Fifty years in the arts leads to honours for Southlander

Thursday, 30 December 2021

When Gillian Gordon got her first role in London, she said she had to prepare by learning to avoid Yorkshire twang.

After giving 50 years of her life to the arts, Gillian Gordon is to be honoured in the new year.

Gordon is to be made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to musical theatre as part of the New Year 2022 Honours.

Hailing originally from Yorkshire, England, Gordon moved to London as a young lass of 21 to chase her theatre dreams.

She and her boyfriend at the time had a flat but no money. So, they survived on jam, bread and spaghetti for some time before getting jobs.

* Four dames, three knights in 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours

* Opera in old Chch court building is feelgood fun

When she got her first role in London, Gordon said she had to prepare by learning to avoid Yorkshire twang.

“I had to actually learn the dialogue parrot fashion … I sat and listened very, very carefully and copied all the inflections and sounds,” she said.

She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

“I was just absolutely hooked,” she said.

Gordon's interest in musical theatre begun at age 6 in 1946, just after World War II ended, thanks to an adoptive grandmother.

At age 16, she began to earn income from her singing at the club circuits in Yorkshire.

When she was living in Yorkshire, she was mainly singing mezzo and contralto roles.

In her mid 20s, when she was ready to start singing professionally, she became pregnant with her son.

Her husband at the time and Gordon decided to pack up and move to New Zealand as they could not afford London’s prices any more with a baby.

Gordon’s parents had already shifted to Christchurch by then.

They initially moved to Christchurch but ended up settling in Wellington.

That was when she became associated with the Wellington Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Society.

Gordon ended up contributing 50 years of her life there as a performing member, society president and through directing and organising numerous performances.

She has directed full productions of 40 chorus and principals, with 24-piece orchestras.

Gordon admits it was not always sunshine and daisies but that she is proud.

“I’ve had one hell of a life,” she said.

Out of her storied career, she least liked being an assistant director.

“I would never do that again, ever. You can’t say anything and its very frustrating,” she said.

In the last year she has moved to Mataura to be closer to her son Richard.

Her second husband was John Jerome and her third husband was Stuart Gordon.

She thinks the honour is theirs just as much as it is hers.