- Margaret Corker reflects on her time at Luxurama Theatre, a once vibrant cinema and performance venue in Wynberg.
- Despite its dilapidated state, Corker cherishes the memories and supports a documentary preserving its history.
- The documentary, “A Cape Town Song: The Story of Luxurama,” highlights the theatre’s impact and features interviews with former staff and artists.
A company is set to produce a documentary on the Luxurama Theatre, a multi-racial speakeasy that launched the careers of many local artists.
When Margaret Corker, originally from Steenberg and now residing in Plumstead, started at the Luxurama in Wynberg at the age of 20, it was primarily a cinema. When she visited the Luxurama Theatre on Heritage Day some years ago, the roof had caved in and there were dead birds everywhere.
“I was asked the question, how do you feel standing on the steps of what was once almost ‘home’ for you and my reply was ‘as broken as this building is, so broken is my heart’. It is a great pity that the Luxurama Theatre could not be saved due to financial constraints although the last concert hosted by the late Zayn Adams and Taliep Petersen, a request and struggle to do just that, did not succeed.
“I worked for a bookkeeping firm in Mowbray and did the books of the Luxurama. The owner’s son, Anwar Ismail, approached me to join the company as the manager of the Luxurama in 1980. I just gave birth to Liesel six months prior, so she basically grew up in the Luxurama and I feel extremely proud of her and my son-in-law Nicki Priem and their company The Mad Little Badger for their brainwave in saving the legacy of the Luxurama. Those memories are priceless and will never be able to be re-lived except through this documentary “A Cape Town Song: The story of the Luxurama,” Corker says.
She married Michael Corker and lived in Allenby Drive, Retreat, for many years and later moved to Plumstead.
The magic of movies
The first movie she experienced in the cinema was The Elephant Man, but she has lots of special memories of the Luxurama Theatre.
“I remember walking past the auditorium every morning to get to my office and for a brief moment was hoping The Elephant Man won’t come out of the theatre. Movies like Blue Lagoon and Grease filled the house for weeks. A funny incident happened when we played the movie Action Jackson and every time someone called in to ask what was playing, saying Action Jackson turned out to be so difficult and funny after a few times.
“As time went by, I became the fundraiser as part of my managerial duties and visited schools, sporting bodies, madrassas, gospel fraternities, etc and started with packages for the fundraising organisations to generate an income from the movies booked. We always worked on a 50% basis profit to the organisation and proved very successful.
“We booked many schools from various areas. I remember Livingstone High School, Sibelius High, Steenberg High, Spine Road High and many more. It was such a thrill to see the theatre filling up as it housed 1 144 seats and my duty was to make sure each ticket was sold and theatre hire costs were paid in advance. After the films, we started live shows. In December of each year for 31 days, we hosted the We Care Music Expo with musical directors Taliep Petersen and Zayn Adams, ensuring that we had top-class artists every night.”
Taliep Petersen and his band with Zayn Adams performed nightly, bringing Stars like Leslie Kleinsmith, Loukmaan Adams and Jody Abrahams then known as Too Damn Fresh, Litsa Peroglou now known as Lady Litsa, The Boyz, and many more.
The We Care Music Expo ended on 31 December with an extravaganza.
“Guests dressed up in furs and suits and were treated with the best in entertainment including the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Sergei Burdokov and a special guest one year was Patricia de Lille.
Gospel shows, Cape Malay Choirs
Other main events were hosting the gospel shows. The shows were always packed to capacity, spilling into the aisles. It was amazing to hear the harmony of those voices, praising God.
“Not forgetting the local and international Indian shows which brought the Indian communities from all over Cape Town. Karriem Kagee from Kagee’s Sound ensured that the audio and visual requirements were of the highest standard.
“There were also the Cape Malay Choirs, another unforgettable experience that only Cape Town can produce. One live local performance that really stood out for me was The Sound of Music, produced by Squarehill Primary School with teachers, besides participating in the play with their students but also being part of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, lighting up the performance with their incredible orchestra.
“It is also a memory that is so dear to my heart, as my late daughter, Janine, who passed away in December 2023, played the part of Little Gretel and Liesel played a nun. They used the big screen for visuals and the underground tunnels for some of the scenes. What a memory.
Family
“From a political standpoint, we also experienced the UDF. At the time, the two sons of the owner, who were politically motivated and active, were arrested for their roles in assisting the UDF.
I can go on and on. We were a real family at the Luxurama with the owners, staff and our patrons. I guess my one memory was when the kids brought their cousins to the movies and told them the Luxurama belonged to me and they could just help themselves in the cafeteria, bringing me a bill of R400.
“As Liesel wanted to capture the documentary from the time the Luxurama was established in the 60s, it was difficult as getting archived material is expensive and the Luxurama Theatre history was not readily available on websites, etc. With their determination to make this documentary a huge success, I know they captured many heart-warming interviews that will allow the legacy to live on forever in the hearts of many. Although many artists, staff and management have passed on, their brainwave of bringing the current young artists like Jimmy Nevis and Craig Lucas to write music about the Luxurama, will keep those memories alive,” Corker says.
