Sat 2 Nov 2013 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Paul Jenden Almost three hundred people packed into Wellington's Circa Theatre this afternoon to watch and perform a tribute to the late gay composer, writer, choreographer and designer Paul Jenden. Jenden died last week after losing his battle with cancer. His works were recreated by his collaborators and performers from his shows which ranged from ballet to pantomime. Opening with a video of Jenden himself dancing a comedic one-man performance of Swan Lake which had the audience in stitches, the show was MC'd by composer Gareth Farr and featured dancer Sir Jon Trimmer, Jackie Clarke, Christina Cusiel, Gavin Rutherford, Jay Chasland and a host of other performers including dancers from the Impulse Dance Theatre which Jenden joined in the mid-1970s. This afternoon's finale Wellington theatre stalwart Bill Sheat provided a brief overview of Jenden's remarkable career (see below) while many humorous and touching anecdotes were recounted by the performers, alternating with spirited renditions of Jenden classics from many of his exceptionally creative productions. In the audience were members of Jenden's family and his partner of over 30 years and fellow dancer and collaborator, Louis Solino. Solino retained a dignified and thoughtful presence but became quietly emotional at the end when Jackie Clark, with tears streaming down her face, performed two poignant songs from C - A Musical, the last show Jenden created addressing his own battle with, and approaching death from, cancer. The lyrics included the heart-tugging lines: "... it's not the same as when we laughed together... when we thought we were going to last forever..." After a final rousing romp through one of Jenden's classic pantomime finale songs audience and performers rose to their feet in a final standing ovation for their friend, collaborator, mentor and inspiration. BILL SHEAT'S HOMAGE TO PAUL JENDEN: What an amazing range Paul Jenden had. I think his one man Swan Lake is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on stage. I want to look back on his work from an audience point of view and to do that by taking you on an orbit around the galaxy Jenden. We start on the ground in Wellington because Paul was above all a Wellingtonian. He was born here in 1955, the second child of Marjorie and Frank Jenden and brother of Raewyn. The family lived in Tinakori Road and later moved to Porirua where his mother was librarian at Tawa College. He completed a BA at Victoria, majoring in both English and French. Lift-off began with his becoming a founding member of Impulse Dance Theatre, directed by Jamie Bull, in 1976. The next star in the orbit is his visit to the USA in 1980. There he met Louis Solino, a long-time member of the Jose Limon Dance Company. They were to remain partners for the rest of Paul's life. Returning to New Zealand in the mid-1980s his career was beginning to take shape. He choreographed two works for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. An Evening to Remember is recalled by Harry Haythorne who was Artistic Director at the time as onbe that he would like to see revived. For his production of Le Papillon to music by Offenbach, Paul also designed the costumes. Another star in the Jenden galaxy was his stage version of Lynley Dodd's children's classic, Hairy McClary. This had repeat seasons and toured Australia. I remember Paul telling me that he was going to concentrate on musical theatre rather than dance. He was seriously under-utilised as a choreographer and the two works he staged for the Royal New Zealand Ballet were not followed up by further commissions from that source. Recent years have been the most stellar of his career as he applied his prodigious talents to works of musical theatre. He wrote the lyrics for pantomimes with scripts by Roger Hall and for which Michael Nicholas Williams wrote the music. The titles are familiar: Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood. He also performed in them. My most vivid memory is of his playing two characters simultaneously. In his own brilliantly designed costume he could change from one character to another with a quick turn of the body. That, for me, summed up Paul's ability to achieve the magic in the theatre which was an essential element of all his work. At the same time he began his mock historical musicals with music by Gareth Farr. Troy, Monarchy, Nero and Rome, for which he wrote the libretto and the lyrics and designed the costumes. His last work showed that there was a serious side to this fun-loving audience-pleaser. In July we saw C in which he told with sensitivity and insight his own story of his fight against cancer. His last performance was in the World of Wearable Art in which he had won a number of awards in earlier years, but he was unable to complete the season. He was admitted to hospital where he died a few weeks later. On the opening night of C I was there with Anne Rowse, Jennifer Shennan, Sandra Norman-Shaw and her husband Stephen. A real fan club. At the finale, for one brief moment, we thought of calling for "Author!" but the moment passed and was lost. The one thing that a performer in the theatre needs is the oxygen of applause. I think Paul deserves a standing ovation for the performance that was his life and which he gave to us so generously. - Bill Sheat is a pillar of the Wellington performance scene, with decades of involvement in a range of theatre projects and premises. He presented this summary of Jenden's career this afternoon, acknowledging that he had freely plagiarised the writing of Jennifer Shennan whose more extensive obituary appeared in the Dominion Post this morning.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 2nd November 2013 - 10:12pm