November 19, 2013

PAUL JENDEN

John Smythe      posted 28 Oct 2013, 07:50 AM / edited 29 Oct 2013, 01:04 PM

Paul Jenden – choreographer, dancer, lyricist, costume and set designer, actor, playwright – has died after a short illness in hospital. There will be a private cremation then a celebration of his life next Saturday (2 November) at Circa Theatre, 2pm. Please go to the Facebook event page to indicate if you will attend.

Here are some tributes from his friends (mostly lifted from Facebook):

Vale Paul Jenden. You and your significant talent made a huge contribution to dance, theatre, and performance for 37 years. All love to Louis, Raewyn, Frank and the wide circle of friends and colleagues. RIP Paul xxxx – Jamie Bull

I echo your comments Jamie. Paul’s courage and creativity were amply demonstrated earlier this year in his brave musical that dealt with his cancer. Such a statement, so powerfully and beautifully expressed. Condolences to all who knew, loved and admired Paul. – Jan Bolwell

My dear friend and collaborator in musicals, Paul Jenden is gone – what an astonishing lyricist, director, dancer, choreographer, costumier, and artistic genius he was – I will never forget him. We had SO many more stage works to create. Love you Paul. Goodbye. – Gareth Farr

Paul was multitalented. He danced, acted, performed, wrote lyrics, designed sets and costumes. His contributions to Circa pantomimes brought delight and fun to a lot of people. His one man “Swan Lake” is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Fortunately it has been recorded on disk. Paul could also be serious as his autobiographical musical “C” demonstrated earlier this year. – Bill Sheat

I am a great admirer of the ‘poperas’ he created with Gareth Farr’s music – TROY The Musical, MONARCHY The Musical, ROME The Musical, The NERO Show – believing them to be world class. A what a gift he gave us earlier this year with C – A Musical – which now has become his swan song (apart from performing in this year’s WOW World of Wearable Arts show, dancing the show to a close with Lyne Pringle, the ‘bearded lady’). – John Smythe

roger hall             posted 28 Oct 2013, 08:49 PM / edited 28 Oct 2013, 09:27 PM

I got to know Paul well  in recent years through writing pantos with him for Circa. His love of pantomime equalled mine and his knowledge of panto exceeded mine.

He would write the song lyrics (almost “while you wait”). He would also design the set and, above all, design and make the glorious costumes.

And then Paul would act in them.

But…and this sometimes drove me crazy…whatever character he played never spoke. It wasn’t that I objected to a silent part in itself, but with a maximum of eight actors per panto, here was a potential voice I could never use.

Not that audiences cared—they  loved him.  As Dick Whittington’s cat; as Hankey (along with Pankey) in Aladdin;  Fimble (along with Fumble) in Cinderella; Betsey the cow in Jack and the Beanstalk, and others, always achieving a great rapport with the audience, especially the younger ones.

And he (along with Michael Nicholas Williams) wrote the engaging and catchy “Let’s Do The Pantomime Whirl” that features in all the pantos that the three of us wrote. It would be a fitting tribute to Paul if it could be played at the celebration at Circa on Saturday.

Editor    posted 29 Oct 2013, 09:32 AM

‘Genius lyricist and writer’ Jenden dies

TALIA SHADWELL

The Dominion Post 28/10/2013

A bright light of the Wellington arts and theatre scene has been extinguished with the death of lyricist, writer and choreographer Paul Jenden, friends and collaborators say.

Jenden, perhaps best known for his hit Hairy Maclary Show and annual Circa Theatre pantomimes with Roger Hall, died in Wellington Hospital on Saturday evening after a long battle with leukaemia.

Close friend and collaborator Gareth Farr said Jenden was a tireless worker with a broad creative reach. [More]

Editor    posted 29 Oct 2013, 01:10 PM / edited 30 Oct 2013, 12:33 PM

Update: the celebration of Paul Jenden’s life next Saturday (2 November) will be at at Circa Theatre, 2pm. Please go to the Facebook event page to indicate if you will attend.

Jennifer Shennan             posted 19 Nov 2013, 10:59 PM

OBITUARY FOR PAUL JENDEN

for THE DOMINION POST, October 2013

by Jennifer Shennan

Paul John Jenden, b. Wellington 5 October, 1955,  d. Wellington 26 October, 2013.

Paul Jenden’s talents as choreographer, performer, designer, lyricist and director were a force in dance and theatre in Wellington during a 37 year free-lance career.

His lively, often wicked, sense of humour laced the many pantomimes and cabarets he staged at Bats, Taki Rua, Downstage and Circa theatres. But Paul well knew that timing of comedy and detail of costume are serious business. Hairy Maclary was skillfully transferred from Lynley Dodd’s page to the Opera House stage … but he confessed that the show nearly foundered. A 7 year old complained that he’d got the wrong dog because the id tag on HM’s collar was a different red.  Paul agreed, found a yoghourt pot lid of the correct shade, attached it to the dog collar, and reputations were saved. (The costumes are also saved, in Te Papa.)

Paul was born in 1955, second child of Marjorie and Frank Jenden, and brother of Raewyn. The family lived in Tinakori Rd., then moved to Porirua in 1957.

Paul’s career as director began early – aged 8, at Porirua Primary School in a classroom production he adapted from Charlotte’s Web. He attended Tawa College (where his mother was librarian) then studied a double major in French and English at Victoria University.  He learned the cello, loved cats, but refrained from much in the way of outdoor pursuits. He adored going to the ballet, and developed interests in mime and puppetry, though his dance training started late.

In 1976 Paul was a founding member of Impulse Dance Theatre, directed by Jamie Bull. His first choreography was titled …Of a Feather and, having learnt the art and secrets of sewing from his mother, he knew exactly what the dancers would wear.

In 1980 Paul travelled to USA, where he met Louis Solino, a longstanding member of Jose Limon Dance Company. They lived in a colourful Harlem neighbourhood, travelled and performed in Canada, Europe and Asia, returning to New Zealand in mid-1980s. Louis taught at New Zealand School of Dance where his numerous pedigree stagings of the Doris Humphrey / Jose Limon repertoire were always impeccably costumed by Paul. The young dancers in all those heritage works have never forgotten the experiences.

The first Hairy Maclary Show was commissioned by the School’s director, Anne Rowse. Jan Bolton’s winning music gave it instant lift-off, there were return seasons and successful tours to Australia. There were duos with Solino, the macabre Dead Ballerinas, the svelte Dancing the Gay Fandango, and a side-splitting 15 minute version of Swan Lake (solo, plus a cast of props).  Paul’s designs nailed the essence of things, and despite a low or zero budget, he could make a detail evoke a zoo, a library, a bedroom, a society, a sub-culture, an era.

In 1989, Paul choreographed a fabulous Le Papillon for the Royal New Zealand Ballet.  Referencing the original from 1860, with music by Offenbach, he brought the fairy and goblin world to life, giving smashing opportunities to seasoned performers Jon Trimmer, Karin Wakefield, Kerry-Anne Gilberd, Stephen Nicholls. And hidden among the line-up of white butterflies, several males dancing en pointe. 

In  An Evening to Remember, 1986, the dancers waltzed their claim to that title, while Jacqui Trimmer, the wall-flower on the sideline, tugged audience heartstrings.

In 2008, Limon’s centenary, Paul gave a memorable reading of Othello in The Moor’s Pavane.  Several times he danced Limon’sChaconne, with pianist Richard Mapp playing the mighty Bach b minor, in Busoni’s transcription. No other New Zealander has bothered or proved able to dance this masterpiece, and those who witnessed his sublime and musically inspired performances, saw Paul Jenden at his noble best. Without exaggeration, he was equal to Baryshnikov who had performed Chaconne when touring here.

Paul directed and designed pantomimes scripted by Roger Hall, in collaboration with composer Michael Nicholas Williams (Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood), historical musicals with Gareth Farr ( Troy, Monarchy, Nero, Rome), and cabarets including Fairy Stories (with performers Kate O’Rourke, Jennifer Key, Jon Trimmer and Louis Solino) … all seasonal winners for Circa.

Paul won a Design award at WOW, and twice won the Chapman Tripp award of Designer of the Year. He understood textiles and how they behave. In all the thousands of costumes, special effects, masks, animal dress-ups, flashing battery-driven codpieces and pasties … gorgeous, satirical, outrageous, OTT… we never once saw a wardrobe malfunction.  Performers took confidence from what they wore, and Jackie Clarke’s gown in his last production, at Circa, C – A Musical, was wearable art if anything is.

In that remarkably courageous work, July 2013, Paul negotiated a fine line between his determination to live well and a stoic acceptance of the diagnosis of leukaemia. Pianist Sue Alexander played Gareth Farr’s fine composition with great accomplishment, and the cast was outstanding. Many listeners nationwide heard Paul’s memorable interview with Kim Hill (and might like to hear it again, online.)

When asked to identify his own dress style, Paul fired back. “1960s Lesbian,” (meaning comfortable track suit, easy to wash, allowing time for the real work of dressing others). The Renaissance quality of sprezzatura, a gracious nonchalance, masking all effort, was born again in Paul’s work. It fools the audience into thinking everything’s easy, so they relax into having a very good time.

Paul had a very good time too. It is certainly true that the dance establishment could have used his talents more, and he mostly lived on very lean pickings … but he preferred to dwell on what did happen, rather than on what didn’t. He performed in this year’s WOW season, romping round as a horse, but was unable to complete the season due to serious infections that saw him admitted to hospital where he died a few weeks later.

Instructions to contributors to a celebratory event to be held at Circa read … “Nothing serious, sad or maudlin.”  It is about Paul Jenden after all.

Sources: Louis Solino, Raewyn Janota, Jamie Bull, Ann Mallinson. Anne Rowse, Bill Sheat, Jon Trimmer, Jacqui Trimmer, Jane Woodhall