the Billiards Saloon, then owned by Lahood’s, for play readings and productions of one-act plays and storage of props. This arrangement was not always satisfactory, as the building was also let to other organizations during the week, so in 1958 props were shifted to the Somerfield’s home at the Bank of N.S.W. For a time the Society held Club Nights in the High School, making use of the Hall and stage in a public performance of four one-act plays in October 1958.
In 1959 the Borough Council made the Supper Room of the Town Hall available to the Society and many happy club evenings were held there. With the gift of old flats from the former Operatic Soc., storage was again a problem, and once more Mr Jack Somerfield made available further storage space. New interest in the Society was shown after the first major production “As Long As They’re Happy” performed in the Town Hall in August 1959, which made it imperative to find a storage and workshop area. So it was back to “The Plumbery” in 1960-61. This proved very suitable for set construction for the productions of those years.
On April 20th 1961 a sub-committee reported that Lahoods were interested in selling the Billiards Saloon for £2,150/-/-. This was far outside the Society’s finances, so the Borough was approached about the land at the rear of the Town Hall with the idea of constructing a shed for storage which would cost £400/-/-, but all to no avail. With the removal of the dry cleaning business in 1962, the old shop at the front of the Saloon became our temporary home for several years. The Society was then offered the Billiards Saloon at a very reduced rate of £700/-/- and even though finances were thin, we decided to buy the building. A mortgage from the Taranaki Savings Bank was raised, and Debentures from members. The first meeting in our own home was held on 25th March 1963. The first portion of the roof was renewed later in this year, and plans for alterations drawn up. These were later altered to create a full theatre. With a mortgage extension of £600/-/- in 1967, the main roof of the building was renewed and the first of the new construction carried out. A further mortgage extension of $1,620.00 in 1971 made major renovations possible, and further debentures paid for electrical wiring. In 1973 our application for funds from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council was successful, and $3,000.00 was made available to complete our theatre. The Society now has under construction a 200 sq.ft. workshop which will complete the facilities of our theatre.
In visiting and inspecting the theatre for the grant, members of the Arts Council and Mr Roy Hope from Rothmans Arts Foundation said that of all similar projects they have visited throughout N.Z. “The Cue” was one of the best they have seen.
“The Cue” was officially ope
ned, 31st March 1975, Inglewood’s Centennial Year, by Ava Somerfield founder of the Inglewood Dramatic Society. This official opening marking the culmination of years of thought, plans, hard work and deep friendships. This challenge was happily and successfully met, and we now hope that the time ahead will be as vital and successful, and that the theatre may become a centre of culture and happiness in our town.
Matai Street, Inglewood (approx 1900) – the Railway Stables and Draper Dealer premises are today (2006) the site of the TET Cue Theatre
THE BUILDING OF THE NEW CUE
(Extracts From The Taranaki Electricity Trust Cue Theatre Souvenir Programme 2001)
Painting by Alan Stevenson – appearing on the cover of the Souvenir Programme for the Official Opening of the Taranaki Electricity Trust (TET) Cue Theatre in 2001
To Build Or Not To Build?
In recent years it had become increasingly obvious that Cue Theatre could not survive the rigours of the council’s annual inspections much longer. A decision had to be made to wind-up the Society (unthinkable), seek another home (a possibility), or to rebuild (too costly).
At first it was thought that the theatre could be patched up but engineers’ investigations soon showed that that was not a possibility. Therefore a decision was made to rebuild and a subcommittee began work. Ideas were welcomed from all interested parties and Alan Stevenson and David Ertel met first with Tse and later Bill Jackson to design a theatre that would incorporate as many of these ideas as possible. Since building a theatre is a comparatively rare event the experience proved to be a learning curve for all. Next an advertisement drew responses from five potential builders but most quoted costs in excess of $1million which was beyond our means. Back to the drawing board to reduce the footage, then re-advertise the project and finally accept a quote from ICL. All of this and further fundraising resulted in many, many hours of meetings, consultations and correspondence. The decision to avoid involving Society members in working bees meant that the building of the second Cue was a different experience from building the first Cue. In the beginning it was hoped that Inglewood firms would be used for goods and services but once building began this was out of our hands.
Show Me The Money
To many the prospect of raising hundreds of thousands of dollars would be a daunting task. Fortunately Glenys Wilson and Delwyn Broadmore were prepared to take it on. A programme of fundraising activities was begun and the dollars started to come in – slowly. A ‘Friends of the Cue’ group did a wonderful job catering for dinner shows in the Town Hall.
Concurrently with this programme, approaches were made firstly to the Taranaki Electricity Trust, and later to the New Plymouth District Council and the Lottery Grants Board. In time, each of these organizations approved grants, but the TET has been especially generous contributing $466,000.00, and the Society has been happy to recognize this support by granting naming rights to the Trust.
By using its assets and accumulated funds from past productions, the Society contributed about $100,000.00; the value of voluntary work involved in using alternative storage and demolition is incalculable.
A New Dimension Is Added
The purchase of the Rock of Life Church building (formerly Café 38, once Antill’s Antiques) from Ron and Gail Snowden, made it possible to have access directly onto Matai Street. Patrons will be able to enter a large foyer where suppers will be served during intermission. From the foyer, the audience enters a larger auditorium with seating for about 100. Since there are only six rows and the seats are offset, everyone is assured of an excellent view of the stage.
The stage is approximately as large as that in the Town Hall, so that directors have more scope in staging productions. Multiple settings and two-storeyed sets are feasible, thus greatly extending the range of plays that can be staged. A luxury for the stage construction crews is the large workshop next to the stage. Not only will this free up the stage for rehearsals during preparation time but also the area can be used for extra storage during productions.
The accommodation for the cast is also greatly improved. A large room, that can be divided with curtains, will provide for a range of options.
Everything has been done to retain the friendly, intimate atmosphere for which the old Cue was known. Décor and lighting have been combined so that the audience will relax and enjoy the entertainment.
Tom Blundell with helpers, Jon Ertel and Chris Jeram, make way for the new TET Cue Theatre
Goodbye Old Friend
After several months of gradual demolition by Tom Blundell and Chris Jeram, assisted by Jon Ertel, Kerry Blinkhorne and Blair Hodson, the old theatre was given its coup de grace on March 14. Colin Boyd moved in with machines and a day later the Cue had been removed in 40 large truck loads to the King Road dump. As befitted the occasion, the day was wet and overcast and a little blustery.
Hopes of large quantities of recyclable material were not realized – indeed, when the stage was dismantled, it was found to be very insecure – even the 2-toothed borer had given up holding hands. Also, the expected cache of honey left in the walls of generations of grateful bees was nonexistent – the bees disappeared in a puff and have not been seen since. Such is the gratitude of squatters.
Building Begins
Two or three weeks later the builders moved in and we could see the reality of what we had been planning for so long. Reactions ranged from “Good lord, it’s huge” to “It’ll never be big enough”.
There would be a workshop where set builders could construct scenery and props. The costume people would no longer place their lives in jeopardy by scaling stairs which were more appropriate to Everest or Annapurna.
We were impressed by the size of the costume collection. After all it had been moved 3 or 4 times and we had come to know it quite well. Valda Upson, Jayne Broadmore and Debbie Hodson took the opportunity to do a little culling and plan future restoration and maintenance. Also it was suggested that it might be more fitting if some of the more historical costumes were donated to the Taranaki Museum.
The 100 seats were also handled many times. They were originally purchased several years ago from the Opera House. First they were taken to the back of Hammer Hardware, then to the shop next to the Golden Grille, later to the Cue, then back to the shop next to the Golden Grille, and finally (at very short notice) to the upholsterers. Of course, when we say “seat” we mean “a seat” and “a back” and “2 ends”.
Once building began, tinkering with the plans was no longer possible and more time could be given to décor and fitting out. Margaret and Alan Stevenson used their considerable artistic ability to create a colour scheme which is attractive and exciting. Although the new auditorium will seat 100, the intimate ambience for which the theatre was renowned will be retained.
At the same time, some of the treasures of the old building have been saved for special features – the ceramic tiles which once graced the entrance of the old billiard saloon and some of the pressed metal panels will be seen again in the new foyer, as well as some rimu paneling. The new foyer itself will be such that when theatre-goers see the “Full House” sign they will know it no longer means that they must stand shoulder to shoulder to practice synchronized sipping at supper time.
The Future
It was always hoped that the new Cue would not be simply a refuge for frustrated thespians. Throughout the planning, the aim was to keep our options open and to provide a facility that would be as flexible in its use as possible.
Since the opening of the TET Cue Theatre in December 2001 the Inglewood Dramatic Society has staged twelve full productions, one Christmas production, hosted the Central Region Festival of Community Theatre, hosted the National Festival of Community Theatre – in addition we have been the preferred venue of the annual Inglewood Cluster Primary School’s Art Exhibition; 3-4 recitals each year from the local Music Teachers; the local Primary School’s Lioness’ Speech Competition Finals; Music Recitals for local private students; Photographic Exhibitions; End of year dance shows for local students; Inglewood High School meetings; Community Health Days (eg diabetes, blood pressure checks, etc); 7 Taranaki Band filming; as well as several shows for traveling national actors (both privately and hosted by our Society). Our theatre, and indeed our society, has improved cultural awareness within the community and provides a venue with supportive, enthusiastic members to facilitate excellence in drama and the arts for all who choose to visit.
