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INAUGURAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD JOHN THOMSON
John passed away 9th June 2008 and is missed by all, but will never be forgotten
CAT Awards Gala Evening, February 2008. Canberra Theatre. Opening remarks by Dennis Martin, Chairman, CAT Awards Board. “
Finally and most significantly it gives me enormous pleasure to honour
tonight with a Lifetime Achievement Award a stalwart of the CAT Awards -
no its not Coralie who as you all know is long overdue for
beatification (While in her mortal state you can buy tonight Maria
Glynn Daniels wonderful biography of Coralie) – No, it is in fact her
soul mate and Man Friday; that great quiet achiever JOHN THOMSON... While
I outline his achievements I’d ask John to make his way to the stage
and ask Coralie to join me to present to John this Lifetime Achievement
Award - a CAT Awards first ! John Thomson Although born in Melbourne, John, with his family, moved to Canberra at age three. He was educated at Ainslie Primary School, Canberra High School and at the Australian National University. John became a professional librarian working in the federal government sector, including the National Library of Australia, and the National Gallery of Australia. John
developed a lifelong interest in, and commitment, to theatre. He has
been involved in various aspects of theatre, as a participant and
theatre-goer, for over 40 years A Life’s Work in Theatre * a stage hand at Covent Garden, London * 2 years as Box Office Assistant at the Royal Court Theatre, London * Theatre Production and Management : Stage
Manager, scenic designer, performer, set constructor, painter,
production manager, publicist, properties co-ordinator and program
editor primarily with Canberra Philharmonic Society as well as other Canberra companies. *
In 1994/5 John’s John’s set for Canberra Philharmonic’s production of
Les Miserables toured to the Gold Coast, Nambour, Townsville and
Geelong. And in 1996 it won the Canberra Critics Circle Award *President
of Canberra Philharmonic Society and, variously, Artistic Director and
long-standing member of the Executive Committee. * Awarded Life Membership by Canberra Philharmonic in 1984 A Public Life * The voice behind the golden microphone for the ABC (2CN), 1997-2002, speaking on popular music and theatre history * Founding member of the Performing Arts Special Interest Group (PASIG) of Museums Australia, dedicated to Australia’s performing arts heritage *
Member of SIBMAS, an international organisation devoted to theatre
archives and performing arts heritage, and participant in its
international conferences A Librarian and Preserver of Performing Arts History *Researching and documenting Australian musicals * Indexing performing arts events for the national online database, AusStage. * Volunteer at the National Library of Australia cataloguing a large collection of photographs of J.C. Williamson productions *Curated the archives of the Canberra Theatre Centre for its 40th birthday celebrations in 2004 *ACT Heritage Library volunteer cataloguing ACT theatre heritage collections *Research Assistant on the Ballets Russes in Australasia Project A Commitment to recognising talent and improving the performing arts Founding
member of the Judging Panel for the Canberra Area Theatre (CAT) Awards
since 1995, founding member of the Steering Committee of the CAT awards
and Founding Board Member of CAT Awards Limited.
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