STATHS N.E. Alumni
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E-mail:
OAR@STATHSNE.com
Office Of Alumni Relations
917.880.8314
Public Relations:
908.884.0455
STATHS Alumni Association
North East Chapter
Post Office Box 130141
Springfield Gardens
New York 11413-0141
OAR@STATHSNE.com
Office Of Alumni Relations
917.880.8314
Public Relations:
908.884.0455
STATHS Alumni Association
North East Chapter
Post Office Box 130141
Springfield Gardens
New York 11413-0141
| Directories |
| Notable Alumni |
| Volier Johnson '69 - Actor |
Volier Johnson knew the value of really getting into character from
the outset of what has turned out to be a lifetime in theatre.
Auditioning for a role in Rip Van Winkle when he was a student at St
Andrew Technical High School (STATHS), Johnson dressed for the part
and made an indelible mark on his drama teacher.
"Two of us going for the part. Me go home for a old pants and draw it
right up. Trevor Rhone said, 'Audition done!'," Johnson told The
Gleaner.
After that production and A Christmas Carol (in which he played the
miser Scrooge), the following year Johnson - still a schoolboy - did
his first commercial theatre production for Rhone, More Please, in
1970. Then Rhone put Johnson on the big screen in the biggest
Jamaican movie to date, The Harder They Come, in 1972.
"Me was the handcart boy who tief Jimmy Cliff tings," Johnson said.
He earned all of $30 for his role and was off to a flying start.
Hugh Campbell is organising a programme to celebrate Johnson's 40
years in theatre, starting with a night of Serious Business on April 1,
the Legends for the Legend party with Bunny Goodison and Winston
Blake on May 9, a one-off play in August and a gala dinner in
December.
Johnson pointed out that he did not really start earning money from
his theatre endeavours until he started doing Ed Wallace productions,
those 1970's plays including Operation P, Boeing Boeing, Love and
Marriage and The Rapist. Earlier in the decade, right after graduating
from STATHS, he did a series of productions with Lloyd Reckord,
among them Junction Village, Amen Corner, Rose Slip and Pillars in
the Mud. From those, he earned something which has lasted longer
than cash would have.
"It was more cultural when I started out and me thank God for that.
It teach me how to characterise. During that period you had to have
character. When you look onstage you see 10 different man in 10
different character," Johnson said. "I'll never forget when I did Rose
Slip. When you look on the stage you in a tenement yard," he said.
Leonie Forbes and Pauline Stone were also in that play. For
commercial theatre, Johnson said, "You really feel satisfied when you
have the people a tear down the place. It is entertainment".
In the 1980s, the prolific Johnson did a number of Pantomimes
(Tantaloo, Trash and Schoolers among them), Ginger Knight plays
(including Higglers, Stepfather and Room For Rent) and Basil
Dawkins' productions, that period extending into the 1990s. One of
the Dawkins plays, Toy Boy, won Johnson the Actor Boy Award for Best
Actor in 1996.
It was also in the 1990s that Johnson said he really took acting
"serious". The Oliver at Large series took off and they started
touring, this allowing Johnson to leave his day job in the sugar
industry. He had done steel fabrication after leaving STATHS and
then dabbled in chicken rearing. Looking back, Johnson said, the
pace was hectic. Then, "it was nice. You leave work, you go home and
organise yourself for rehearsal. When you like something it is not
stress. It never come in like anything. Is a part of my life".
Johnson stepped into the director's role once, on a production for
Ginger Knight. He has also written skits for other persons, but never a
full-length play. "Sometimes I say to myself, it easier you stick to the
evil you know," he said. He also did stand-up comedy once, with Miss
Kitty at Love is a Funny Little Thing two years ago. "I never had
anything scripted, I never had anything in my mind. Me just bounce
off Miss Kitty. Me surprise myself," he said.
Although it was a good experience, Johnson said he would not
venture further into stand-up comedy. "Me have a big reputation. Me
no waan kill it," he said, laughing.
Starting in the 1990s, he did a number of JAMBIZ productions
(Pinocchio, Children Children and Breadfruit Kingdom among them),
there were the UK productions Trench Town (for Kay Osbourne) and
Used. Past the turn of the millennium he has done Strength of a
Woman with Andrew Roach and the Stages Productions plays Below
The Waist, Bashment Granny 2 and Serious Business, which is now
running. Johnson has also done several sitcoms, including Lime Tree
Lane, Just One More, Claffy and Sarge in Charge and has gone into
radio with FAME FM's Full House Fridays.
Having done it all and intending to cut back on his performances
("me sort of tired now"), Johnson has one more 'to do' on his theatre
list. At least, 'to do again'. "My dream is to do another two-hander
with Oliver. I don't know what format it going take yet, but something
like that is nice," Johnson said.
Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer
the outset of what has turned out to be a lifetime in theatre.
Auditioning for a role in Rip Van Winkle when he was a student at St
Andrew Technical High School (STATHS), Johnson dressed for the part
and made an indelible mark on his drama teacher.
"Two of us going for the part. Me go home for a old pants and draw it
right up. Trevor Rhone said, 'Audition done!'," Johnson told The
Gleaner.
After that production and A Christmas Carol (in which he played the
miser Scrooge), the following year Johnson - still a schoolboy - did
his first commercial theatre production for Rhone, More Please, in
1970. Then Rhone put Johnson on the big screen in the biggest
Jamaican movie to date, The Harder They Come, in 1972.
"Me was the handcart boy who tief Jimmy Cliff tings," Johnson said.
He earned all of $30 for his role and was off to a flying start.
Hugh Campbell is organising a programme to celebrate Johnson's 40
years in theatre, starting with a night of Serious Business on April 1,
the Legends for the Legend party with Bunny Goodison and Winston
Blake on May 9, a one-off play in August and a gala dinner in
December.
Johnson pointed out that he did not really start earning money from
his theatre endeavours until he started doing Ed Wallace productions,
those 1970's plays including Operation P, Boeing Boeing, Love and
Marriage and The Rapist. Earlier in the decade, right after graduating
from STATHS, he did a series of productions with Lloyd Reckord,
among them Junction Village, Amen Corner, Rose Slip and Pillars in
the Mud. From those, he earned something which has lasted longer
than cash would have.
"It was more cultural when I started out and me thank God for that.
It teach me how to characterise. During that period you had to have
character. When you look onstage you see 10 different man in 10
different character," Johnson said. "I'll never forget when I did Rose
Slip. When you look on the stage you in a tenement yard," he said.
Leonie Forbes and Pauline Stone were also in that play. For
commercial theatre, Johnson said, "You really feel satisfied when you
have the people a tear down the place. It is entertainment".
In the 1980s, the prolific Johnson did a number of Pantomimes
(Tantaloo, Trash and Schoolers among them), Ginger Knight plays
(including Higglers, Stepfather and Room For Rent) and Basil
Dawkins' productions, that period extending into the 1990s. One of
the Dawkins plays, Toy Boy, won Johnson the Actor Boy Award for Best
Actor in 1996.
It was also in the 1990s that Johnson said he really took acting
"serious". The Oliver at Large series took off and they started
touring, this allowing Johnson to leave his day job in the sugar
industry. He had done steel fabrication after leaving STATHS and
then dabbled in chicken rearing. Looking back, Johnson said, the
pace was hectic. Then, "it was nice. You leave work, you go home and
organise yourself for rehearsal. When you like something it is not
stress. It never come in like anything. Is a part of my life".
Johnson stepped into the director's role once, on a production for
Ginger Knight. He has also written skits for other persons, but never a
full-length play. "Sometimes I say to myself, it easier you stick to the
evil you know," he said. He also did stand-up comedy once, with Miss
Kitty at Love is a Funny Little Thing two years ago. "I never had
anything scripted, I never had anything in my mind. Me just bounce
off Miss Kitty. Me surprise myself," he said.
Although it was a good experience, Johnson said he would not
venture further into stand-up comedy. "Me have a big reputation. Me
no waan kill it," he said, laughing.
Starting in the 1990s, he did a number of JAMBIZ productions
(Pinocchio, Children Children and Breadfruit Kingdom among them),
there were the UK productions Trench Town (for Kay Osbourne) and
Used. Past the turn of the millennium he has done Strength of a
Woman with Andrew Roach and the Stages Productions plays Below
The Waist, Bashment Granny 2 and Serious Business, which is now
running. Johnson has also done several sitcoms, including Lime Tree
Lane, Just One More, Claffy and Sarge in Charge and has gone into
radio with FAME FM's Full House Fridays.
Having done it all and intending to cut back on his performances
("me sort of tired now"), Johnson has one more 'to do' on his theatre
list. At least, 'to do again'. "My dream is to do another two-hander
with Oliver. I don't know what format it going take yet, but something
like that is nice," Johnson said.
Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer
STATHS N.E. Alumni
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