During one memorable Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society (BMDS) comedy skit three ballet dancers were required to prance gracefully across the stage. Out came two female ballet dancers but the third was missing.Soon Don Jolliffe appeared dressed in a pink tutu. As he skipped and twirled across the stage he brought the house down. It was a typical Don Jolliffe stage moment.Mr Jolliffe is this year’s winner of the prestigious BMDS Stella Halsall award. The award is named after the late Stella Frith Halsall, a founding member of the society. It is presented to individuals who have made outstanding long-term contributions to the performing arts in Bermuda.Mr Jolliffe, 82, has been involved with BMDS for 43 years as a performer, President and premises manager.“I originally came to Bermuda in 1961 when they were rebuilding the old Bermudiana hotel,” said Mr Jolliffe, who is originally from Wales. “My skills are finding and making water. I was in the Royal Engineers, and drilled for water in the Libyan Desert in Benghazi, Libya and in Egypt. Before that I was in Korea.”In Bermuda he worked for the Bermudiana Hotel as Chief Engineer and building manager of the hotel’s water plant. He also assisted with the Government water plant in a volunteer capacity.“I only intended to stay for two years,” said Mr Jolliffe. “But the government said I had skills that they needed and they gave me Bermudian status.”His theatrical career in Bermuda started quietly, singing in the St John’s Choir. In 1963 he was invited to join the Bermuda Philharmonic Society. He became involved with numerous local productions. Then someone asked him to help BMDS purchase a building to become their headquarters.“When we bought Daylesford on Dundonald Street in Hamilton in the 1960s it was just an old house. There was a wall outside separating the property from the road. After many years we took the wall down, put in a girder and built the bar. Then in 1972 we thought we would build the theatre. Before that we performed at City Hall, The Old Armory, St John’s Church Hall or anywhere that we could find.”When a church tried to buy the property next door, as President of BMDS, Mr Jolliffe stepped in and went to the bank to borrow money for the organisation to buy the property. Their dream was at that time to use the lot to put up a bigger theatre.“We bought the lot for $100,000 and sold back to the City of Hamilton the sidewalk because the property went out to the road,” he said. “So we got $25,000 back. We rent it now as a parking lot and it gives us income because no one gets paid for anything. We are all volunteers. We give a lot of money to young people now.”Today, the theatre still comes under pressure from land developers. BMDS has resisted several attempts to buy the Daylesford Theatre property. BMDS by-laws now state that every member of the group must sign off, if the property is to be sold.“The play I remember most fondly is ‘The Little Matchgirl’,” said Mr Jolliffe. “I played Lord Pluckshot. In one scene I came in with a crown on and was all dressed up. There were seven ugly sisters. The father wanted to get rid of them. In I walked to the tune of ‘Hey Big Spender’. My costume was made of Velcro. They (the other characters) tore one sleeve off, and then the other one. Then the jacket and the trousers. I ended up with practically nothing on. That was a very memorable show. I am usually a king or a mayor when I perform.”He is now 82, but is still performing. For 19 years he has played Santa Claus during the BMDS Christmas pantomime and this year is no exception.“I like to see the kids faces,” he said. “I also like going to Westmeath. The residents love it.”Earlier this year, he was also in the Bermuda Civic Ballet performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. He played a man selling flowers from a wheelbarrow. He has been a member of the Bermuda Civic Ballet for 20 or so years, and has done many productions with them.“I think BMDS has changed a lot since I started,” he said. “We have a lot more Bermudians than we had. People used to call it ‘The Expat Club’ but it never was. A lot more Bermudians are going away to college and university and coming back with training in the theatre. You look at the pantomime now with the kids we have acting in it this year. It’s brilliant.”Mr Jolliffe, a widower, remarried a “younger woman” three years ago. His new bride, Rachel, is in her 70s.“After my wife Violet died, my daughter, Deryn, said to me I was becoming a miserable old man because I was grieving so much. Thank goodness for this place (BMDS). I got involved in the play ‘Dad’s Army’ and it took my mind off things. One day, I was at St John’s Church cemetery. I put a stone on my wife’s grave. As I came down the hill with tears in my eyes I saw this woman. It was Rachel, but I had never met her before. She said she had lost her partner as well, and knew how it felt. We chatted and she gave me a bit of comfort that way. Later, I was singing in the choir and she came up for communion and I thought, ‘that is a very nice looking lady’. So I invited her out for lunch and it went on from there.”They were married in a castle in the Hudson Valley in New York. Mr Jolliffe’s daughter and two grandchildren, Evan and Rhiannon, were in attendance.He is also involved with a number of other organisations including the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, the Bermuda Festival, and the Bermuda Philharmonic. He is a past Commodore of the Dinghy Club, was on the St John’s Church Vestry for 25 years and is Deputy Chairman of Westmeath. After all that he still finds time to volunteer at Agape House.“I was really shocked and pleased when I won this award,” said Mr Jolliffe.Useful website: www.bmds.bm.