As its second show, Trail Theatre Unlimited chose to present Trail and district audiences with performances of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”, which had the distinction of being the longest-running play in the history of London theatre.
The murder mystery play had been running continuously in London since opening in the West End in 1952. The 26-year string at the time far exceeded any other show at the time — and its momentum has continued 47 more years to today in 2025, aside from shutting down temporarily on March 16, 2000 due to the Covid virus which impacted live theatre around the world. The show resumed on May 17, 2021 and has been performed continuously at the St. Martin’s Theatre since then. As of 2002, the show was performed for its ten millionth audience member in London. The 30,000th performance on March 19, 2025 was the next cause for celebration.
In early January, 1978 the executive of Trail Theatre Unlimited met to plan for the club’s spring production. The consensus was that the group should build on the successful momentum of their debut show “Dirty Work at the Crossroads” with a spring show that was somewhat more serious than the farce-like melodrama “Dirty Work”. As a member of the executive of Theatre Unlimited, I had suggested to others that we do “something like” The Mousetrap, which I had watched in London in the summer of 1975 and then two years later performed in with the Whitehorse Drama Club in the Yukon. When we could not think of a good alternative, the decision was made to do “The Mousetrap”.
Several members of the club were surprised that such a popular professional show was available for amateur groups to perform, for a reasonable fee of about $50 for each performance. We looked into that, and saw that the rights holder (Agatha Christie’s grandson) had rules that no amateur productions could be done in the United Kingdom, but they were allowed outside the country. Another rule is that no film could be made based on the play until the London show closed, so no movies have ever been made.
Something that all productions — professional or amateur — have to do is live up to the tradition of keeping the identity of the killer secret, so as not to spoil it for future audiences. The actor playing the killer comes on stage after the curtain closes and asks the viewers to keep the secret to themselves, as much of the fun for the audience is trying to guess which of eight characters is the murderer — and Agatha Christie provided clues throughout the play that give you reason to suspect any one of the characters.
We were able to use artwork from the recent Mousetrap show in Whitehorse for the Trail Theatre Unlimited show as well. Many thanks to artist Lottie Hutton.Seen in a rehearsal are, from left: Tim Skinner as Paravacini, Betti Hall as Mrs. Boyle, Yolanda McKinley as Mollie Ralston, Lawrie Ingersole as innkeeper Miles Ralson, Sam McBride as Sgt. Trotter and Keith Miller as Major Metcalf.Trail Daily Times review of the show by editor Jack Fisher, who would later become active in Theatre Unlimited as an actor and organizer, as well as performing in Rossland Light Opera Players shows.
Community theatre returned to Trail, British Columbia in the fall of 1977 with performances of the classic melodrama “Dirty Work at the Crossroads” by the new theatre club Trail Theatre Unlimited. The group included several newcomers as well as veterans of the former Trail Little Theatre group which was active for a number of years.
With some start-up funding provided by the Trail and District Arts Council, an initial organizing meeting got the ball rolling for a non-profit society that would present a variety of shows well into the 1980s. Several of the members were also volunteers with the long-established Rossland Light Opera Players.
The group examined options for its debut show, and decided that “Dirty Work at the Crossroads” featuring classic character stereotypes from the 1890s era would be fun for participants and audiences. A night of auditions was held, which included acting roles as well as appointment of volunteers for set construction, lighting, costumes, publicity and tickets. The show had a small audience — maybe about 50 — on its opening night, with more on the second night and closing night, large thanks to ample coverage by the Trail Daily Times newspaper. The Times editor at that time, Jack Fisher, was a veteran of several Rossland Light Opera Players shows, as both an actor and director.
We were also very fortunate that graphic artist George Bourchier designed and produced a superb design for our posters. The design was also used for the front of the show’s program, attached below, which provides an outline of the plot and list of characters. The first show was at the MacLean School Annex in Rossland, and the next two performances were at the Trail Junior High Auditorium, which today is known as the Charles Bailey Theatre.
script for the show from the performance rights company. As I recall, we paid $25 in royalties for each performance. We kept further costs to a minimum, thanks to donations from Cominco and other donors. This gave the group a base for its next show, “The Mousetrap”, presented in the spring of 1978.
I was recently going through old scrapbooks of memorabilia from when I lived in Trail, B.C. and worked for Cominco Ltd. (now known as Teck Resources) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as I am organizing photos, posters and other material for donation to local archives.
I worked at the Cominco B.C. Group public relations department as a writer, and one of my colleagues at the Main Gate Building in Trail was graphic artist George Bourchier from Rossland, who shared my interest in community theatre. He was very involved with the Rossland Light Opera Players (RLOP) for many years, both as an organizer and performer, following in the footsteps of his late father Eric Bourchier who was an RLOP founding member in 1952 and a huge fan of Gilbert and Sullivan musicals which he learned growing up in England. Taking after his father, George not only memorized much of the dialogue in the major Gilbert and Sullivan shows (e.g. Mikado, Trial By Jury, Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore), he also got to know the “business” of the characters, such as movement and expressions that became part of the G&S tradition.
George was born in Kimberley, B.C. in 1927 and died in 1993 in Trail Hospital. I remember him as a great friend and terrific graphic artist. I also have fond memories of his wife Babs, who was a tremendous organizer and leader of RLOP for many years, as well as acting and singing in a variety of roles with RLOP productions. Barbara “Babs” Killough was born in Castlegar in 1937 and passed away in Rossland at age 63 in 2001.
With my background in communications, I was usually in charge of publicity for the shows of RLOP as well as the Trail Theatre Unlimited group, which was active in that period. For reference, I kept photos, posters and other memorabilia in files, many of which survive today.
1977
First show of the Trail Theatre Unlimited group, 1977. As publicity person, I asked George if he could do a “very basic” poster for me that would not take much of his time. What he produced as absolutely first-rate, and was a big factor in the successful launch of the new community theatre club. 1977.
1978
This 1978 show was the first Rossland Light Opera Players production that I had the pleasure of performing in. I had two minor roles and was in the chorus, along with George.
1979
This show came soon after “Little Mary Sunshine”. George played the lead role as Judge, and I was a member of the jury. As “Trial By Jury” is about half as long as a regular production, the second half of the performances featured singing of rousing German Beer Hall-style songs. 1978.
1980
RLOP’s production of Lionel Bart’s hit musical “Oliver” (based on the story of Dickens’ Oliver Twist) was a big hit with local audiences in 1980 and great fund-raiser for RLOP finances. George played Mr. Bumble, whose songs included “Boy for Sale”, while I had a couple of secondary roles. What stands out in my memory of the show is the stellar performances of two local boys — Dean Cristofoli as Oliver and Bobby Gardiner as the Artful Dodger. Dean’s father Ed Cristofoli was a member of the the famous Trail Smoke Eaters hockey team that won the world championship in 1961.
George Bourchier (in blue suit) makes a fun presentation at the cast party following the performances of the musical “Oliver” in 1980. George played the role of Mr. Bumble in the RLOP production, including a memorable solo “Boy for Sale”.1981
Circumstances resulted in this 1981 show being produced by Trail Theatre Unlimited, with original music by George Ryan. Aside from once again producing great artwork for the posters and programs, George was not a stage performer in this show. I had a couple of minor roles as well singing in the men’s chorus.
1981
This was a special show by arts and theatre enthusiasts in Trail and Kimberley performed in celebration of Cominco’s 75th anniversary in 1981. I played Cominco’s founding president, Walter Aldridge. At this time, there were about 3,000 Cominco employees at the company’s Sullivan Mine in Kimberley, and 5,000 employees at the Trail Smelter, as the company was going through a very substation $500 million modernization and expansion program. The Sullivan Mine shut down in the year 2000, and Cominco’s Trail operations today have slightly more than 1,000 employees.
1982
George Bourchier played the lead role of Koko in the 1982 production of “The Mikado”. I had a secondary role as Pish-Tush, which included one solo (“Our Great Mikado) and two trios, including “I am So Proud” with George Bourchier and Barry Glendinning. Here are some photos from the show. Babs Bourchier played Pitti-Sing, one of the Three Little Maids.
Above, in photo taken during the dress rehearsal for the 1980 “Mikado” production, are the Three Little Maids and members of the Ladies Chorus, with part of the orchestra in the foreground. The lead character Yum-Yum is seated in yellow, with Babs Bourchier as Pitti-Sing on her right, and Eleanor Honey as Peep-Bo on her left.From the RLOP “Mikado” show dress rehearsal. From left: Sam McBride as Pish-Tush, Babs Bourchier as Pitti-Sing, Rebecca Sims as Yum-Yum, and Brian Schroeder as Nanki-Poo.
George Bourchier as Koko in 1982 RLOP “Mikado” show. Beside him are Barry Glendinning as Pooh-Bah, and Rebecca Sims as Yum-Yum.
From the “I am So Proud” trio, from left to right, Sam McBride as Pish-Tush, George Bourchier as Koko, and Barry Glendinning as Pooh-Bah.
Another conversation between George as Koko and Barry as Pooh-Bah.
In one of the final scenes of the 1982 “Mikado” show, Koko takes on the formidable Katisha character, player by Yolanda McKinley.
Audrey Millar doing George’s make-up for Koko in RLOP’s 1982 “Mikado” production.
UPDATE of posting, June 23. 2025: You can see George Bourchier as the Major General in RLOP’s 1990 production of “Pirates of Penzance”, which was filmed by Shaw TV. Go to You Tube at “Shaw 61 Pirates of Penzance Feb. 24, 1990”. His classic performance of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” begins at 48:10.
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