Dateline: April 1986 - Richard Knight - Stage Electrician - CHESS - Prince Edward Theatre.

I had already been working in West End theatre for two years - as a lighting technician. I didn’t train. I got into it all by chance. It was seeing ABBACADABRA that had got my interest started. Before then, I had no interest in musicals or theatre and I wasn’t really aware of this world. Of course, I had heard of EVITA and CATS, but that was about it. It was seeing ABBACADABRA at the Lyric Hammersmith in December 1983 that set my interest aflame and I decided to set out to get involved. I had also gone to see CHESS - In Concert at The Barbican in October 1984. I found my seat was directly two rows in front of Frida’s. Amazing! I met her, got two kisses, two autographs, saw Benny & Bjorn and met a long term boyfriend that night. A fellow ABBA fan. What a fantastic evening that turned out to be. But that’s a another story.

Fast forward a year from ABBACADABRA and I was working as a fresh faced attendant, front of house at the Victoria Palace Theatre, where BARNUM was playing - starring Michael Crawford. I used to chat with the lighting guys and gals. It seemed all the guys on the lighting team were gay and me being a skinny little 19 year old, with bleached blonde hair - they seemed to like talking to me. I wonder why? I wish I looked like that now.

This guy was leaving the show and they wanted me to join the team. They all fancied me basically. So they talked to the boss (another gay guy) into giving me a chance on the lights. Luckily, he agreed to give me a go. So there I was, follow spot in hand. Now I really was a Super Trouper. I was petrified. I didn’t dare let it wobble, as I had to follow the actors and Mr Crawford up on the high wire. BARNUM is about the circus. I thought, if I wobble, he might fall off because of me and I couldn’t have that.

BARNUM, after a year was due to close, but not before we filmed it for BBC Television. I was so proud to have my lighting work on TV and for video release, following around Michael Crawford.

LES MISERABLES had opened a few months earlier in December 1985 and in February 1986 I joined the team, again on a follow spot. Looking back, it was cool to have been able to work with the original cast of this show, which included Patti Lupone and Michael Ball. Nobody knew at that time what a phenomenon it would become. It was a shame I missed opening the show three months before.

Over the road at the Prince Edward Theatre, CHESS was fitting up. During the show, radio signals from David Hersey and the lighting team at CHESS would interfere with the cans system (headsets to hear the cues from the Stage Manager) at LES MIS’ and we could hear him plotting the lighting for CHESS, as we were doing performances at the Palace. It was really funny.

I really loved LES MIS’. It is a great show and is one of my favourites. I was happy there and would have stayed longer - if it wasn’t for CHESS.

I so desperately wanted to work on the show - for obvious reasons. One night after LES MIS’ - I was walking up Greek Street with a colleague, only to be passed by no other than one Benny Andersson. He was with some other guy, seemed rather happy and was off into the pub opposite the Prince Edward Theatre. No one seemed to notice him (except me of course), as he disappeared into the pub. I didn’t dare go up to him. I just looked on in awe and couldn’t believe Benny - my idol, was off for a pint just like anyone else. The colleague I was with, couldn’t quite understand my over excitement. “Richard, you are just too funny!”.

That was it. I just had to get on CHESS. Somehow?

There used to be this late night theatre bar called The Lennon Bar, named after the show LENNON (about the life of John Lennon) that was then running at the Astoria Theatre at the time. These days, it is home to G A Y - the world famous gay club, where Madonna played last year. Every night we’d be in there, after the show, to wind down, relax and to network.

Of course, all of the new crew from CHESS would pile in there too, after the long days of fitting up the show. I was introduced to some of them. What a stroke of luck. I got chatting to a girl working on CHESS and she was told me - they realised that day, they were short of a person for the stage electrics team (Stage LX). They needed someone else, as there was just so much to operate. They had three people already, but needed a fourth. It would be doing things like, plugging up live video cameras, focussing, plugging up TV sets, paging masses of cables etc., for live broadcasts on the three banks of TV screens in the show. Sixty-four in the middle of the stage and two banks of thirty-two each, either side of the stage. “I can do that!” I said. She gave me the name of the guy I needed to speak to and she said I would be there first thing in the morning if I were you, otherwise the job will go.

Of course, I was up and ready at the crack of dawn and at the stage door for 9.00 am. After battling with an awkward stage door keeper - he finally rang down to the guy I needed to see. He didn’t want to let me see him. "He’s busy!". If I hadn’t pressed him, I would never have gotten to see him. I wasn’t going to let this old wanker of a stage door keeper stop me from getting my job on the “ABBA” musical.

The guy came up. I said I had recently worked on BARNUM and LES MIS’. He gave me the job - just like that. I couldn’t believe it. They needed someone to start there and then and I was there - right place, right time.

One problem!. What about LES MISERABLES? I was due to do the show that night. I needed to give a weeks notice and I couldn’t. What was I to do? I had an idea. A girl that was working at the Palace Theatre before, had just come back from a long holiday to Australia. She was in at LES MIS’ depping - which means covering someone whilst they are away. Her depping was through and what she actually wanted was a proper job. I went in to see my boss - to explain my predicament. I said I want so much to work on CHESS because I love ABBA. Of course he found that highly amusing. I said can Mandy work my weeks notice for me and then take over my old job and please may I leave right now. He said, “Yeah, OK - that’s fine with me - no problem“. He was actually really cool about it all. It was all really funny to him. My God!, this was all working out to be to good to be true, but it was true. Mandy got her job and I got mine. It was all too easy.

Straight away, I went back over the road, to the Prince Edward Theatre. Maybe, I even ran. I couldn’t wait to begin. I gave the wanky stage door keeper a big grin. He looked at me sheepishly. I was shown down the stage by a new colleague. All sorts of activities were going on - think of the ABBA Live album cover. The show was due to go into previews in a few days time and things were running way behind schedule. I walked out onto the stage and looked into the stalls. Who was sitting there watching over proceedings? Benny & Bjorn. Wow! There they were - right in front of me. My work had begun.

I had ARRIVED!

So there I am on the stage of the Prince Edward Theatre. I feel totally overwhelmed by the all the activity and the amount of people involved to get a show of this scale up and running. It’s a 3 million pound musical - the most expensive ever staged at the time.

Technical rehearsals begin immediately and I am thrown in at the deep end. The first preview is just a few days away. A lot of my cues involve jumping onto a moving square revolve - the chess board - with very long cables, plugging them in into whatever it is; a TV studio console for the Nobody’s Side scene, the TV in the hotel bedroom that shows a clip of the promo’ of Money, Money, Money - a little ABBA joke reference - when Anatoly flicks through the channels and isn’t too impressed with what he sees. The revolve is a little tricky to negotiate at first, but I soon get used to it.

Most revolves are round and stay flush with the stage. But this one is square of course, because it’s a chess board. Therefore, it has to rise up out of the stage before it can turn. During rehearsals the revolve operator had to shout revolve rising or revolve sinking every time it was going to go up or down. One day the revolve began to sink. Either the operator didn’t shout out that time or I just didn’t hear him. Perhaps I was distracted by something else! The revolve began to sink. Unfortunately, I was standing just on one edge of it. As it lowered, the lip around the edge began to sink into the stage - taking the toes on my right foot with it. I suddenly felt my foot being dragged down. Oh My God! “STOP!!!!!!!!!” My foot is trapped. They quickly begin to raise the revolve up again and luckily I’m not hurt. It’s just a graze and a very chewed trainer. Maybe I didn’t hear the guy shouting revolve sinking because out in the stalls, once again were Benny & Bjorn. What better way to get my idols attention, than to lose my toes. I see them both looking at me concerned. How embarrassing. I go off into the wings with a few colleagues and take off my trainer and sock to see the damage. Now what my colleagues didn’t know - was that three years before, I had an in growing big toe nail. My toe nail was removed permanently in 1983. They looked at my toes and hey look - no toe nail. They were all are horrified - it‘s ripped off his toe nail. Ha! Ha! I tell them after their initial horror - I didn’t have a toe nail anyway. Phew! Soon after this episode - the revolve was fitted with a sensor - so if anything or anyone was in it’s way, it would stop automatically. Trust me to show myself up in front of Benny & Bjorn.

I wasn’t the only casualty though. The revolve operator, just days later had to be rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung. “Oh shit!” - he was the only person who knew how it all worked. The computer operating the revolve then went haywire and the show was in trouble. Trevor Nunn the Director - gathered us all on stage one evening and told us we were cancelling the first few previews. The show was no where near ready to put on in front of a paying audience - even a preview audience.

They began to get their heads around the revolve situation - taking advice from the guy in his hospital bed. Technical rehearsals continued. One evening we were rehearsing the Endgame scene. The revolve was up high - on an angle. Tommy Körberg is down at the front of the stage sitting in front of his chess board, while all around him sing. The lights, the heat, the exhaustion from all the rehearsals - he suddenly gets up and walks off stage mid song. Where’s he off to? I am in the wings. He is right next to me and asks for a glass of water. Before I can even move to go and get it, he suddenly collapses at my feet. “Oh shit!” I have to run out onto the stage and shout for help. At this point the orchestra had ground to a halt, as they no longer had their singer. Once again, there I am, in a situation - with Benny & Bjorn watching from the stalls. Everyone rushes over to Tommy. I am on my knees cupping his head. “Get some water!“ Next thing I know, kneeling right next to me is Benny Andersson. “Tommy, Tommy!” he says. I was concerned for Tommy of course, but at the same time, I am thinking - that’s Benny Andersson next to me, “Oh my!” I wasn’t aware of Bjorn, but he must have been there too in all the chaos . An ambulance was called and Tommy went off to hospital. Luckily, he was just exhausted and it wasn’t serious.

Another day, another rehearsal. It’s the Mountain Duet - with Elaine & Tommy. Trevor Nunn from the stalls on his mic’ asks them to both to clear the stage. The revolve at this point is raised up to replicate a snowy mountain. So off walks Elaine, la, la, la, thinking the step down is only a few inches, when in fact, it’s a few feet. Once again, there I am, this time with Elaine Paige in a heap on the floor at my feet. She just literally fell off the stage. She is shaken and I and another crew member help her up. “Are you OK Elaine?“ It’s all going ever so well. No Benny & Bjorn - this time.

Rehearsals continued and before we knew it, we had arrived at the first preview performance. Just behind the front cloth, either side of the stage were two TV monitors. These were to show the MD (Musical Director) in the orchestra pit, so the cast on stage could follow him. Up until just after we opened for real - the MD was Anders Eljas - who had done all the orchestrations for the score. Later the job was taken over by John Owen-Edwards.

As the front cloth flew out, me and another guy on the other side of the stage had to push out these two monitors onto an angle, so the cast could see them clearly. I am very proud to say; my right arm was one of the very first things to ever appear in CHESS. Of course it was pretty dark and no one was supposed to really notice it, but I am so proud - LOL!

I actually used to appear in the show every night, as all the crew were decked out in dark green overalls with a World Chess Championship logo sewed onto the back. My costume! I still have mine. I had to run onto the moving revolve to plug up different things and page the cables, so they didn’t snag on the corners of the revolving chess board floor.

There was a particularly mischievous chap on the stage crew called Brian. He had worked at that theatre for years, having served his time on EVITA, the previous production. Brian and I had to run on stage as it was moving at the end of the American’s hotel bedroom scene. You know the part where Florence and Freddie are looking at the reviews in the worlds newspapers. My job was to unplug the cable from the back of the TV set that had just shown the Money, Money, Money promo’ and then strike (take off stage) the table with the TV on it with Brian. When we first got onto the stage - Brian had his back to the audience and I faced down stage. As we revolved - he began to face down stage - with me up stage. He whispered something to me and glanced down. I looked down and there he was - standing with his cock hanging out of his “costume” with it lobbed onto the top of the TV set, in all it‘s glory. In front of 1400 people! I was in hysterics, as you can imagine.

I had a couple of really big nights on the show. One night I actually got to appear for real. Just before we went into Anthem at the end of Act 1, there was a reporters and TV crew scene, as the worlds press were asking Anatoly how he could defect from the Soviet Union. My job was to plug up a video camera and pop it onto the actors shoulder, then page the cable for him. The camera was then used to broadcast a “live” news report onto the 64 bank of TV monitors above the stage. This particular night, the actor just didn’t turn up for the scene. I alerted the ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) that he wasn’t coming. He quickly spoke to the Stage Manager on his cans (head set), who was on the other side of the stage. “Send Richard LX on” came the panicked reply. Without having any time to think about it - I popped the video camera onto my shoulder and suddenly I was in the show. Of course I had to do a bit of acting and join in with the others so I didn’t look like a fool. So there I was, running around with this camera, hounding Anatoly & Florence. At the same time, I was desperately trying to get the damn thing in focus. All I could see was a blur. Panic! I had to get a clear picture as the live broadcast was just about to go up onto the screens. I’m twisting and turning the focus and it’s seconds before it is about to go live. Just in time, I suddenly see the actor (a news reporter) I am supposed to film. Thank God! It’s perfectly sharp and it’s up there on the 64 TV screens. Phew! The scene is over and I exit stage right. A colleague is paging my camera cable for me. Unfortunately, as she didn’t normally have to do this, she had left a loop of cable on the stage, which I then promptly stepped into - just as she gave it a good old tug. It fastened tightly around my ankle and I had to hop off stage for the last few steps. Luckily, the lights had dimmed down on that part of the stage, so I hope no one actually noticed. Typical, my West End stage debut and I have to hop off stage. I get into the wing and just about everyone who could have been there was. They all gave me a very quiet round of applause (of course Tommy was on stage singing Anthem) and pats on the back. It was only then, that my nerves kicked in - after I had done it. My heart began to race and I was shaking. It was the talk of the theatre for a few days. I had just appeared in the “ABBA” musical. Wow! It wouldn’t have meant so much to anyone else, as it did to me, being a massive ABBA fan.

In the scene of Heaven Help My Heart at the British Embassy, there was a fake rubber plant as part of the scenery. I guess it must have been 1987 by now, as Siobahn McCarthy had taken over as Florence. Every night I used to stick something onto one of the leaves of this rubber plant to amuse her. It could be anything from a plastic spider, something made from plasticine or a little note, with a naughty joke written on it. If it was a note, she was sneakily take it and read it with Tommy as they walked around the stage into the scene with the reporters I have just described above. I and other members of the crew would watch to see their reactions - as they read what I had written. If it was a really good one, you could see them corpsing. If one night I didn’t do something - as it was becoming very difficult to come up with something fresh and funny each night - Siobahn would come off stage and say “Where’s my note?” In jest of course, but pretending to be upset and saying, “…there better be one tomorrow night“.

One night, I thought I will really get her. Instead of doing something in the Embassy scene as usual. I decided to do something when she wasn’t expecting it. I planned for the Act 2 hotel bedroom scene in Bangkok. In this scene, as they sang, Florence would flick through a chess magazine. I took a spare prop photocopy of the chess magazine cover and sticky-taped it over a gay porn magazine with loads of pictures of naked guys with big cocks. She is on the bed singing away with Tommy as she casually flicks open the magazine. She suddenly sees what’s inside and can hardly contain herself. Trying to sing and stifle her laugh, she shows Tommy who then begins to do the same. Everyone has heard about it and are in the wings watching to see what happens. Gotcha! Of course one could never do such things with Elaine.

For such a little woman, standing at only 4’11” - Elaine petrified everyone in that theatre. You did not make her cross. Of course, it did happen from time to time and even I didn’t escape her wrath.

There was a TV studio scene in Act 2 with Murray Head as a TV interviewer. Hand held video cameras where hidden inside big mock up TV studio cameras. I had to fit the smaller cameras into the fake ones, page the cable of one - on and off stage and then strike the hand held cameras out again after the scene.

Elaine would come down into the wing ready to go on for The Deal scene. As the TV studio scene ended, these cameras would come flying off into the wings at some considerable speed. The camera and actor who I had to page, was operated by Sandy Strallen - brother-in-law to actress Bonnie Langford. His daughter, who was only just born around this time - is currently playing Mary Poppins at that very theatre. Instead of waiting for another few seconds - Elaine would always try to get into position, just as I was paging off the camera. This particular night, she was cutting it just a little bit too fine. I mean, if she had waited until it was out of the way, she still had time to get to where she needed to be - but no. She had to do it then. The camera, at high speed was hurtling towards her. She was about to get flattened. I gently put my hand on her back, as if to say please hurry. “Get your hands off me!, I have on a white dress and you have dirty hands”, she snapped. I was really upset. I was only trying to help her. To stop her from getting hurt. Sandy Strallen saw and heard all of this. He later went to Elaine’s dressing room to ask for her to apologise to me. She refused.

During a rehearsal, Elaine was standing in the wing, directly below a Jacob’s Ladder, unaware that someone was on the ladder above her. It was dark in the wing and hard to see. Brenda, a crew member, a tough Irish lesbian, with a heart of gold, was coming down the ladder, unaware that Elaine was standing below her. She only goes and stands on Elaine Paige’s head. It was an accident, but Elaine went mental. Thing was; you didn’t mess with Brenda either and a cat fight broke out. They were both standing there, hollering and screaming at each other, until the Stage Manager was called to diffuse the situation. It almost came to fisty-cuffs. Neither would apologise to each other.

During a performance one evening, we all heard a voice and frantic footsteps coming down the corridor stairs towards the stage right wing. “Stop that dog!” - shouted Ms Paige. Suddenly, tearing around the corner - comes Tugger, her white Scottish Terrier. This dog was famous for biting UK chat show host Des O’Connor on the nose, when Elaine was a guest on his show. All around, moved fast to try and head off this excited dog, that was determined to appear in the show and who was heading fast towards the stage during a performance. Luckily, someone grabbed him and he returned with Elaine to her dressing room.

Christmas & New Year ‘86 / ‘87. The crew and some of the cast had decided, we would do a spoof cabaret of CHESS. It was to be called CHAIRS. This was because, when Trevor Nunn stepped in as Director, suddenly all these chairs turned up. There were chairs of various types in almost every other scene and storing them in the wings was a real headache. My then boyfriend and I (my boyfriend also worked on the show - this was the guy I met at CHESS In Concert two years earlier. I managed to help him get a job on the show too - later in the run), were determined to be cast as Florence & Svetlana. Luckily, as we were so keen and I think the people casting the show didn’t dare say no to us - I was cast as Elaine / Florence and Lester was cast as Siobhan / Svetlana. We couldn’t be too cruel with Elaine, so the jokes were pretty mild for her bits. We both came on in frocks - my frock was specially made. It was long and white and made my bottom look fabulous. Lester’s frock was made from a black bin liner. We also had fake dogs. Mine dog was a paper mache Tugger on wheels and Lester’s dog was a mop on a lead. Siobahn McCarthy had a little lap dog, that resembled a mop. We sang "I Can Do Anything Better Than You / I Know Him So Well". The joke was we were trying to out do each other singing. We purposely got the last note of "I Know Him So Well" wrong - which received a big laugh. I also sang "Nobody’s Side". The backing singers were being filmed in the off stage singing booth and transmitted onto the 64 TV screens. The joke being that they would have chats between choruses.

After the performance, there was a big party in the stalls bar. I received compliments galore on my performance. Tim Rice came up to me and said he couldn’t tell the difference between me and Elaine. Elaine herself said we could be taken for sisters. Tommy Körberg was most impressed with my dress and even Anders Eljas said I was great. Anders and I sat on a step and we had quite a long a chat. I’m sure it must have been ABBA related, but I really can’t recall what was said unfortunately.

After the cabaret, Elaine was my best mate. No, not really, but now she was aware of who I was and when I was near her in the wing, she’d always say, “Hi, how you doin’? Have a nice weekend” etc. All the other crew would say, how come she talks to you? She blanks us. It became quite embarrassing actually and there were times when I used to think, no don’t talk to me - as I could see other crew members looking over. I knew then I was about to get the piss ripped out of me.

The cabaret was videoed for those involved to keep as a souvenir. Unfortunately, the sound operator accidentally left on a radio mic’ attached to one of the people in the show. This meant, the entire soundtrack had him talking over it, when he wasn’t on stage. Whoever it was, that had their mic’ left on - was a real bitch. Nasty and catty comments were made about, just about everybody apparently and only a few people got to hear what was said. A lot of people would have been very upset, if they had gotten to hear it.

Because of this cock up. It was decided we would re-dub the whole show. The equipment was there, in the off stage singing booth. So a few weeks later everyone that was in the show gathered and we re-recorded the dialogue and vocals. No easy task. A video monitor was set up and we had to watch our own lips and try to duplicate what we had said or sung. My boyfriend and I were in the booth doing our song. He was becoming irritated, as he said I was getting my bit wrong. I said it’s fine and an argument developed. What we didn’t realise was, out mic’s were up the whole time and our slanging match was being transmitted around the entire auditorium. We were very embarrassed. Everyone else was highly amused.

Ten months later, on 5th November 1987, Tommy Körberg gave me the heads up that Benny was coming in to see him later that evening. It was a Saturday matinee. So after the first show, I ran to the nearest Virgin Megastore and bought a copy of Voulez-Vous - for Benny to sign. I went back to the theatre and around 7.00 pm, as arranged, I knocked on Tommy’s dressing room door. I was invited in and there he was - Mr Benny Andersson. We shook hands. I thought; that hand plays and has composed all the songs that have guided my life. He signed my Voulez-Vous album and a CHESS sticker in silver pen. Tommy then explained that I was the chap who played Elaine in the cabaret. Benny smiled. It turned out, that Tommy had taken his video copy with him on a visit to Bjorn’s house in Henley and all three of them - Benny, Bjorn & Tommy - had sat and watched it over a drink. I couldn’t believe that after watching my idols on TV and video - for all those years, they had actually sat down and watched me. I didn’t out stay my welcome. I thanked Benny & Tommy and left his dressing room with the biggest smile on my face. I was over the moon.

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