final credits - ron wigmore
While most never knew his name, visitors to Edmonton's Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium certainly knew him by face.
Dressed always as if for the stage, Ron Wigmore was a constant presence on the floor during events at the city's leading soft-seater.
But Wigmore was more than just the manager of the Jube.
In Edmonton's tight theatre community, Wigmore had done it all ... from building sets, acting, directing, to lobbying for funding, the feisty red-haired Cockney was a force to be reckoned with.
In 1956, the Edmonton, London, England-born native got off a Vancouver-bound train when he heard that Edmonton, Alberta was about to open a 2,750 seat auditorium. He soon went from stage manager (advising thespians in no uncertain terms to stay off the furniture) to managing the entire facility until his retirement in 1989.
In addition to running the Jubilee, Wigmore helped launch the Walterdale Playhouse, first established in rented space in the basement of the auditorium he ran.
When the Walterdale later acquired an ex-firehall in Old Strathcona as a performance space, it was Wigmore who later saved the structure from the wrecking ball by raising nearly $800,000 for renovations.
Ron Wigmore died on January 14th, 2006 at the age of 78 from emphysema.