“I feel like I have never been away. Everybody is so nice, they make me feel at home”-Gillian Campbell
(This interview was done for the Klondike Sun, and was published in the March 20, 2013 issue. This blog version has some extra quotes plus I have the benefit of being able to run extra photos in color and put in the video clips-Alice.)Gillian positively glows with excitement when talking about Dawson City in her interview with me. She is a very easy person to interview, because the words and enthusiasm just flow from her:
“I have the best musicians, I have Bill Costin from Dawson, we have Ron Thompson on bass player, they are brilliant, and my son of course, Richard Campbell, on the drums.”
“I feel like I have never been away. Everybody is so nice, they make me feel at home, like we belong there. Mark and June Mather take such good care of us, all the wonderful meals for us, and the cookies were exceptional. Lovely meals June did for us. Oh Dear… We forgot to thank the Downtown Hotel…..also KVA.”
I quickly resigned myself and no longer tried to direct the interview, just concentrated on catching her comments, delivered at a rapid but coherent pace.
“The Snowshoe Shufflers were great ladies, great ladies... they helped with our show and with the audience.. they aren't part of my show but we feel like they are family too...Debbie Winston she used to be part owner of the Frantic Follies in Whitehorse. She said would you like to use my Can Can skirts (for the show). She is in Dawson City and we went over for tea and picked up the skirts and Debbie pickled them up and steamed them, and the girls looked fantastic. Debbie’s' skirts were longer, more frills and vibrant colours.”
“We have the Sarah Moore Dancers out of Vancouver, I have worked with Sarah Moore for years and her Dancers .. Sarah is a perfectionist, and her dancers are such ladies, and always a pleasure working with them.
My new black costume that my friend Ray Buchanan made, we call it the Marlene Dietrich Dress, as someone said, it's stunning. It was made for this trip up to Dawson.. he said ‘you have to have a new gown for Dawson City and the Sourdough Rendezvous’.”
“When I was Klondike Kate in Edmonton, they said ‘Ask Ray to make you a cotton dress’. Because I did 135 shows in 10 days. And Ray said ‘Cotton, did you say cotton? You are aren't on there for comfort, you are there to look good’ so he used the usual sequins and brocade and taffeta. But he did make you one that I could sit down in, like a tulle fabric with a big rose hat as well. And he spends hours and hours beading these costumes.”
“He is 83 years of age and he won't make dresses for anybody else but me. And he makes the necklaces, the earrings, the hats, he bejewelled the shoes and makes purses for me, everything to match. Edward is the wind beneath my wings, Ray and Edward are the wind beneath my wings, I couldn't do it (the travelling and the shows without Edward with me. And my son Richard is so faithful, he comes with me on every gig. He is newly married to a wonderful girl, Dana, and she is perfect, a perfect wife for him. My other son Jason lives in Santa Barbara and he has identical twin girls 7 years old, and a 13 year old. And the twins are the spitting image of me.”
“The KVA and Mark & June Mather invited us up. The first time he invited us up was 2005 for the International Dog Sled Mushers... the last time before was during the Gaslight Follies in the 1980's, Peter Jenkins he called us up and we did the International Gold Show with Daryl Steininger in the 1980's.
The KVA has had us up multiple times since 2005, the last time was 2 years ago. So we were thrilled to bits to come up this time, always, to come up to Dawson City.”
Both Gillian and Edward agreed that Dawson is very special to them, as it is the City that they met. I had seen the warmth between them when I ran into Gillian at the Wild & Wooly, where I took some portraits of them for the interview. Of course I had to hear the story of how they met... This was back in 1967 when Edward worked as the Dawson Manager of the local Bank of Montreal.
Gillian began: “I arrived on the plane with my 2 small sons, they were still in nappies.”
Edward quickly interjected... “And I told Vic Peters, he was the manager of the Commerce, we went out in his pickup truck to pick up the luggage, and the 4 showgirls were coming off the plane, and Gillian came off with those 2 babies, and then I said to Vic.. I said to Vic I said 'I think she will be the best of the works'. ”
“She was married at the time and very proper, but we kept running in to each other“
Gillian continued: “We were like ships that passed in the night. When I was at the PNE working with Bobby Hales and Edward would be in the audience and I would wave and say hi. I was driving down Hasting street on September 27 1986 and I saw him so I stopped the car and went out and gave him a big hug, and he said 'why not have dinner with me' I wasn't thinking of romance, but I felt so comfortable with him, it was like coming home.”
Edward said “It was exciting to sort of get back together again...She asked me what bank I worked at and I said I own and train race horses.”
Gillian ended up walking the horses, and picking up manure.
“Good for the waistline“ Gillian interjected. “We started going out once a week, and I would buy him Fish and Chips, we were buddies.”
Edward concluded “I always felt very comfortable with Gillian”
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