Better known to many as Fairy Liquide
Annie died peacefully on 6 June after a long illness. Without Annie there would have been no Fairy Liquide and no Laleham Pantomime.
At a New Year’s Eve party in 2012 at Annie’s house a number of short sketches and songs were performed by those present, some with a seasonal flavour. Annie pondered whether the Laleham Residents Association could put on a pantomime at the village hall. The question was ducked and again when she asked a couple of months later, but on the third time of asking it was taken to the LRA Committee where there were mixed views. Would it actually happen and might there be considerable unrecovered costs?
Annie was determined. She had already written a pantomime script – ‘Jack and the Upside Down Stalk’ many years previously and it had been staged once before. The LRA Commit-tee gave her the green light to go ahead, so she started to put the other parts of the production jigsaw together. She cajoled square dancing friends and others to attend auditions in the village hall, found a director, bought, begged and borrowed costumes and assembled a team to take care of lighting, sound, make-up and stage management duties. The Laleham panto was born and rehearsals started in earnest with Annie taking a central acting role. This role is what she will most be remembered for, as the lovable queen of the fairies, Fairy Liquide, who graced the stage at the Village Hall not only during the first pan-to in 2013 but in all the following years up to 2018. Her theme song ‘Nobody loves a fairy when …’ was a feature of all six pantos. The words changed each year and her song was one of the highlights of the shows.
The panto was a great success with five performances each year all being sold out as well as a preview dress rehearsal attended by local children and pensioners. The panto took a year off in 2019 when she put on ‘The Good Old Days 1890-1950’, in the style of the Old Tyme Musical with sketches from the music hall era and after. Once again this was a sell out and received great acclaim.
Annie had a full life. Her personality was outgoing and bubbly. She always had a passion for musical theatre. She had sung the lead in Oklahoma at the Wimbledon Theatre, was a member of the Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society and had appeared at the Ed-inburgh Fringe Festival. At the same time she had a successful career in Promotions and Public Relations work and formed her own company ASK Associates with high profile clients such as Texaco, British Gas and Jaguar. She also had a passion for travel, including in her younger days making an overland trip through Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and into Pakistan.
However, it is as Fairy Liquide that most readers will remember her best. Annie and Fairy Liquide we miss you both. Contrary to the words of the song, we always loved a fairy when she was Fairy Liquide.
By David Furst