Pieter Toerien
Pieter Toerien (1942-) [1] is an impressario, producer and theatre owner.
Contents
Biography
Born in Cape Town in 1942.
Career
1960s
Toerien's career began while he was still at school, when he presented puppet shows to schools in his home city, Cape Town. From there he went on to become one of South Africa’s most active producers of stage productions, certainly one of the most powerful and successful private theatre impressario's of the period after 1980.
His first venture after school when he, aged 17, introduced the concept of bio-vaudeville – persuading cinema managements to have live entertainment before the feature film. Under the mentorship of Britain's theatre agent Herbert de Leon and in partnership with Basil Rubin, he set about bringing British variety artists such as Alma Cogan and Dickie Valentine brought to South Africa, and eventually also adding Russ Conway (1964), Peter Nero (1966), Shelly Berman, Cyd Charisse, Tony Martin, Françoise Hardy and Maurice Chevalier (1967) to his list of luminaries.
His greatest coup came at the age of 20, when he signed Marlene Dietrich for appearances in the country. He sat on the street outside her apartment until curiosity compelled her to invite him in. He signed her to tour in 1965 and again in 1966. They remained friends until her death in 1992 aged 91.
In 1966 he tentatively shifted his focus to the dramatic stage, often bringing entire productions from the West End to South Africa, cast, sets and costumes. Funding all his own productions he famously claimed that he produced farce and comedy to subsidize less commercial theatre. At the same time he continued with the successful business formula of signing overseas box-office attractions he brought names like Hermione Gingold from New York for Noel Coward’s Fallen Angels, Joan Fontaine for Fredrick Knott’s thriller Dial M for Murder. Other names included Barbara Windsor, June Whitfield and Sir Michael Redgrave.
1970s
With rigid censorship laws in South Africa in the 70s and 80s, plays were continually under scrutiny by the law. For instance, Ronald Millar's Abelard and Heloise called for a nude scene and actress Heather Lloyd-Jones consented to the demands of the script. Audience curiosity filled houses to capacity. The censorship board were given a dim silhouette of Miss Lloyd-Jones and the play was allowed to continue. Toerien did not escape more aggressive raids when productions were closed down, but he went on to challenge the system. Thus, at a time when the word "gay" was still taboo in the country, Toerien and Shirley Firth presented The Other Side of the Swamp.
1980s
Writers Ben Travis, Ray Cooney and Alan Ayckbourn became audience favourites for the Toerien theatres; as did Agatha Christie. From the early 80s, British comedy actor and director Rex Garner became associated with many Toerien box office successes, such as Ray Cooney's Out of Order and It Runs in the Family, Michael Pertwee's Birds of Paradise and Robin Hawdon's Don't Dress for Dinner.
The works of such eminent British writers as Noel Coward, Tom Stoppard, Simon Gray, and Peter Shaffer have all been mounted in Toerien’s theatres.
In the 1980s, Toerien brought Sir Cameron Macintosh's Tomfoolery to South Africa. This association has resulted in South Africa receiving many of Macintosh's phenomenal London musicals.
1990s and 2000s
Prominent productions include Les Miserables, a co-production with Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Tsogo Sun; Cats which toured Scandinavia, the Far East and Beirut; The Phantom of the Opera which toured the Far East, ending in Hong Kong. These were followed by Sleeping Beauty on Ice, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar which was originally banned in South Africa as blasphemous after it opened on Broadway in 1971.
He always claimed that he did not need state subsidy, he subsidised himself. This was largely done by doing many popular potboilers (drawing room comedies and murder mysteries), and this enabled him to do more literary West End and Broadway successes, such as Equus and M. Butterfly.
In an interview in 2004 he considered Equus, Amadeus, Nunsense, Defending the Caveman, Cats to be his most successful productions up to then.
In 2006 Tim Plewman ended an eight year run of Rob Becker's Defending the Caveman for Toerien, setting a South African record at the time, having given 1500 performances of this one man show.
Involvement in the Performing Arts industry
Toerien has not limited himself to theatre management. During the period of South Africa’s transition he worked extensively with WESTAG Task Group on the Performing Arts sub-committee. In this area of civic responsibility he also gave of his expertise on the CAPAB board to assist them in their adjustment to become Artscape. He was also on the board of the National Arts Council and the Western Cape Cultural Commission, and is a patron of the STAND Foundation.
Theatres and venues
Since the 1970s, Toerien created, managed and owned a number of theatre and entertainment venues over the years.
The Intimate Theatre, Johannesburg
Opened in partnership with Shirley Firth.
For more information, see The Intimate Theatre.
The Barnato, Johannesburg
Opened by Shirley Firth and Pieter Toerien in 1976.
For more information, see The Barnato.
The Andre Huguenet Theatre, Johannesburg
Opened by Pieter Toerien in 1977 and leased by him until 1991.
For more information, see Andre Huguenet Theatre.
The Alhambra Theatre, Johannesburg
In 1980 he saved an old theatre from demolition and opened The Alahambra in Braamfontein, Johannesburg with Peter Shaffer's Amadeus. Refurbishing the old building he added two more theatres to the complex, the Leonard Rayne Theatre, opened 18th July 1983, (renamed The Rex Garner Theatre in 1994) and The Richard Haines Theatre.
For more information, see Andre Huguenet Theatre, The Rex Garner Theatre and The Richard Haines Theatre.
Theatre on the Bay, Cape Town
In 1988 he purchased the derelict Alvin Cinema in Camps Bay, Cape Town and, with designer Jan Corewyn transformed it with a post modern façade draped with a sculptured curtain. He named it Theatre on the Bay. It opened in mid-December 1988 with a production of Nunsense.
For more information, see Theatre on the Bay.
Montecasino Theatre, Johannebsurg
With the decentralization of Johannesburg’s CBD Toerien moved his Alhambra operation to the north of Johannesburg opening Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre complex. Here he runs 2 theatres, one with 320 seats and a studio theatre with 160 seats.
2007 saw the staging of The Lion King in a splendid new 1900 seater lyric theatre being especially built by Tsogo Sun at Montecasino in Johannesburg. It would be the tenth largest in the world.
For more information, see Montecasino Theatre.
Productions
Most of Toerien's productions have been done either in his own name, or that of his company Pieter Toerien Productions, though he has also participated in a number of partnerships over the years, including with the Performing Arts Councils. These collaborations have included:
- Toerien-Rubin (1963-1970)
- Toerien-Rubin-Firth (1969-1970)
- Toerien-Firth (1970-1982)
- With Cameron Mackintosh [2]
- With Hazel Feldman (2006-2016)
Among the long list of stage productions presented by him (independently or in collaboration) there have been the following:
(The plays are listed chronologically - for more detail on each, see the entries on the various plays):
1966: The Years of the Locust (Toerien-Rubin)
1967: The Promise (Toerien-Rubin), Maggie and Frank (Toerien-Rubin)
1968: The Flip Side (Toerien-Rubin)
1969: An Ideal Husband (Toerien-Rubin), Dames at Sea (Toerien-Rubin), Big Bad Mouse (Toerien-Rubin), The Secretary Bird (Toerien-Rubin-Firth)
1970: Fallen Angels (Toerien-Rubin), Oh, Clarence (Toerien-Rubin) , Sleuth (Toerien-Rubin-Firth), So What about Love? (Toerien-Rubin-Firth)
1971: Abelard and Helöise, Who Killed Santa Claus? (Toerien-Firth Company), Don't Start Without Me (Toerien-Firth Company), Child's Play ((Toerien-Rubin-Firth with PACT)
1972: Darling, I'm Home!, A Touch of Spring, Dial M for Murder; Don't Start Without Me (Toerien-Firth Company), No Sex Please, We're British (Toerien-Firth Company) , Wait Until Dark (Toerien-Firth Company)
1973: My Fat Friend, Cowardy Custard; Just Libby (Toerien-Firth Company), Suddenly at Home (Toerien-Firth Company), Crown Matrimonial (Toerien-Firth Company)
1974: Habeas Corpus, Not in the Book; In Praise of Love (Toerien-Firth Company), Private Lives (Toerien-Firth Company) , A Community of Two (Toerien-Firth Company), Let Sleeping Wives Lie (Toerien-Firth Company), Children (Toerien-Firth Company)
1975: Equus, Carry On Barbara!, Shakespeare’s People, A Bed Full of Foreigners, Not Bloody Likely (Toerien-Firth Company), The Pay-Off (Toerien-Firth Company), A Streetcar Named Desire (Toerien-Firth Company)
1976: The Bed Before Yesterday; Otherwise Engaged, For the Woman I Love (Toerien-Firth Company), On Approval (Toerien-Firth Company), Double Edge (Toerien-Firth Company), Caught in the Act (Toerien-Firth Company), Amadeus (Toerien-Firth Company), The Other Side of the Swamp (Toerien-Firth Company)
1977: Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land, The Deep Blue Sea (Toerien-Firth Company), The Kingfisher (Toerien-Firth Company), The Monkey Walk (Toerien-Firth Company) , Murder Among Friends, Getting Away With Murder, Vanities (Toerien-Firth Company)
1978: Starting Here, Starting Now, P.S. Your Cat is Dead, Deathtrap, Shut Your Eyes and Think of England (Toerien-Firth Company), Cause Célèbre (Toerien-Firth Company), California Suite (Toerien-Firth Company), Dear Daddy (Toerien-Firth Company)
1979: The Unvarnished Truth (Toerien-Firth Company), The Passion of Dracula (Toerien-Firth Company), Sextet (Toerien-Firth Company), Da (Toerien-Firth Company), Ten Little Indians, Night and Day, Pyjama Tops, Queen Victoria's Granddaughter (Toerien-Firth Company), The Siege of Nugget Street (Toerien-Firth Company), Nightfall
1980: Middle Age Spread; Mothers and Fathers (Toerien-Firth Company), A Life (Toerien-Firth Company), Happy Birthday (Toerien-Firth Company), Stage Struck (Toerien-Firth Company), Rose (Toerien-Firth Company), Romantic Comedy
1981: Amadeus, Quartermaine's Terms, Tomfoolery (Toerien-Firth Company), Spider's Web, Canaries Sometimes Sing, Moving, Cheaters, Pyjama Tops, The Unexpected Guest, Murder by Proxy (Toerien-Firth Company)
1982: It's a Boy! (Toerien-Firth Company) , Mass Appeal, The Unexpected Guest, Key for Two, Oh Coward!, Towards Zero, Who Goes Bare?, Fifth of July
1983: Agnes of God, Side by Side by Sondheim, It Runs in the Family, The Real Thing, The Dining Room, Towards Zero, Noises Off, Who Goes Bare?, Dog Days
1984: Little Shop of Horrors with Cameron Mackintosh, The Hollow, Run for Your Wife, House Guest, Extremities, Clarence Darrow, The Wrong Time of Year, Black Coffee, Special Occasions, In Praise of Rattigan
1985: Equus, Isn't It Romantic, Black Coffee, Benefactors, One for the Pot, The Marriage-Go-Round, Kean, Taxi Ranks, Little Shop of Horrors, Stepping Out, The Runner Stumbles
1986: Murder at the Vicarage, The Business of Murder, Two into One, Tom and Viv, Jerry's Girls, Stepping Out, Snake Beneath the Rose, Doubles, The Decorator, Noël and Gertie, Miscarriage of Murder, The Anastasia File, Go Back for Murder, The Foreigner
1987: Tribute, Outside Edge, Corpse!, Funny Peculiar, Wife Begins at Forty, The Common Pursuit, The Perfect Party, Deadly Embrace, Rough Crossing, My Astonishing Self, Not Now, Darling
1988: Private Lives, Sleuth (with PACT), Peril at End House, It's Getting Harder, Sarcophagus, Dear Love, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Charley’s Aunt, Lettice and Lovage, Nunsense, Legends!, Cahoots, Murder on the Nile, See How They Run, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, Double Double
1989: M. Butterfly, Tomfoolery, Murder on the Nile, Who Goes Bare?, M. Butterfly, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Two and Two Make Sex, Whodunnit?
1990: Jo'Burg Follies, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (with NAPAC), Move Over Mrs. Markham, Sextet (with Plewman Productions), The Maintenance Man, Playboys, Lend Me a Tenor, Jo'burg Follies 2, Outside Edge, Romance/Romance (with NAPAC), Alibi, Single Spies, Dangerous Obsession, The Cocktail Hour
1991: Equus, Spider's Web, No Sex Please, We're British, Never the Sinner, Love Letters, A Slice of Saturday Night
1992: Out of Order, It Runs in the Family, Birds of Paradise, Gordon Bleu, Six Degrees of Separation, I Was King, The Woman in Black, Small Talks, The Sum of Us
1993: Don't Dress for Dinner, Beau Jest, The Best of Friends, An Evening with Gary Lineker, Jeeves Takes Charge, The Doowah Girls, It Runs in the Family
1994: Travels with my Aunt, The Fan, The Monkey Walk, This Old Man Came Rolling Home, Murder in Green Meadows, Nunsense, Is the Mouse Boss?, Goodbye, Mr Chips (with Theatre for Africa)
1995: The Sisters Rosensweig, Relatively Speaking, In Praise of Love
1996: Les Misérables (with Cameron Mackintosh), Funny Money (with Scott's Promotions)
1997: Love, Julie, Jest a Second, Full Gallop
1998: Defending the Caveman (played in various venues across the country till 2007), Marlene, Barrymore
1999: Visiting Mr. Green, A Song at Twilight, Things We Do For Love, Amy's View
2000: Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight, Nijinsky's Last Dance, Collected Stories
2001: The Other Side of the Swamp, Cats (with Artscape), Stones in His Pockets, Visiting Mr. Green, Funny About Love, Certified Male
2002: Private Lives, Caught in the Net, The Mousetrap
2003: Auditioning Angels, Japes
2004/5: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (with The Really Useful Group),
2004: The Breath of Life, Breakfast with Dad
2005: My Zinc Bed, Ying Tong - A Walk With The Goons
2006: Jesus Christ Superstar, Menopause - The Musical (with Hazel Feldman)
2007: The Lion King (in association with Lebo M), Menopause - The Musical (with Hazel Feldman)
2008: Disney's Beauty and the Beast (with Hazel Feldman); High School Musical (with Hazel Feldman)
2011/12: The Phantom of the Opera (with The Really Useful Group)
2011: Perfect Wedding
2012/2013: Dirty Dancing - the Classic Story on Stage (with Hazel Feldman)
2013: Don't Dress For Dinner, Blood Brothers, Sunset Boulevard
2014: War Horse, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Vertical Hour
2015-6: Singin' in the Rain
2015: Little Shop of Horrors
2016: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (with The Really Useful Group), Annie (with Hazel Feldman)
2017: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
2018: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Awards, etc.
In 1988 he received the Fleur du Cap Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the industry.
Sources
https://www.pietertoerien.co.za/
https://www.montecasino.co.za/entertainment/theatre/pieter-toerien/
Television documentary: To the Edge by Peter Bode of The Star newspaper.
'n Kwarteeu van energie by Mariana Malan in Die Burger Monday 18 November 2013, p. 8.
Tucker, 1997.
Wikipedia [3].
Theatre programmes and other material held by NELM.
Interview by Lesley Byram published in Cape Times, 1 April 2004.
https://theatrelives.co.za/people/pieter-toerien/
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