Bernard Jay – the man behind the magic

PETER FELDMAN

The world of entertainment is populated by Jews – it must be something in their DNA – and Jay joins a long list of those who have succeeded in their respective fields. Being Jewish has helped him hugely, he says.

As chief executive of Joburg Theatre, he helped to turn this Braamfontein venue into a financial success story. Then, after leaving in 2015, he took up producing. One of his successes was the acclaimed musical, The Color Purple. In April, this hit returns for a short, third season at Joburg Theatre, and is scheduled to perform later this year in Shanghai, China.

Born in Huddersfield in Yorkshire, England, Jay’s personal journey both as a Jew and a theatre practitioner has been an exhilarating one.

Growing up in the Essex town of Westcliff-on-Sea, he lived close to the Palace Theatre where at the age of 11, he used his pocket money to see his first play. He was hooked, and knew he wanted to do something which involved being in the theatre but not as a performer.

“I went every Monday night. It was sixpence to sit in the balcony in those days. I fell in love with what I was watching.”

After his Barmitzvah, his father taught him a lesson which he took to heart, that as a Jewish man, he must make his own decisions from then on. “I knew by the time I was 15 that organised religion the way my parents practised it and brought up their children wasn’t really something I could identify with,” says Jay. “I’m proud of my birthright, and identify as a Jew, but don’t practise the religion in a formal way. I don’t have children, so it hasn’t become a question in my life.”

He admits he disliked school, and considered himself an “okay” student, but it was theatre that became his passion, and by the time he was 13, he knew that was what he needed to get into.

“I love this place because when I’m there, I am in heaven. My parents didn’t go to the theatre. At the time, in the 1950s, most people thought that if you were in the theatre, you must be an actor. I knew I couldn’t be an actor, and never wanted to be one.”

Jay’s options lay in theatre management. He was 16 when he first started working at an exclusive London night club answering the telephone by day and stamping membership cards by night. “I was working. I was in the industry. Lionel Bart, who wrote the musical Oliver, befriended me. I was meeting famous people. And it happened when I was straight out of school.”

At 19, he got his first job as a theatre manager at the same Palace Theatre he had visited as a child after its manager retired after 30 years. He held the position for eight months, and went on to hold several other positions in theatre, fast learning how to become a top theatre manager.

It was the start of a chequered career, which included managing an oversized, gay, New York drag queen named Devine.

Jay came to South Africa in the early 90s to work with Percy Tucker at Computicket as his entertainment director. He also worked for promoter Attie van Wyk of Big Concerts in staging musicals.

“My whole life has turned on a dime,” he says philosophically. “I never know what’s going to happen next. I just let it happen. I’m so fortunate that things have continued to happen.”