Theatrical Debut — Oliver! (1962)
In February 1962, the Brian Brooke Company brought Oliver! to South African audiences for the first time, at the Brooke Theatre in Johannesburg — the epicentre of commercial theatre in the city at the time. It was here that the Ellis family’s theatrical story began.
Aubrey Ellis Sr. played Noah Claypole, the undertaker’s apprentice, one of five small character roles he took on through the run. It was the show’s stage director, Gillian Francesca — an internationally registered professional clown with his own recognizable face-paint design, and equally well known for a Marlene Dietrich drag act and for stage magic — who first drew Beryl into the production, inviting her to sing in the chorus. She was, by her own account years later, “terrified” — but agreed. Her real break came on tour in Rhodesia, when another chorus girl dropped out and Beryl stepped into the part. Francesca went on to become one of the most influential figures in Beryl’s life.
A few weeks into the run, five-year-old Aubrey Jr. joined the company too. He had been sleeping in his parents’ dressing room during performances; when it was suggested he simply join the cast instead, he became one of Fagin’s Boys. Critics singled him out by name as the show toured — in Port Elizabeth, the Evening Post called him “the biggest hit of the audience,” and in Bellville, the Cape Times reported he knew nearly every song in the show, “although I don’t think I do it in tune.” Onstage alongside the Artful Dodger (Gavin Morley) and Oliver (Christopher Voysey), his unrehearsed, childlike presence became, in one reviewer’s words, the “extra salt” that lifted Fagin’s den scenes above the rest of the show.
Oliver! toured South Africa and Rhodesia for over a year, and its cast became a lasting part of the family’s life. Among the friendships formed there: Zeke Kerbal, who went on to build a string of Johannesburg nightclubs — the Purple Marmalade, Middle Earth, the Anaconda Club, Harvey Wallbangers, and others — and remained a close friend of Aubrey’s for decades, commissioning him for artwork and signage work on his clubs for years afterward.
