LIGHT FANTASTIC
thisisAberdeen
FIONA MCWHIRTER
16:00 - 13 October 2005
Christmas festivities will begin with a grand parade in Aberdeen next month.
And the Lord Provost will be joined by shining stars to switch on the city lights.
The colourful parade will leave Albyn Place at 5.15pm.
It will be led by a traditional Dutch Zwarte Pieten - Black Peter - riding a white horse and accompanied by children from Aberdeen's Dutch community.
Lord Provost John Reynolds and his wife, Helen, will follow the youngsters in a horse-drawn carriage.
The parade continues with an open-top bus carrying characters from pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk and local mascots.
Behind the bus will be a flat-bed lorry complete with nativity scene and musicians.
A giant circus ringmaster will bring up the rear with 10 large carnival animals.
Mr Reynolds said: "It's something a bit different and it's nice to see the international community getting involved as well.
"I think this Christmas is going to be pretty special.
"The city's buzzing a little bit more this year, anything the council can do to encourage that feeling of happiness and festivity is absolutely fantastic."
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen City Council said it was not yet known which characters would be on the open-top bus.
But Evening Express columnist Cameron Stout will play King Crumble in the panto, and Balamory's Miles Jupp, who plays Archie in the children's TV programme, is also part of the cast.
This year's event takes place on November 20. It follows The Mall Trinity's reindeer parade, which begins at the Castlegate at noon.
Cameron Stout has been at Aberdeen's lights switch-on for the past two years and said he would be very happy to return.
He said: "I've had a great time the last two years. Hopefully I'll be free."
ENCORE SHOW FOR VETERAN THEATRE BUFF
thisisAberdeen
ANGELA WILSON
16:00 - 17 October 2005
Charlie Berry just can't stay away from the theatre.
Even retirement couldn't lure him from Aberdeen's historic landmark where he met stars like Charlton Heston and Billy Connolly.
The dad-of-two missed his work so much, he was back where he belonged within just three months after officially calling it a day in June.
His Majesty's Theatre has been his life since he was a schoolboy.
"They will have to shoot me before they get rid of me!" laughed Charlie.
He first joined HMT in 1955 when he was just 15.
"I did a bit of everything. I cleaned up after performances, showed people to their seats and sold programmes and ice cream," he said.
He left the theatre for a short spell to work on the railway lines carrying out general maintenance.
But it wasn't long before Charlie, 65, who is married to Nora, 63, was back where he belongs.
"An advert was in the paper for a stage door manager, so I applied and got the job and haven't looked back since."
The past 40 years have whizzed by for the Tillydrone man.
Charlie was responsible for meeting and greeting all the performing stars on their arrival and making sure they had everything they needed.
"I would meet them at the stage door, show them to their dressing rooms, give them their keys, get their mail, take their phone calls and pass on any messages.
"It was great fun. I just loved it," he said.
Through the decades he got close to a galaxy of stars. Some of the most memorable of the silver screen with whom he rubbed shoulders included Hollywood giant Charlton Heston, when he starred in A Man For All Seasons at the theatre in 1988.
Other greats to grace the stage were Richard Todd and Anna Neagle.
And more recently he has enjoyed the company of Scots comedy king Billy Connolly and actress Sue Pollard.
"Billy surprised me. A couples of months ago I was standing in Belmont Street and Billy came up to me and said 'How you doing Charlie? It's a long time since I have seen you'. I was quite taken aback. Everyone around me was going nuts saying 'It's Billy, It's Billy.'"
And the
Evening Express's columnist and panto star Cameron Stout is right up there with the big guns.
He made quite an impression. He is a "real gentleman", said Charlie, who has two sons, Christopher, 38, and Timothy, 37.
"The panto season is always hectic. But it is just a wonderful time to be at the theatre."
Charlie is very impressed with the new-look HMT, which opened last month, following a £7.8 million refurbishment.
"It looks great," he said.
"The theatre has been enhanced and is looking its very best. The glass front area is stunning."
Charlie himself is a huge hit with the theatre staff. They lost a part of HMT when their faithful servant retired in June.
But it was short-lived as Charlie is now back working at the stage door 20 hours a week.
