We are sad to record the recent death of Mike Bradbury, much loved friend and member of BROS
Some wonderful memories from Ed Pagett, about his lighting partner-in-crime:
“I can’t exactly recall the first show I lit with Mike – it was so long ago… but I do recall being slightly worried that Mike decided to audition for Hot Mikado which was at Hampton Hill Playhouse back in 2005, intending to be “on stage” rather than “backstage”…….so I can say with some certainty that we had collaborated on lighting prior to this 2005 production – that’s coming up to the best part of 20 years working together!
Back in 2005 – Mike’s theatrical calling was confused……deep down he was a Tech, (and a very good one at that), but the smell of the grease paint continued to tempt him to audition for shows that “he fancied” – in my view, something that would place him on completely the wrong side of the footlights.
The compromise was reached for Hot Mikado and he helped with the lighting get-in, then returned to the stage for the dress rehearsals and performances where he was part of the male dance troupe.
While Hot Mikado was a critical success, post-show, I pointed out to Mike that his talent as a Tech (and thus his future contribution to lighting BROS shows) would be considerable – but his future as a tap dancer was at best uncertain, at worst career limiting.
Thankfully, I think Mike agreed and we continued the lighting partnership and worked together many, many times, in many venues, on many productions.
Now, lighting a show is both a technical and creative challenge. Ultimately, we strive for professional standards, but in amateur theatre typically we only have a couple of technical days to pull off a miracle! Having a collaborative partner is a huge comfort blanket and over the years we developed an almost unspoken understanding and shorthand to streamline the lighting process. Mike was highly talented as a lighting console programmer and I was able to rely on him to turn my ideas into cues and fade times and we often made level, colour or cue timing adjustments on the fly during the tech and dress – both seeing and understanding a “problem” with simple calls of “too blue stage right”, “delay down stage left”, “split AB acting cool and warm”…….a few moment of clicking keys and Mike responding “done!”. It was so good to have such a mutual understanding and be so in tune.
However – our continuing collaboration was once again jeopardised, this time due to Her Majesties Navy….specifically the Aircraft Carrier “HMS Queen Elizabeth”. Mike worked for BAE Systems and was responsible for some of the hush-hush electronic systems on board the ship and would fly to a dockyard in Scotland at a moment’s notice and join the ship for sea trials. Whilst very exciting for him – the start date of the sea trials would be vague (always due to sailing delays caused by technical problems – which I don’t think were of Mike’s making), and once at sea, they never knew where they would get back to port, particularly if the trials didn’t go well…..and they mostly didn’t, which I also don’t think were of Mike’s making!
So, when I asked the question, “Mike – the dates for such and such a show are xxxxx – are you available?” I would get the answer “I might be at sea”, or “depends on how the trials go – I may not get back”.
There was at least one show where he didn’t get back, and another where he just got back in time thanks to a helicopter transfer… I nearly wrote to the Admiralty asking for him to be excused on compassionate grounds and the sake of art.
So, it was with some relief one day over a sandwich between shows we found ourselves like a couple of old codgers discussing amongst other things his possible early retirement from BAE to avoid being involved in the next carrier – the “HMS Prince of Wales”….which turned out to be more technically problematic than “Elizabeth”……so would have impacted still more co-productions!
As well as an accomplished tech nerd (not a derogatory term), Mike was also a qualified Pilot with a ¼ share in a light aircraft. In 2019 I found out that Fran was unable to join Mike for the BROS production of Sister Act at Minack Theatre, that Mike was lighting, and leapt at the chance to take the jump seat and fly down to Cornwall to help him with his load-in. The flight, from memory, was under an hour and a half, (versus 7+ in a car), and was completely brilliant – I was allowed to fly some of the way under his stewardship……….sadly Lands End was clouded in with sea mist, so we circled the theatre waiting for fog to lift for 30 minutes, but it never did, so we flew to his alternate airfield at St Ives….then got a taxi to the theatre. As a pilot, just as when he was sitting at a lighting desk, he was in his element: showcasing technical skills, engineering know-how, unflappable competence, always a very safe and reliable pair of hands. Some of the BROS cast spotted the plane circling the theatre and thought it was Mike… but he never bragged about it, it was just all matter of fact, and more efficient way to travel.
I think one year he did joy rides for some cast and crew out of Lands End in the downtime between shows. Sadly, I wasn’t there for the ride.
Our successful history of lighting collaborations hit another obstacle, sadly – just prior to his official brain tumour diagnosis it was apparent that all was not well. We found ourselves in a typical programming session for one particular show, sitting at the back of the stalls, Mike at the lighting desk, me with a lighting plan and script calling the shots….it became apparent that he was troubled and struggling to remember how to operate the desk… his innate programming skill that was second nature was being supressed and it was out of his control.
Once the cause was diagnosed, Mike understandably took a step back from shows while undergoing treatment. We remained optimistic for his return as he was an integral part of the team and the door remained open for his return.
But his treatment took its toll, and he felt he wasn’t in a position to commit – he didn’t like to let people down, and he never did, so he stepped back from something he loved rather than disappoint.
Mike’s talent, his collaboration, friendship and team spirit will be missed by all those backstage and on-stage who have worked with him and worked alongside him over the years.
Gone but never forgotten.
Ed