AS onstage disasters go Heather Whyte remembers it as one of the worst.

King Arthur had appeared from stage right - and the visor on his suit of armour had snapped shut.

Not a problem. A discreet flick of the wrist should have opened it without the audience noticing.

But the star of the production of Camelot had been changed by an inexperienced dresser - and his suit of armour was on the wrong way round.

"He manged for a bit but he couldn't get his arms up to push up the visor," said Heather.

"He didn't know if he was facing the audience or not."

But Lancelot - ever the chivalrous knight - was on hand with some nifty off the cuff dialogue to buy his lord time for an off-stage turnaround.

In the 28 years she has been involved in Knutsford Little Theatre, the Operatic Society and music and drama ensembles in Northwich and Winsford, Heather has been involved in 63 shows - and few disasters.

But not always as musical director. Quite often as pianist or make-up.

"You don't realise the time," said the former Knutsford High School eacher. "You seem to go from one to the other."

For 26 years Heather has been a supply and private teacher. Not in drama but maths.

Teaching was a career she'd set her heart on at six - and got to do a bit in her teens.

During her O-levels she was asked by her maths teacher if she could help a young pupil who was having difficulty with her maths.

After school, first in her birthplace Flint then in Sale, she went to Bangor University to study.

She joined Knutsford High School in 1959.

"I was doing anything," she said. "Maths, music, PE and English. You name it."

The music was to be only a six-month stint, but it lasted six and a half years.

But when the boys and girls were separated into new schools in 1966, Heather had to make a choice - maths with the girls or music with the boys.

"The maths won, I'm afraid."

It was only after she'd had her first son Martin that she gave up teaching full-time and took on private pupils.

"Now I get pupils I have taught ringing up and saying 'can you teach our children?'"

"It keeps me going because I can't say no."

Heather feels justifiably proud when she meets former pupils who have got on well - even if she doesn't always recognise them.

"I was going into a shop in Knutsford and this gentleman opened the door for me," she said.

"I said thank you and he said 'You don't recognise me do you, Miss?'

The respectable looking businessman had a thick beard and was bald.

"But they don't change too much and it's nice to see them around," she said.

Her involvement with Knutsford's young musical and theatrical talent began at the High School too.

"I was doing little shows in school with my class," she said. "And I was teaching English as well with lots of poetry and stories so we put the two together and eventually did a variety show."

She also persuaded the boys to try folk dancing and even formed a school boys choir.

They were practising for speech day one afternoon when a wealthy lady governor stopped to listen.

She was entranced by the boys' performance but something was not quite right.

"She told me I couldn't possibly use my piano for such lovely voices," said Heather. "The next day she wheeled in a rare grand piano for speech day."

Another wealthy benefactor was due at the school for a choir performance.

There was a real buzz of excitement among the boys and one by one, minutes before they were due to sing, they were flocking to the toilet.

Their distinguished visitor was landing his helicopter in the playground - and every boy wanted to see.

"The girls were not bothered," said Heather. "But I thought that if I don't let the boys go they might not sing very well."

In 1970 Heather was talked into doing the make-up for the Operatic Society, and has been the musical lifeblood of Knutsford theatre ever since.

In 1979 she had just finished a show in Knutsford when an invitation to help out temporarily in Northwich came along. She left 13 shows later.

By then she was already involved in the group she is most well known for - the junior group at the Little Theatre.

Now she does one show a year. She starts with them in September and finishes in March - with a break in November for the panto.

"They work hard, they really do," said Heather.

"It's amazing they all get on so well together, they are aged between 8 to 18 and they are like a happy family."

Heather works for the Barnton Variety Workshop and also with a group in Winsford.

Her passion for music began - like her desire to teach - at an early age.

"My father played piano completely by ear," she said. "He was wonderful and waited for me to ask to play.

"He was not going to push it."

But his influence was there when she practised - so much so that Heather would wait until he was out of the house before she started.

"If he was in the house there would be a shout 'There's a wrong note in there. Put it right'," she laughed.

"So I made sure I did my practice when my mum was in."

At college she was convinced she had to read music to play correctly - and was terrified she would be found out in class.

"But I found that my left hand had a will of its own," she said.

"It was good because now if music is there in front of me I will read it, but if it's not I just play anyway."

She loves music from across the spectrum. For Heather it's the performance that counts as much as the content.

"If I had plenty of time and I wanted to play some music I would get a pile of sheet music and start at the beginning and work through," she said.

It's Heather's job to think each summer which show the juniors will perform next year - but she is not giving away the answer for next year just yet.

We'll just have to wait and see.

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