PHOTO
WARREN TAYLOR
Theatre manager
The sharp-dressed, smooth-talking gentleman with the “BBC accent”, there was hardly a dull moment when you were in the orbit of Warren Taylor.
A former manager of Dunedin’s Regent Theatre and the former Fortune Theatre, Mr Taylor died on June 4, aged 85, at Ross Home.
From a sheep station in Rangitata, to England in the swinging 1960s and back to Dunedin, Mr Taylor was remembered as leading a life of sophistication and glamour, but with a willingness to help and share his skills with others.
If there was a song that could encapsulate Mr Taylor’s life, Olivia Richmond-Johnston — a former partner of his and a lifelong friend — said it would be Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
A memorial for Mr Taylor was held at the Black Dog earlier this year which about 50 people turned up to.
Most were ushers and lighting technicians from his days at the Regent Theatre.
Mr Taylor was someone who was genuine with his time, Mrs Richmond-Johnston said.
“Warren had time for you, and while you were in his presence, you felt that you were the only person in the room.”
Mr Taylor was born on April 4, 1941, in Timaru, and grew up on a sheep station in Rangitata.
His father, Walter, was a high country farmer; his mother, Mabel, had worked as a nurse in Christchurch.
Mr Taylor and his younger brother, Basil, were bundled off when they were 11 and 8 to the boarding house at Timaru Boys’ High School.
He represented the school in rugby, cricket and boxing, was a keen tennis player and an avid skier.
His studies took second place to his sport and socialising.
The brothers spent a couple of years at Cashmere High School, in Christchurch, where Mr Taylor played for the First XV.
Basil said he was a “cheeky wee bugger” while at boarding school, so Mr Taylor served as a good protector for him. He was a caring man and a good brother.
Basil recalled sitting with his brother watching the All Blacks play Ireland, at Lansdowne Road Stadium, in Dublin.
At about half time, Mr Taylor pulled out a hip flask that had belonged to their father, and the pair shared a toast to him.
“A nip of scotch at half time at Lansdowne Road watching the All Blacks — that was a particularly fond moment.”
Mr Taylor attended the University of Canterbury and became involved in the early days of the broadcasting industry.
He worked at a radio station in Christchurch, 3YD, and became one of the first continuity announcers on TV1.
In his 20s, he headed overseas to England, where he worked for The Rank Organisation in record distribution and band engagement, along with Warner Bros.
His work meant he crossed paths with the likes of Gene Pitney, Rod Stewart — whom he once had drinks with on a yacht — and The Rolling Stones.
Mrs Richmond-Johnston said Mr Taylor lived the most amazing lifestyle.
“He was born at the ultimate time when the 60s was, literally, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. He was around at that swinging 60s in London.”
When Carole King came to New Zealand, Mr Taylor and her spent a whole night walking and talking.
He and Dusty Springfield also apparently got on very well.
Mr Taylor was very much an old-style gentleman: suave, sophisticated and well-dressed.
He had “a selection of ties to die for” and his shoes always had to be polished.
“He had this BBC accent. Everybody that remembers Warren remembers his voice.”
He loved his late-night whisky (with one piece of ice, no more), Cuban cigars and enjoyed good wine too — it had to be of a standard or else he would not drink it.
“He was absolutely marvellous as a host. “He made every woman in the room feel as if they were the only one there, and that’s what his life was like.”
Mr Taylor was married four times
: he was “a real charmer, he was very much a ladies’ man and he was also very, very good to ladies.”
Mr Taylor went on to co-own a company that leased the then Newcastle Playhouse, now Northern Stage.
Using his connections from his time in the music industry, he injected life into what had until then been a hardly used, drab building.
He offered up the theatre’s foyer for local bands to play in late at night, and gave young newcomers to the industry jobs working in the lighting department.
Theatre was in his blood, Mrs Richmond-Johnston said.
“The theatre was like a family and that’s what he created, was a family atmosphere within the theatre.
“Everybody knew everybody and everybody cared for everybody.”
He became well-regarded throughout the Newcastle theatre scene, having a lot to do with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
He once had the Royal Shakespeare Company in residence for six weeks.
Because they worked in the theatre, their late-night drinks after each show would often stray into the early hours of the morning.
While he lived a lifestyle of sophistication and glamour, Mr Taylor knew people from all walks of life.
A very sociable man, he mixed in different circles altogether and had friends of all backgrounds in New Zealand.
“Young people who maybe didn’t have the confidence . . . he would take time out of his life and talk to them and find ways that they could move on or maybe pursue the subject that they wanted to work with.
“He found out the people for them to contact and give them the stepping stones to their chosen careers.”
Time was his biggest gift to everyone — but he was not arrogant about it.
“The one thing that a lot of people don’t give anybody anymore is time.
“He gave time and patience.
“If somebody needed an answer to something, he’d go and research it and find out.”
Mrs Richmond-Johnston said Mr Taylor was an exceptional human being who cared for people “but did it in style”.
“I just hope he’s up there having some drinks with a few of the stars that he met.”
Ina Kinski, another close friend, said she and Mr Taylor were “practically inseparable” from the first night they met.
He was a life coach to her for a long time.
“Warren was one of the only people in the world that never made me feel like I was too much.
“Anything that happened in life, everything was valid and everything was OK.
“I never got the feeling that I wasn’t right when I was around him, and I think he did that for a lot of people.”
He taught her that “curiosity is a muscle you have to exercise”.
“He was definitely very special — there’s no doubt.”
Mr Taylor brought the skills he had learnt in England to Dunedin, where he managed the Regent Theatre and the former Fortune Theatre.
Regent Theatre technical manager Nelson Miles said Mr Taylor was “very much a gentleman”.
“He could walk the walk, talk the talk, for sure.’’
Before he was formally at the Regent Theatre, Mr Taylor once served as the production manager for Rush! — a musical set during the 1860s Otago gold rush — which was put on in co-operation with the Fortune at the time.
“That particular performance was one out of the box”, Mr Miles said.
“It had started making money before it even hit the theatre.
“There was good marketing, there was a whole team on board and it was just a really nice production to have done.
“Warren had a hand in that; it was a very successful production.”
He recalled going to invites and openings together where they tried to “schmooze” clients.
“When you were with Warren, an amazing world opened up.
“His knowledge of how to work a room was quite evident.”
Mr Taylor finished his final day as manager of the Regent Theatre on Christmas Eve, 2007.
In an interview with the Otago Daily Times at the time, Mr Taylor said the job, while enjoyable and very satisfying, had taken up a huge part of his life.
“Ten years is a long time. I swore to myself I would only do three or four years when I first started.”
The job was incredibly diverse, ranging from the hands-on, such as shifting tables, to writing business plans.
As manager, he met many of the colourful, passionate people who were involved with the performing arts.
Persuading promoters to bring their shows to Dunedin was a big part of managing the theatre, he said.
“You schmooze them, basically. Once they come to the region and it works, they keep coming back.”
While he had never had to cancel a show, send a disappointed audience home with a refund or had any major unplanned incidents on stage, Mr Taylor said there had been a few hiccups that had left him “breaking into a cold sweat”.
One promoter was left “babbling” on stage trying to stall the start of a karaoke version of The Sound of Music before an audience of 1800, after the accompanying film for the production went missing in transit.
It was eventually tracked down at Dunedin Airport at the “11th hour and 59th minute”, rushed into town and passed into the hands of a waiting chain gang of volunteers stretching from the door to the projection room.
It delayed the show by about 20 minutes, but the main thing was hardly anybody noticed, he said.
Following his time at the Regent Theatre, Mr Taylor was appointed chairman of the Dunedin Fringe Festival.
He was also Dunedin City Council employment adviser, in the mid-1990s, and worked as a succession planner for the Otago Chamber of Commerce.
Mr Taylor is survived by partner Keat; brother Basil; children Jonathan, Damian and Amy; grandchildren Josh, Zoe, Max, Danielle, Ashley, Jordan and Jai; nephew Michael and niece Kate.
— Tim Scott