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Featured Member- January 2003
Our featured member for
January 2003 is Penny McBurney. Penny is very well known to
patrons of MTC and seems to have been around for ever but, in
fact, her first production with Melville was in 1992. Prior
to that she had been for many years a leading light in the Little
Theatre, in Victoria Park. Unfortunately they lost their venue
and had to close. Their misfortune proved to be a break for
Melville Theatre Company as we gained a very fine actress in
Penny.
Penny was born and brought up in England, where she also trained
as a Primary School Teacher - yet another role she filled admirably
for many years, both in England and later here in Australia.
She first became interested in theatre at the age of seven when
she went to see her father's production of Ali Baba and the
Forty Thieves. As her programme "blurb" puts it,
she went backstage, smelled the greasepaint and was hooked!
Penny has played more roles
on stage at Melville than I can even remember, playing everything
from the prim and proper (if slightly dotty) Miss Prism in The
Importance of Being Earnest to an evil inkeeper's wife (complete
with leather miniskirt and black fishnet tights) in Dracula
Spectacula. In the latter role, her appearance was so changed
with costume and makeup that her Primary School class, who came
to see the Dress Rehearsal, insisted she wasn't in it!
Apart from her many stage appearances, Penny has been our Wardrobe
Mistress for some time and, in fact, our Wardrobe Department
has now been officially named "Penny's Wardrobe".
Thank you Penny, for your
wonderful contribution to our Theatre Company.
FOOTNOTE:
Sadly, Penny passed away
on 14th January 2003 after a long illness. She will be sadly
missed by all her friends and colleagues at MTC.
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