All the world’s a stage
MVFM president and presenter, John Phelps in his matinee idol days. Photo supplied.
Dr John Phelps, President of MVFM 96.9 Community Radio, completed his notable career in education, as an international consultant of eighteen years, working mainly in the UK and in the South Pacific.
But John has had another career. He was an actor during the 1970s and 80s performing mainly in Hobart and Launceston.
He played a lot of leading roles especially in musicals. In fact, in almost every role John played, he was cast as a king, as in The King and I, Camelot and Beckett, to name a few.
John Phelps claims to be the only person who has appeared in solo roles with all three Tasmanian companies, the Tasmanian Theatre Company, the Tasmanian Opera Company and the Tasmanian Ballet Company.
Yes, ballet! By the way, all three companies then became defunct.
An inveterate traveller, especially to Europe, John makes a habit of celebrating his zero birthdays on Greek islands.
Now given that there are a lot of Greek islands, he could be around for a long time to come.
But what kind of music does he like? Well, ever since John was a boy growing up in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, he has been fascinated by classical music such as Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Debussy.
With these classics surrounding John as he attended University at the age of 17, the first record he bought was an LP of a Strauss medley.
How about that for teenage oddness?
Dr Phelps brought that attitude of his love for classical music to Community Radio and twice each week you can hear his program called Classical Time on MVFM 96.9 every Tuesday evening at 7pm and repeated on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
What better way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon, sitting out in the sun on a comfortable armchair, a glass of wine on one side and a slice of Camembert cheese on the other, listening to some Mozart. Wow! What a way to go!
