Bill Owen Bill Owen joined Dukinfield Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society in 1957 His piano skills had been recognised by Charlie Hadfield, the Society’s early make-up artist and Bill was appointed rehearsal pianist but soon became one of the dancers when the Society was short of men. From then on he was involved with all the productions either on stage or behind the scenes. Between 1931 and 2013, he served on the Society’s Management Committee, being joint programme co-ordinator from 1992 overseeing the compilation and printing of the programmes for the shows. Bill was a song and dance man specialising in comedy, starting in minor principal roles but was soon playing leading roles with Dukinfield and other local societies including Ashton O.S., Hyde Musical Society, New Mills A.O.D.S. and Romiley O.S. Two roles he enjoyed in the early years were Kipps in Half-a-Sixpence in 1974 and Denry Machin in one of the first amateur productions of The Card in 1975. In 1985 he played Chesney Allen in Underneath the Arches - all three with Hyde Musical Society. Later favourites were The Ghost of Christmas Present in Scrooge - The Musical and Chitterlow in Half-a-Sixpence, both with Dukinfield. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Bill was a member of the Harry Slater Concert Party performing at charitable events. In 1996, he led the Hyde Musical Society team in the BBC Radio 2 quiz series — ‘Mad about Musicals’. They reached the final, losing by just one point in a tie-break. In recent years, he enjoyed making people laugh in the comedies written by Sylvia Walker at Hyde Festival Theatre. Bill held the NODA gold medal and bar for fifty-five years service to the amateur stage and, although a Compositor by trade, he was also a character performer with Granada Studios Tour from 1989 until its closure in 2000.
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