A wall of portraits and a plaque celebrating Bundaberg-born soprano Gladys Moncrieff has been unveiled at the entertainment centre named in her honour.
The display in the Moncrieff Entertainment Centre foyer was opened earlier this week by Bundaberg Region Mayor Helen Blackburn and Our Glad Association founder Leonie Egan.
The plaque also acknowledges the efforts of the Our Glad Association, which formed in 2015 and was dedicated to preserving Gladys’s legacy.
Leonie said she was a long-time fan of Gladys, having sung the songs with her husband around Sydney for 50 years before moving to Bundaberg.
“I came up and I thought, ‘Gladys, I’ve sung all her songs, where is she?’,” Leonie said.
“So, I went hunting for her and I couldn’t find her.
“I thought, well, it’s about time, you know, that she had a centre somewhere.”
Over the past decade, the association collected a vast array of Gladys memorabilia, which has been gifted to Bundaberg Regional Council.
Leonie said she was pleased the collection had found a permanent home now the Our Glad Association had disbanded.
“I can’t believe how wonderful it is,” Leonie said.
“It makes me feel I’ve done something with that 10 years of effort and organisation and buying everything off eBay that I could possibly get and singing her songs around the traps and putting on functions and concerts.
“We’ve had a wonderful 10 years, I might tell you.”
Council’s Arts and Heritage portfolio spokesperson Cr John Learmonth said he was pleased Council could carry on the role of sharing Gladys’ story with the community.
“Gladys was a significant star on the Australian music stage from a very young age,” Cr Learmonth said.
“To have come from a regional Queensland background to national, and even international, acclaim is testament to her talent and perseverance.
“It’s wonderful to see her place in musical history be remembered and honoured in her hometown.”
About Gladys Moncrieff
According to Bundaberg Regional Libraries research, Gladys Moncrieff was born in Bundaberg in 1892.
She made her first appearance at the age of six as part of a school children’s performance at the Queen’s Theatre.
She travelled and sang, accompanied by her father on piano, throughout Queensland.
By 1909, under the direction of her mother who taught singing, Gladys became a regular vaudeville performer in Brisbane, establishing her name in light opera and musical comedy.
In 1912 she auditioned for J.C. Willamson and studied with Grace Miller in Sydney.
Her debut was in HMS Pinafore in Sydney in 1914 and her reputation was consolidated when she appeared in the title role of Maid of the Mountains, which had a wide run that lasted two years.
During this period she became known throughout Australia as “Our Glad”.
In 1926 Gladys went international, establishing herself on the London musical comedy scene, where she was referred to as “Miss Moncrieff, a new star from Australia”.
She made a series of recordings which continue to be reissued and was awarded an Order of the British Empire for her contribution to the entertaining arts.
