Beaumaris Theatre and the theatre world at large is mourning the sad passing of a true gentleman in every respect, the charming and talented Tom Travers who was 93.
Tom’s extensive theatrical CV is extremely impressive and spans several decades with countless companies all around Melbourne and includes numerous film and television credits too.
Tom made his Beaumaris Theatre debut in 2008 when he was 81 years young and was perfectly cast as the humble, gentle, and kind Matthew Cuthbert in our production of Anne of Green Gables.
In 2009 Tom was cast in our one-act play, An Englishman Abroad, by Alan Bennett. In 2011 he played Mr. Grisby in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Tom is probably most well known to our Beaumaris Theatre faithful for his heartwarming and touching performances at our annual fundraising event for Cancer Council, The Biggest (and Latest) Morning Tea, which he has appeared at every year since 2009.
Tom captivated and delighted our cast and audience year after year with his heartfelt performances and renditions of the beautiful and moving classics, “All the Things You Are” by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and “Once Upon A Time” by Strauss and Adams.
Our audience were enraptured as Tom, dressed in his trademark dinner suit with his white or velvet jacket, crooned these stunning and sentimental standards with his magnificent, dulcet voice.
The songs were dedicated to Tom’s darling wife Judith and each time Tom would share his touching stories of how he ‘wooed’ Judith with “All The Things You Are” when they were courting. Much later, after many years of marriage, Judith summoned Tom inside one day when he was painting and singing “Once Upon A Time” and he thought he was in trouble, but Judith told Tom she wanted him to sing it at her funeral. He recalled how he thought that was funny and would never happen as she was nine years younger than him. Little did he know at the time, he did sing “Once Upon A Time” at Judith’s funeral when she passed away from cancer and he conveyed how extremely difficult that was. As Tom reminisced, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
In 2017 we hosted a surprise, ‘This Is Your Life’ 90th birthday celebration for Tom at Beaumaris Theatre, beautifully ‘staged’ by the lovely Wendy McRae. It was a marvellous milestone occasion as Tom’s thespian family paid tribute, respect, and admiration to our own revered theatrical legend.
Tom had an endearing, warm, gregarious, charismatic personality and a mischievous glint in his eye and left an indelible mark on everyone he met. He was an excellent and engaging storyteller and loved to share interesting tales and yarns of theatre memories and trivial facts. He was extremely professional and passionate about his craft and had the fabulous knack of making it all look effortless. He was an intellectual and generous performer to work with and direct.
We look forward to sharing our fond and cherished memories, music, and stories of dear Tom with fellow thespians to celebrate his extraordinary life as soon as we are able.
We send our deepest condolences to the Travers family.
