The name Charles Vance is synonymous with theatre. Actor, director and producer, he has worked with most of the greats of stage and screen over the last six decades.
And for the last 14 years he has presented repertory theatre at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre - a tradition he revived that dates back to the early 1950s, when the young Vance himself appeared in rep at the venue.
At 76, Charles Vance is now the longest extant theatre producer in the UK, having founded his own production company in 1960 following a prolific career as an actor, which saw him appear in the 1950 film Stranger At My Door, Z Cars, Danger Man and alongside most of the Carry On team in 1960’s nautical comedy Watch Your Stern.
But it is repertory theatre that remains his great passion, and it has proved to be one of the most successful and popular features on the Grand’s annual calendar
Next Tuesday the curtain will rise on another Charles Vance season, beginning with Francis Durbridge’s intriguing thriller Murder With Love.
An engaging and entertaining raconteur, Vance is full of witty, informative theatrical anecdotes.
Harking back to his days as a young actor at the Grand, he gazes around the auditorium and points up at the stage saying: “I first remember standing up there in rep in 1953 when my fellow juvenile in the company was an actor by the name of Kenneth More.
“When my wife and I formed our own company in 1960, our first major touring production was A Man For All Seasons, in which I played Sir Thomas More, and we visited the Grand in 1963.
“The Myatt family, who then owned the theatre, invited us to present our first summer repertory season that same year and in 1964 we were proud that Connie Myatt asked me to direct what was to prove the only major production of a Shakespeare play that year - the great Bard’s quarter centenary.
“That production of The Merchant Of Venice starred the distinguished, Shakespearean RSC actor Stephen Murray as Shylock and film star Jean Kent as Portia.”
Over the next six weeks, audiences at the Grand can look forward to a mix of thrillers, dramas and comedies all hand-picked by Vance.
“We always start with a Durbridge thriller as we can’t do Christie because of the performing rights,” he says. An unfortunate fact, as in the past Vance has been involved in 105 productions of the Queen of Crime’s plays, either as an actor, producer or director.
The other plays in this - Vance’s 14th season since he revived rep - are Michael Claughton’s cricketing comedy The Boundary; fast-paced farce Boeing Boeing; John Godber’s airport comedy Fly Me To The Moon; heart-stopping thriller Murder At Midnight by George Batson and Henry James’ romantic masterpiece Washington Square.
“What has meant more to me than anything else, is that I have personally been privileged to be taken to the hearts of loyal rep fans in Wolverhampton, who pack the Grand week after week, often in sweltering summer sun,” the producer says.
Talking backstage at the theatre, Vance recalls his first appearance there and comments on how things have changed.
For instance, a lift now occupies the space where the former dressing room one used to be. Vance recalls an amusing anecdote about Are You Being Served? actor and veteran panto dame John Inman “having nowhere to put his frocks” after the alteration.
As well as rep, he has produced hundreds of successful touring productions - many of them snappy adaptations of Ealing film classics.
In more recent years Vance has staged The Ladykillers, Passport To Pimlico, The Lavender Hill Mob, Kind Hearts And Coronets, The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps among others, all of which visited the Grand.
In December 2001 he stepped in at short notice to provide the Birmingham Alex Theatre with an infectious hit in the form of the musical Me And My Girl, after the venue’s scheduled Christmas production was cancelled.
Vance has also produced, written and directed more than 189 pantomimes in the last 43 years, cementing his status as a leading light in the world of theatre.
Last month he handed over the running of his company, CV Productions, to Wolverhampton University graduate Stephen Boden, aged 34.
The distinguished producer says: “I was 30-years-old when I founded my company and I am anxious to ensure the rep tradition will continue. Whilst I do not intend to take a back seat, I am proud that the Vance theatre tradition will thrive.”
Vance reveals that they are already working on his next Ealing comedy project - an adaptation of Whisky Galore, which is pencilled in for a visit to the Grand next year.
As well as being one of this country’s leading theatrical impresarios, Vance is a man of many other talents. A cordon bleu chef, he and his wife - actress Imogen Moynihan - also breed Cairn Terriers.
A keen sailor, he made a single-handed crossing of the Atlantic in 1956.
But the theatre remains his greatest passion, with his work having taken him to at least three quarters of the globe.
“I am very proud of my long association with the theatre and especially the Grand,” he says.
“We have established a long and successful tradition of rep in Wolverhampton over the years with a fine company of young actors. Long may it continue.”
- The Charles Vance Summer Repertory Season opens on Tuesday with Murder With Love. To book tickets for this and all the other shows call the box office on 01902 429212.
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