Standing ovation I BUILT A FAMOUS THEATRE

When it comes to fighting for her arts-loving community, Angela's top performer!

- Cloe Willetts

Twenty-five years ago, Angela Antony breathed a sigh of relief as she sat in Auckland’s brand-new Bruce Mason Centre for the first time, gripping the hand of her husband John, who’d supported her through a 12-year battle to have the theatre opened on the North Shore.

After a fight that saw Angela push through four different councils, including an amalgamation, and drive fundraising for $10 million to build the Takapuna Beach venue, its opening night was historic.

Today, with thousands of community groups and artists gracing the stage each year, the Bruce Mason Centre is an integral part of local culture, and Angela – who certainly isn’t slowing down at 78 – is considered a legend in her arts-loving community.

“My favourite time was when the Royal New Zealand Ballet performed in the theatre, and I was sitting there thinking, ‘This is why I did it,” enthuses Angela, chatting to the Weekly from her home in Milford, where she’s filling lockdown by tending to her garden and walking the beach. “I’m so glad we kept going because after all those years, it was surreal.”

The bubbly grandmother of two has always loved the arts, and her children share the same creative blood. Her Auckland-based daughter Rachel Antony, 48, once worked for the BBC in London and is now CEO of Greenstone TV, while their son Todd Antony, 45, is a London-based international photographer.