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The Evening Post

Return of the Frock Men

Thursday, July 15, 1993

By Richard MacLean

There is no escape for Ross Jamieson, management consultant and former Eastbourne Mayor, as he is set upon by men in Frocks in Wellington.

Mr Jamieson had committed the heinous crime of attempting to get through a dress rehearsal without a dress.

Presumably taking their cue from the occasionally befrocked Police Minister John Banks, the former fellows gleefully took to tutus in readiness for O Extravaganza! — a star-studded show this Saturday that aims to revive Victoria University's golden age of student revue.

Mr Jamieson and his colleagues, all former VUW students, are to stage Potting Mix — a distinctly unlovely version of the Waltz of the Flowers. Surrounding him at rehearsals are: front, architect Brent Whitwell (left) and environmental adviser Martin Ward; and back, from left, lawyer Michael Stace, scientist Hugh Bibby, accountancy student Stephen Phillips and accountant John Young.

Playwright Roger Hall has written new skits for the show, and will appear along with other notable VOW alumni Cathy Downes, Keith Aberdein, Libby Holloway, Dave Smith and Steve Whitehouse. Dance teacher Deirdre Tarrant is one of three directors roped in for the two shows at the university's Memorial Theatre.

Irreverent, bawdy student revues were a big feature of student life, but have been on the decline since the mid-1960s.

The recently-launched Victoria University Alumni Association is staging O Extravaganza! in an attempt to revive the tradition.

Picture: Ross Giblin