Vale Norma Robertson March 21, 1941-January 8, 2025.

By Bill Stephens

Friends gathered at the Canberra Repertory Theatre on Wednesday to celebrate and reminisce about the life of one of their most admired and respected members, Norma Robertson.

A life member of Canberra Repertory, she was best known to the wider community as the brilliant pianist and musical director for Canberra Repertory’s Old Time Music Halls.

For 26 years she and fellow pianist, Andrew Kay delighted audiences with their skills as duo-pianists.

What set her apart from most other musical directors was her ability to play by ear, transpose any song instantly, often mid-song if necessary, and her inexhaustible good humour during rehearsals.

I learned this during my first production Stairway to the Stars, a revue I directed for the Griffith Amateur Musical Revue Company in 1958 and for which, Norma – then a 16-year-old schoolgirl who had passed all her AMEB examinations – was my musical director.

She would be my musical director for five more of my shows, until she won a scholarship to the Wagga Teacher’s College in 1961.

In 1974 Norma was teamed with local dentist, Andrew Kay, to provide the musical direction for the inaugural Old Time Music Hall.

In the mid-’70s, I directed a revue, Up Tempo, for Tempo Theatre, my first production in Canberra, and the piano duo became my musical directors.

In 1986, my wife Pat, son Tim and I purchased the School of Arts Café in Queanbeyan.

Norma agreed to be accompanist for a season at the café with American lounge singer, Connie Strait, whose talent for being able to sing just about any song from the Great American Songbook, was a perfect match for Norma’s ability to play any of them.

But she resolutely refused to perform a solo in any of the shows, preferring to provide a safe and secure ambiance for the artist she was accompanying.

However, she did appear in group shows, including numerous editions of the annual Bull ‘n’ Bush Christmas Parties, where she could hold her own.

In their 1989 show, I Love a Piano, she and Kay showcased their duo-piano skills, with polished narration, as she did when accompanying Jon Finlayson and Jon Stephens for their 1998 Flanagan and Allen show, Underneath the Arches.

Nothing if not a perfectionist, Norma, didn’t abide fools gladly, but neither was she dictatorial. Rather, she was a wise and knowledgeable mentor, whose counsel was sought and respected by every artist with whom she worked.