Following the death of Janet Stockley, who was Musical Director of WOW from April 1982 until the present day, Jamie Chapman and Scott St. Martin pay their tributes.
‘I’m deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Janet Stockley.
I first met Janet at the age of six, when she offered me a chip at a Weymouth Operatic Society skittles evening. She’d just finished playing Nancy in their production of ‘Oliver!’ Unknown to me at the time, she was at that very moment helping to set up the Weymouth Operatic Workshop (WOW)—the junior section of the Society. (Fagin’s gang had loved performing so much that they didn’t want to stop, and Nancy – Janet – was instrumental in seeing that they didn’t have to.).
I next met Janet when I auditioned for WOW a couple of years later. The minimum age was ten, and I was eight. Janet knew this but didn’t split on me. She didn’t offer me a chip this time, but I got something much better – premature membership of WOW.
The hours Janet devoted to WOW simply cannot be quantified. And ‘devoted’ really is the word. Janet was utterly, totally, consumingly devoted to WOW – and to the kids in it. The young lives she changed, the futures she shaped… How Janet wasn’t awarded an MBE is quite beyond me. No one could have been more deserving.
Janet was a genuinely unique person. Driven and talented and passionately committed. She was as hot tempered as she was kind hearted. And she was great fun. Most of all, Janet was a life force. So much so, I can’t quite think of her as not being alive.
But what a legacy she leaves. I, and so many others, owe her a debt of gratitude. She gave many of us our start and helped us on our way. And carried on caring.
She was one of a kind – and brilliant.
I’ll be raising a glass to you tonight, Janet. I know literally hundreds of others will be doing the same. Heaven had better brace itself – one helluva lady is about to arrive. X’
Jamie Chapman
‘Janet Stockley, what an amazing lady you were. No one in Weymouth did more for youth theatre than you. I shall never forget our time working together. I’m sure you’re up there organising the little angels, and oh, what a show it will be, xxx!
Scott St Martin
If you have any memories of Janet, please share them below.
