Volunteering on a production of Guys and Dolls at the Metro Theatre in 1968 set Les Erskine on his career path.
He went from helping out backstage at the non-professional theatre near the foot of the Arthur Laing Bridge to working on lighting for CBC television series The Beachcombers to working as director of photography for Da Vinci’s Inquest.
The 64-year-old resident of Ladner returned to the Metro four years ago.
“My career started here,” said Erskine, who’s now the theatre’s general manager. “And I hope that can be passed on.”
However, Erskine fears the Metro is becoming a dinosaur.
“If we don’t make a move, then we’ll be dead in a few years,” he said.
Before a fly loft and balcony were built in 1963, the Metro Theatre was a movie theatre. Back then the area was a bustling retail hub with the old Fraser Arms Hotel up the street and the Eburne Sawmill in the back. But that all changed after the Arthur Laing Bridge was constructed in the 1970s.
John Duncan, who’s known as “Mr. Metro” around town, helped revive the indebted theatre starting in 1975 and served as theatre manager from 1989 to last year.
“We used to be full Saturday night,” Duncan said of the time before 1979 when the Arts Club operated a theatre on Seymour Street. The theatre accommodated nearly 400 seats then. Now it holds a cushier 308.
Duncan, a former pantomime actor from Liverpool, England took over writing and directing the December pantos about 15 years ago. Now these comedies are the biggest moneymaker for the Metro.
“It’s become a tradition for a lot of people,” Erskine said. “Three or four generations of family have come year after year.”
Metro Theatre mounts seven plays and one panto each year. Its loyal audience is typically aged 60 to 75.
“We’re trying to change that but that’s hard to do without alienating,” Erskine said.
“The demographics have changed for everybody,” the 84-year-old Duncan said. “Richmond used to be our biggest market. They’re all Chinese and they don’t go to this type of theatre … We cater to the English type of community theatre, the older people … and they’re dying off.”
The English farce There Goes the Bride runs at Metro Theatre until March 22, followed by a traditional staging of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado.
“The set is amazing,” Erskine said.
The coming of age play What I Did Last Summer ends the season.
“The entertainment is quite high calibre,” said Erskine, who also touts the area’s mostly free street parking and the theatre’s cozy and welcoming atmosphere. “We don’t stand back on our amateur status. We go for the best quality we can.”
The theatre elected a new board that includes younger members last September and has been boosting its visibility via social media. Their play committee has also been considering works that are a little more challenging than its traditional offerings of farces, pantos and Agatha Christie murder mysteries.
The Metro will mount its first co-production next year, Rebel Women, which recently played at the Jericho Beach Arts Centre, will modify its run schedules and hopes to drum up additional rentals. Schools and dance studios already keep the lights on with performances in June and non-profits buy out performance nights for fundraisers. A staging of a Chinese opera is also planned.
The Metro has never received government funding, once a source of pride, but these days box office proceeds aren’t enough.
Erskine hopes to help the Metro survive long enough to draw occupants of new condo developments in Marpole, including the Marine Gateway project at the foot of Cambie Street.
The Metropolitan Theatre Cooperative Society owns a scene shop beneath the Oak Street Bridge and the theatre building outright, but its location on the Marpole Midden, which is believed to be ancient burial ground of the Musqueam, means further uncertainty.
“It means the building’s pretty much not worth the land it’s on,” Erskine said.
But for all the challenges, the Metro maintains a stable of devoted volunteers including Duncan, who staffs the box office, and the crew of 17. Erskine expects to show up on the 23rd to tear down the There Goes the Bride set.
“It can be very creative,” Erskine added. “For me it’s always been a creative outlet.”
For more information, see metrotheatre.com.
crossi@vancourier.com
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