Hyatt
Today, The Sunday Gleaner begins a new column by Charles Hyatt.
AS AN adjunct to the period 'When me was a boy' a time that I thoroughly enjoyed came' young adulthood'. During this segment, although I never completely '... put away childish things' there was a preoccupation with just two topics. Show business and women. Maybe not even in that order. Because of this I eventually learned more about the meaning of life than all the three 'R's' taught me in school.
Looking back, when I think of the amount of energy I spent in pursuit of female companionship and to realise much later that all I had to do was stand still and all that I was looking for would have found me anyway, I cringe. I can now understand what was meant by the saying that youth is a condition that is wasted on the young. At any rate there was so much 'fun' to be had in those activities without really knowing the right the proper way that my world then was just a small oyster. One lesson that was always recurring was the reason why people do the things they do.
O.K. take this instance. In those early days when there was only one radio station RJR Radio Jamaica and Rediflusion run by the Jamaica Broadcasting Company the first JBC the most popular outdoors show was the twice weekly stage show Opportunity Knocks, produced by impresario, actor and newspaper columnist, Vere John. This show was mainly at the Palace Cinema at the corner of South Camp Road and East Queen Street in downtown Kingston. From time to time it would visit other theatres like the 'Gaiety' at the corner of East Queen and Hanover streets.
GRAND FINAL
This was a variety act competition show that had a grand final at the Carib Theatre in Cross Roads. The Carib at that time was the only covered cinema theatre. All the others were what was called 'open air', which meant that they couldn't have matinee showings. No roofs. Most of the 'legends' of today were discovered as youngsters on those shows. In fact when current megastar Jimmy Cliff first appeared at the Palace on a Monday night he was pelted with missiles ordering him off the stage. He stayed on though and thank God.
Now a new cinema was built in Trench Town with an attractive and innovative circular shape and named The Ambassador. Trench Town had not yet come into its own as the breeding ground of Jamaica's new music but it was on its way to supplanting Jones Town. The Ambassador was selected as another of the venues for Opportunity Knocks on Thursday nights.
By this time the name Charles Hyatt had become quite popular as the mainstay performer and eventual MC of the O.K. shows. Ranny Williams was still the number one comic performer followed closely by the team of 'Bim and Bam'. But young 'Clean Clothes' Charles Hyatt, as I was called, was shaking everyone out of the trees. Ranny Williams was at that time the star salesman for 'Captain Morgan' rum, the first to be bottled in a hip flask container, making it easy to slip into the back pocket or ladies handbags. Captain Morgan achieved a high degree of popularity thanks to the creation of two characters on radio by Ranny Williams and Alma Hylton 'Morgie and Putus'. Seemingly, as a result, another new rum came on the market bottled by the same company in the same fashion called 'Morgan Treasure'. This new style of bottling gave birth to something new in our rum consumption culture - a 'Q'. That was short for 'QQ' (Quarter Quart). Morgan's Treasure never enjoyed the same notoriety as Captain Morgan, maybe because it needed too much of an acquired taste. Nevertheless 'Lady Luck' was never without at least one full flask in her handbag.
Lady Luck was Vere John' relatively young American wife and mother of his two boys, who had taken to imbibing alcohol as a nourishment. You could keep the food, just let her have a drink and she was happy. This was never a problem in the family even though Vere himself was teetotal. When she was advised by her doctor to ease up on the rum consumption she would drink brandy instead.
Well one Thursday when OK was due for Ambassador we had a shower of rain. The caretaker of the Ambassador took pride in the condition of her maintenance. She always presented us with a highly 'black cardinal' polished stage. This day was to be no exception. She used her broad 'squee gee' rubber broom to remove every drop of water from her shined stage. However, that precaution left a thin transparent smear of moisture on the surface.
SLIPPING AND SLIDING
While a skit with Charles Durrant another comic performer, and myself was taking place during the show, which was going down very well with the audience, I found that I was having difficulty keeping my feet in one place. I was slipping and sliding in every which direction. Laughter galore! Eventually my right foot started to slide outward away from my body, ending with from my knee to my foot, parallel to the ground and my knee joint touching the stage. That must have looked funny for the crowd was in an uproar laughing. Not me though, I was in excruciating pain.
When I managed to rise, my limb was sticking out from me like only a Walt Disney cartoon could. More laughs! I eventually made my way to the wings, stage right after delivering the feed line for the punch of the skit's gag. I skipped and hopped off the sound of thunderous applause.
No one realised that I had broken my leg on stage. By now the knee joint began swelling. When I got backstage, Dear Mrs. Johns, who had realised what had happened, was in a tearful panic. She somehow managed to rip the pants leg and when she saw the swelling reached into her handbag and out came her flask of sustenance Morgan's Treasure. Using as many soothing words as she could muster she uncorked the flask and poured the entire contents on my swollen knee while blowing on it.
I forgot about the painful joint because all I could think of was what was she going to do now, she had poured her elixir on me.
Kindness like that was not to be found ten-a-penny.
