© Chloe
Not to be reproduced, in part or whole, without permission.

Although getting to see Roy at the Maurice Richard Gala was the highlight of our time in Montreal, there were many other highlights, some of which I'd like to share with you here.

Firstly, a huge thank you to Jean-Francois & Suzanne, a journalist friend of Barb's and his editor for allowing Barb & myself a glimpse into the photo archives at the newspaper he works for. We were lucky enough to get to look back at hundred or so Roy photos most of which were never published. Highlights of that include seeing those red plaid trousers that Roy likes to wear when playing golf, it's hard to describe just how garish these things were, made even worse by the t-shirt he'd teamed them up with - a true golfing outfit!

Another picture with a interesting wardrobe item was from some sort of publicity event for J'en Suis, a pair of skin tight leopard print trousers, very different from the Michael look we're all used to, but needless to say, however loud they were, they still looked great on Roy! Amongst the J'en Suis pictures was another which I think was taken at the premier, it was a really cute picture of Roy and his mother holding hands - c'est cute <G>.

There were over a hundred photo's, but the above ones are the ones that stick in my mind the most. It was interesting to see just how many pictures might be taken at a particular event compared with how many are actually used. For example the night of the Maurice Richard Gala, the photographer took 2 films worth of pictures and yet I think only a couple appeared in the paper.

Our second meeting with an incredibly generous person was at the Denise Pelletier Theatre. Roy has appeared in two plays at this theatre "Au pied de la lettre" in 1987 & "True West" in 1994. We had arranged an appointment to go and visit the theatre as I had previously contacted the them with regard to getting information on the productions Roy had played in. We were very kindly given lots of press releases and various other pieces of information on both plays that our guide had prepared for us in advance - which will be turning up on the website in due course. Sylvie was also generous enough to allow us to view the contact sheets full of photographs from True West -- she had already checked the ones for Au pied de la lettre and Roy was not in any of the pictures.

The photographs were fabulous and whilst we were looking at them we came across one where Roy's character Lee is holding a suitcase. She told us that at the end of the production they auctioned off various props and that her sister had been lucky enough to be the highest bidder on the suitcase. And in case you were thinking that the interest in items of Roy's old clothing are a new phenomenon, then think again. The corduroy trousers that Roy wore in the play went for over CA$700. She also told us that although she hadn't been working at the theatre when Roy's plays were on, she had been to see him in a play at the Quat'Sous Theatre but that she hadn't really liked him. Now though after seeing him as Michael, she's a big fan … especially of that blank stare …LOL!!

Another place we paid a visit to was the National Theatre School on St Denis. We were lucky enough to be granted access to the library, which is normally for members only. The librarian was extremely helpful in digging out various bits and pieces for us, including Roy's yearbook picture. Unfortunately their file on Roy wasn't that large, the librarian explained to us that this was because they hadn't know that he was going to become quite so famous. Hard to believe, but I guess with the hundreds of students that pass through their doors it's difficult to know who'll make it and who won't. However what the file lacked in quantity it more than made up for in quality. The various yearbooks contained some great pictures of a young Roy, which hopefully should be up on the website in the new year.