Lynne Avery to tread the boards as Baycourt Theatre turns 40

Te Puke's Lynne Avery was part of the cast of a production of 'Les Miserables' staged at Tauranga's Baycourt Theatre in 1995. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Te Puke’s Lynne Avery flicks through the pages of a scrapbook - a hefty tome containing a collection of photos, notes and keepsakes from a 1995 production of Les Miserables.

She was part of the chorus, with the dubious honour of being one of a group of whores in the Tauranga Opera Society’s staging of the well-known musical at Baycourt Theatre.

“This [scrapbook] is really indicative of the strength of the memory, because it really was one of those events in your life, up there with having your children,” she says.

The 1995 production ran for three weeks and tickets were at a premium.

This evening - as part of the celebrations for Baycourt Theatre’s 40th anniversary - Lynne will again be on the stage, with 10 other members of the cast from 1995 and cast members from a Covid-hit staging of Les Miserables, 25 years later.

“It will be exciting and interesting and quite a little reunion for us,” she says. “Instead of having brown hair, we’ll all have this hair this colour,” she says touching her grey hair.

Lynne says while she was nervous being in the chorus in 1995, as one of the whores, “it was a fun part to play”.

“The chorus is always good fun, with not so much pressure on you - and it was incredibly good fun and we made lifetime friendships.

“We did three weeks of full houses. There wasn’t a seat to be had, which is pretty incredible.”

The role required singing and dancing.

“It was kind of athletic - with the moves,” she says.

“When you are in a production, you don’t get to see it, so you are only involved in the snippets on the stage that you are involved in, and the rest of the time you are getting ready for the next jump on the stage.”

Lynne still has the original programme - and cast list.

“It’s interesting because in the following years, I’ve seen quite a few of them on TV. They went on to do other wonderful things - they were ‘out there’ people.”

Lynne can trace her theatre involvement back to her parents, who were both part of Tauranga Operatic Society which would become Tauranga Musical Theatre.

“We were in Te Puna on a farm where, obviously, time was of the essence, so Dad wasn’t involved to the degree that Mum was.

Lynne with her scrapbook and programme from the 1995 production of Les Miserables. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

“But I remember in the old Tauranga Town Hall, because Dad was a big strong robust man, he pulled the backdrops up on big thick ropes up on the fly and tied them off.”

Mum Shirley Sparks was a seamstress and was made a life member of the operatic society, and Lynne and her three siblings were also involved.

“She did costumes for 20-odd years for each and every production, and we, as kids, were involved - until we got old enough to drive, when we went our own way.”

Lynne went away to university and to travel, met her husband Gordon and settled in Te Puke.

“Les Mis was my breakthrough back into doing it.”

She auditioned, but “never for a moment thought I’d get in”.

“I remember the phone call - was out at the garden tap, and I remember taking a phone call and being gobsmacked.”

She went on to be part of the cast of Amadeus, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Merry Widow.

“I did a run of five or six shows, but then my kids were getting older and they wanted to do their thing, and we owned the shop [Mitre 10 in Te Puke] back then - and the amount of stress I put on Gordon ... I had responsibilities and had to not just be so selfish.”

A Les Miserables bumper sticker on the front of Lynne's scrapbook.

Through her love of theatre and her role as Te Puke High School performing arts co-ordinator, she is extremely familiar with Baycourt Theatre.

“I always feel really comfortable when I go there. It’s got that familiarity. But I will be only one of thousands who would feel the same - it’s a good facility and it’s ticked along quite smoothly.”

Hundreds of Tauranga performers will grace the stage at Baycourt Community and Arts Centre between tomorrow and April 29 as the venue celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Featuring a special programme of performances, art and exhibitions, all B40 anniversary events are influenced by the whakataukī [proverb] “ki mua, ki muri” which refers to the value of looking to our past to inform our future.

Raising the curtain on the anniversary festivities is the B40: Gala Concert, an extravagant showcase of dance, music, kapa haka, comedy, drama and more, on stage in the Addison Theatre tomorrow evening.