That Priviliged Position
Thursday, January 30, 2014
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| Evelyn Hart |
My friend and former editor of Vancouver
Magazine, Malcolm Parry, whom we called Mac has for some years, slipped into another
profession. He has been the gossip columnist for our Vancouver Sun. Only the “wankers”, as he used to call us, remember him in his
glory day as the editor of the city’s most exciting magazine and one of the
best magazines in Canada.
It is difficult to live from day to day as
a photographer and would-be writer and not remember Mac’s inspiration, advice, tongue
lashings and instructions. Whatever measure of success I may have achieved in
this city since I entered it in 1975 I must give this man the credit.
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| Crystal Pite |
One of his often repeated dictions was “the
privileged position”. By this he meant to be a place most could not be in. As
an example andybody can look up at a very tall building, but if you managed access
to the building’s flag pole (one on the former BC Hydro Building)
or the upper roof niche of the Vancouver Hotel then you were in the tip of that pyramid of exclusivity. I can claim to have been in both of those places.
Early on into Les Wiseman’s In One Ear
monthly Vancouver Magazine, Wiseman and his associate Lenso the Argentinian Lensman eschewed access from the front. If we could not
interview the bands in their dressing rooms or hotels we would not interview
them at all. This meant strawberries around a huge pile of cocaine (I did not
indulge) in the Commodore’s back stage with the Cramps and early morning screwdrivers without orange juice with Motorhead in their hotel room. You get the idea?
In this 21st century control and
access is at a minimum. In fact I would identify this century as “access denied”.
At this moment Malcolm Parry has access to
anybody of importance who passes through the city. He has the highest class of privileged
position.
There are a few that he might not think
about that I had access to in the past. Of course if he demanded entry he would get it.
One of those wonderful moments of my life
happened the evening of Saturday June 3, 2000. It was at the Queen Elizabeth
Theatre and it was called
Dancers for Life – a Millennium Dance Celebration for AIDS. My program
(incredible) does not say if it was indeed held at the Queen Elizabeth so it
could have been at the Playhouse.
The program included many extremely
reputable dancers including Rex Harrington. But I had eyes for only two, Evelyn
Hart and Crystal Pite.
I was allowed into the rehearsals back
stage (a most privileged position) and ( yes!) Pite’s and Hart’s
dressing rooms.
Sometime this month I will have rehearsal
permission for the upcoming collaboration between Ballet BC
and Turning Point Ensemble. It is called Grace Symmetry which will be performed
February 20 to 22 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
I wonder what kind of privileged access
this might include?
