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15th November 2024
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of technical alumnus Brian Croft (’57). Brian was a founding member of the National Youth Theatre and, after graduating from the Theatre School, enjoyed a hugely successful career in entertainment lighting earning himself the nickname, “the Godfather of Rock and Roll”.
Brian’s industry peer and fellow BOVTS alum, Chris Smith (’68), remembers his friend:
I began my training at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1966, on the technical course. About ten years previously, someone who would become my mentor and friend, Brian Croft, had also completed the same course.
Although I followed in some of Brian’s footprints, I didn’t achieve the same dizzying heights of fame! Post-BOVTS, Brian was to become a towering figure in the lighting and production industry. Upon graduating he took roles at Perth Rep, Canterbury Rep and Stratford-Upon-Avon. For a time, he taught at East 15 Acting School, before returning to the National Youth Theatre as their Production Manager.
He then moved to the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Under the banner of Extra Sensory Projections, Brian’s team staged liquid light shows at deb balls and university graduations. It was during this time that Brian and his team had begun forming their own company, ESP Lighting, to take on side-projects.
In the early seventies, ESP Lighting had grown considerably, and was now a full-time gig for Brian. ESP Lighting supplied lighting and production services in the music industry with an impressive list of clients: The Who, Elton John, Queen, ABBA and The Rolling Stones to name a few.
John Brown (co-founder of ESP Lighting and LAMDA alumnus) recalls Brian’s “deep knowledge of all the different technical skills required to stage a production combined with his extraordinary ability at being able to teach, encourage, support and tolerate the odd mistake all at the same time which resulted in some outstanding and technically complex productions that we could all be proud of.”
John also credits Brian with the growth in the company’s stature: “We were awarded the contract for total production control of The Rolling Stones’ 1976 UK and European Tour. A contract so significant that we were featured on the front of the business section of the Sunday Times! This was entirely down to Brian’s professional approach to touring and the rapport that he built with both the band and their management.”
After that, ESP only continued to grow. The company became part of Electrosound, which became TFA Electrosound, before being acquired by Theatre Projects with Brian at the helm as part of the management team. This company was later acquired by Samuelsons and then by Vari-Lite with Brian as Managing Director. He once joked that he knew as much about mergers and acquisitions as he did lighting!
Many people from those early NYT and ESP days, some of whom are still active and prominent in the industry today, started their careers under Brian’s watchful and encouraging eye and all of us acknowledge him as a tremendous influence, mentor, supporter and friend.
Brian died peacefully in hospital on Wednesday 16 October 2024, with his wife, Lise, and children, Sarah, Matthew and Daniel, around him.
Brian and his vast back catalogue of stories of his time in the theatre and lighting industry, all told with an ever-present twinkle in his eye, are legendary and we’ll miss them and him. The silence and void he leaves are almost unbearable – but as the curtains fall on his life, the applause for Brian Croft is deafening.
– Chris Smith
