November Visit

I am from Melbourne and will be in Perth from November 15th-19th. I am heavily involved in non-professional musical theatre in Victoria, and would like swap notes with people similarly involved in Perth while I am there. If there is any chance to see a production while I am there, that would be fantastic. Looking foreward to hearing from some Perth musical theatre fans.

Hi DavidNo-one else seems to have bitten the bullet and responded to your post so i'll have a bash - even tho' it's out of my usual area.There a several "musicals" happening here in November, but most of them start on Nov 19! Check the What's On pages for details.What you choose to see may vary according to your taste and how far you are able/willing to travel.As far as companies specialising in musical theatre is concerned, we have quite number of companies that do good work - but not many that exclusively (or even nearly exclusively) do musical theatre.There's the ubiquitous G&S - ours has just finished doing a Coward! We used to have the WA Music Theatre Co. - but i understand it may have folded due to financial difficulties. There's one company (that i personally consider unmentionable for a wide range of reasons) that operates in the western suburbs and produces a fair amount of musical theatre and ballet. And another that i think may be walking a thin line that produces three or four big shows every year.Chats with similarly inclined people? Perhaps Karen or Jason or David might care to join the discussion if they see this message?CheersGrant

Thanks Grant - I am intrigued at the relatively low level of activity for non-professional musical theatre in Perth . Here in Victoria it seems that almost every town or suburb has either a group which does musicals, or at least a 'straight' company which does one musical a year. There is enormous competition between the major suburban companies to be the first to do a show as soon as the rights are released, and over the years a large number of shows have received their Australasian premieres this way - in some cases the only productions in this country have been by the non-professional companies. Do your companies tackle these shows, or do they stick to the standard repertoire?. Lots of other questions to ask about company size, composition, premises... hope to talk to some of you when I come to Perth.David

>Its a "Cultural Thing"In Sydney and Melbourne companies tend to be exclusively straight drama or musical societies, rather than mixed groups, which nearly all of our are. I found that SO strange when I first moved over.I would say that the groups are much more prolific here than over East. The big musical societies ( Miranda and Willoughby in Sydney, CLOC and Whitehorse in Melbourne for example ) only do two shows a year, whereas Playlovers, Roleystone or Wanneroo for example do two musicals plus three or more plays.Stage Whispers publishes an annual guide which gives the number of shows each company do. WA companies do more shows per annum on average, by far.Incidently I believe the first ameteur production of Les Mis was a Melbourne group ( Cloc ??? ) followed by Willoughby in Sydney. Sorry to be picky but I would hate anyone to get their knickers in a knot about it.Stage Whispers has a pretty comprehensive What's On List - and can be obtained in most places in Australia. Highly recommended reading for theatrical travellers.Kim

Hello again DavidI hope i haven't mislead you!> I am intrigued at the relatively low level of> activity for non-professional musical theatre in Perth . Here in Victoria> it seems that almost every town or suburb has either a group which> does musicals, or at least a 'straight' company which does one musical> a year.There must be nearly thirty community theatre groups in the metro area alone.Nearly all of these will do at least one musical per year. Some groups will do more than others. They're a pretty eclectic lot usually. I misunderstood and thought you were seeking groups that focused on musicals. Companies that exclusively do "straight plays" or exclusively do musicals are few and far between.That said, i think there probably are fewer musical productions here than may be the average elsewhere - just a personal hunch.I suspect that this may be the case as musicals are frequently perceived to be more expensive to stage and most groups here are severely cash-strapped with small audiences.Oddly enough, the companies producing a fair musical component in their programmes would also appear to be better established with a good cashflow, their own venue and substantial technical resources. :)> There is enormous competition between the major suburban companies> to be the first to do a show as soon as the rights are released, and> over the years a large number of shows have received their Australasian> premieres this way - in some cases the only productions in this country> have been by the non-professional companies. Do your companies tackle> these shows, or do they stick to the standard repertoire?.For some of the huge musicals this may be the case - i think the first "amateur" production of Les Miserables in Australia took place here in Perth. There are bound to be others that i am not aware of. But my perception is that much of the musical fare is re-runs of the classics. One year we had no less than 5 separate productions of Hello Dolly!WAAPA has their musical theatre course churning out some excellent graduates. But almost without exception the graduates leave Perth immediately for the Eastern States or overseas. We just don't have a musical theatre industry to employ them.> Lots of> other questions to ask about company size, composition, premises...> hope to talk to some of you when I come to Perth.I'm likely to be busy rehearsing when you're here unfortunately. Do you have any free days?CheersGrant

Hi GrantSorry to take so long to respond to your message - busy weekend!I know what you mean about multiple productions of the same show - as a judge for the Music Theatre Guild here I once had to see Fiddler on the Roof five times in one year... which is the chief reason for not going to see Topol in the production which is just about to finish here in Melbourne!!I am aware of the great work being done at WAAPA - I know of several talented Victorian performers who went off to further develop their abilities in Perth, and reports that filter back tend to confirm your comments about the high standards set.I am free every day except Tuesday. I plan to do nothing but bask in the sun (I hope the weather stays fine), so if you want to get together for a drink and a chat one afternoon, e-mail me at rgdoz@hotmail.com this week and we can make the necessary arrangements.CheersDavid> Hello again David> I hope i haven't mislead you!> There must be nearly thirty community theatre groups in the metro> area alone.> Nearly all of these will do at least one musical per year. Some> groups will do more than others. They're a pretty eclectic lot usually.> I misunderstood and thought you were seeking groups that focused on> musicals. Companies that exclusively do "straight plays"> or exclusively do musicals are few and far between.> That said, i think there probably are fewer musical productions> here than may be the average elsewhere - just a personal hunch.> I suspect that this may be the case as musicals are frequently> perceived to be more expensive to stage and most groups here are severely> cash-strapped with small audiences.> Oddly enough, the companies producing a fair musical component> in their programmes would also appear to be better established with> a good cashflow, their own venue and substantial technical resources.> :)> For some of the huge musicals this may be the case - i think> the first "amateur" production of Les Miserables in Australia> took place here in Perth. There are bound to be others that i am not> aware of. But my perception is that much of the musical fare is re-runs> of the classics. One year we had no less than 5 separate productions> of Hello Dolly!> WAAPA has their musical theatre course churning out some excellent> graduates. But almost without exception the graduates leave Perth> immediately for the Eastern States or overseas. We just don't have> a musical theatre industry to employ them.> I'm likely to be busy rehearsing when you're here unfortunately.> Do you have any free days?> Cheers> Grant

Hi KimI think the division into 'straight' and 'musical companies' in Sydney and Melbourne has a lot to do with logistics. Many of the straight companies have managed either through their own efforts or with the assistance fo a local council, to acquire a permanent 'home' for their productions, in venues ranging from converted church halls to an old bakery - even a disused incinerator!! Most of these theatres are of small capacity and offer fairly limited stage facilities, which precludes the companies from using them for big musicals. With access to the completely under their own control, they can schedule a much more comrpehensive program. I originally worked with the Viaduct Theatre here in Melbourne, which staged ten or twelve productions a year in its two hundred seat theatre - a punishing schedule for a non-professional establishment!! (It is not altogether surprising that the Viaduct is now defunct!)It is an unfortunate fact of life that large scale productions need to sell large numbers of tickets to cover costs, as budgets even for non-professional productions can in exceed $100,000. All of this means the companies must use larger theatres. It would not be feasible for the big musical companies to control such theatres - they could only fill a theatre with their own product for a limited number of weeks per year, leaving them with a costly venue to maintain for the rest of the year, which means that they use facilties owned by other bodies.An increasing number of such venues has appeared in suburban Melbourne over the past decade, with more councils planning community theatres. Unfortunately, while these buildings are a great improvement over the makeshift halls and school gymnasiums used in the past, they are expensive to operate and maintain, and the owners of the buildings are often not prepared to subsidise the operation, with the result that ticket prices continue to rise, and audiences continue to decrease - not a good combination!!I seem to have run at some length here, but the combination of rising costs and declining audiences for large scale productions is in my opinion a very real threat to the continuing existence of not only the non-professional musical theatre, but the commercial theatre as well.Incidentally, I think you are right about CLOC being the first non-professional company to stage 'Les Mis'. Their production was followed by a rash of others, and then the rights were withdrawn again - before it disappeared, however, from my point of view at least, the Guild judges sat through it enough times to become rather more familiar with the piece than I found strictly necessary!.CheersDavid> In Sydney and Melbourne companies tend to be exclusively straight> drama or musical societies, rather than mixed groups, which nearly> all of our are. I found that SO strange when I first moved over.> I would say that the groups are much more prolific here than> over East. The big musical societies ( Miranda and Willoughby in Sydney,> CLOC and Whitehorse in Melbourne for example ) only do two shows a> year, whereas Playlovers, Roleystone or Wanneroo for example do two> musicals plus three or more plays.> Stage Whispers publishes an annual guide which gives the number> of shows each company do. WA companies do more shows per annum on> average, by far.> Incidently I believe the first ameteur production of Les Mis> was a Melbourne group ( Cloc ??? ) followed by Willoughby in Sydney.> Sorry to be picky but I would hate anyone to get their knickers in> a knot about it.> Stage Whispers has a pretty comprehensive What's On List - and> can be obtained in most places in Australia. Highly recommended reading> for theatrical travellers.> Kim>