A Little Gesture, Goes A Long Way & Catching Up With The Clan

Ta-dah! It's Dad...!!

Well, here I am, back in Melb and I can tell you that last night, I had probably the best night’s sleep I have had in just over a year... I slept in MY OWN BED last night...! Huzzah..! Slept for 14hrs and I wasn’t feeling tired & wasn’t drunk – in fact I had consumed zero alcohol – it was the very small, psychological thing of knowing I was in my own bed! I owe Bernie & Sabrina a great deal of gratitude that will prob be converted into beer/wine!! I usually crash in their spare room in Middle Park (near Albert Park) when I’m back as it’s close to the City & Tango Offices and also alot of my friends. Bernie rang up one day during the tour and basically just said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to just move your bed in...?” It took a few seconds for it to sink in and then it was like, “That’s a great idea!” So it was gotten out of storage and the bed that I had been using was packed away and I had my own bed..! Gold! After staying in at least 150 different beds, probably closer to 200 over the last year, to sleep in my own is a feeling that I just can’t describe!

Land clearing fuel...!

Upon touching down in Melb from Perth I collected my baggage & proceeded to the Jetstar counter to head on down to Dad & Kerry’s at Tea Tree, Tasmania (bout 40mins NW of Hobart) for a week of doing absolutely nothing! And that’s pretty much what I did!! Ric came down for a few days as well and we did the usual things – drank port, played scrabble, sat around the wood heater reading, collected all the dead wood we could find & basically, just relaxed! Tea Tree’s great as there is little to no phone service and the Internet is dial up – although Dad has switched to satellite thanks to Kev 07’s plan to get everyone connected..! Cheers Kev! It basically means that you are uncontactable whilst you’re there and that suited me just fine!

The rest of the time off did involve a little bit of work for the Arts Centre but it was mainly to help out the guys when they needed a hand and also to keep a little bit of beer money trickling in! Most of the time was spent kicking back and relaxing and catching up with as many people as many times as possible. I must admit, I also spent a few days just sitting on the couch and watching countless hours of Foxtel – a little luxury that Chateau Middle Park contained! Sometimes it’s nice to just be a slob..!!

Ric scouting the land for more deadwood.

I enjoy the tour but it is nice to get away from it! The break clears out the cobwebs & refreshes you. It makes the return more enjoyable when you haven’t seen your other ‘family’ for a couple of weeks to a month. It doesn’t take long at all to get back into the swing of it. There’s that first hesitation when you walk into the venue but as soon as you unload the first set of red legs and look up at the rig, the brain starts processing and it all clicks in. Same for when it comes to showtime & I’ve got to call spots and other assorted stuff. There’s that moment if “How does this go again..?” and as soon as the first note sounds, you’re back!!

One thing that I hate about the tour and it shits me to no end and I have to hear it around 40 times a show, is my own voice saying, “Spots to fade...” I don’t know why but it just irritates me!! Maybe it’s because I can hear myself over the comms – but then why doesn’t anything else I say grate on my nerves...? I’ve been hearing my voice over comms on a pretty regular basis now for over 10yrs and it’s never annoyed me...!! I don’t know if it’s the vocal inflection but when I try and say it in a different tone, it just sounds worse! It may sound crazy I know & I have no reasonable explanation for it but when telling the spots to fade, as soon as I utter, “Spots to fade...” I flinch on the inside..!! Crazy!!

Luke, Jamie, myslef & Stace @ a mate's band called "Franklin James" gig.

Another thing that has happened whilst in Melb... I’ve grown hair! It has stemmed from laziness, I’m not going to lie! It’s been a case of “Ahh, I’m on holidays, I’ll shave it all off tomorrow” & sometimes it has been, “Urgggh, too hungover..!” I usually shave it every 2 days and if you leave it around 6 days, it takes about 3 razor heads to clear away the scrub... When I finally decided to shave it off, I got everything ready, even started to lather up my head and then realised it was quite long and that it had actually been nigh on 2 weeks since I had been ‘bald’...! Ooops! So it’s stayed, facial hair too..! How long will it last...? That’s anyone’s guess!

Ange, Ray, myself & Cam.

Myself, Bridge & Franke - Angry Breakfast Friends (long story!)

Cass (back from NZ!), Franke, Mel, Soph, me & Kevin

Franke, me & Kev - can you say idiots..?

Master Graham Silver & myself - Arts Centre crew catch up.

Mick from the Ballet - we meet again!

Teresa & myself



Sharing the limelight with Membery & Adrian (from Syd Dance)

Me & Helen

The Socialising Continues... Up The East Coast & Back Over To The West!

Gabby, myself, Macrello y Jorgelina at Marce's Birthday Bash in Sydney.

The Gang's All Here - new faces, Vicki y Sebas bottom left, followed by Ray, I mean Roy!

My 'Chocolate Cake Face' - everyone in the Company ended up doing a similar face!! When Argy's get drunk, they have the silliest sense of humour but I am certainly not one to judge!!

Sydney brought about catch ups with some of the Opera Australia crowd as well as Sydney Dance. It also introduced me to a new swag of tech friends in the guise of the Theatre Royal Crew – they were a great bunch. By the time we Loaded into Syd, Roy & myself were beat. It was our fourth day in a row where we had 3-4.5hrs after leaving the theatre before we had to be in the lobby to fly to the next town and Load In...! Not fun at all..!! Especially when it’s not self inflicted!! Syd was also the ‘biggest’ gig of the Tour for me as the PM as we had to hire everything in & I’m talking EVERYTHING..!! All lights, looms, spots, gel, sound, comms, tables, chairs, dance floor, wardrobe equip, band risers, double bass, piano... um, am I forgetting anything...? And I was so tired that I’d worked myself into a high state of paranoia that I had indeed forgotten something..!!

Jorgelina's Face..!

Due to being exhausted I made a couple of very simple but silly mistakes (like hanging the scrim backwards...!), which made me feel like an idiot but I’m pretty sure that it was because I was focused on the far bigger picture! Luckily we didn’t open til the following night but had a full day of media planned prior to the performance. As we didn’t start media until 11am and we were knocking off at 8pm, I insisted on taking the crew out for a knock off. They had been great & had put up with my taking 5mins to think of the answer that should have taken only 30secs, they had re-hung the scrim when I realised I’d hung it backwards and had worked with me, rather than against me, by looking ahead to gigs that would need to be done and they knew their venue & basically, they were great & they backed me up the whole day!! After 3 rounds I was pretty merry and after 5, I asked the general direction of my hotel (I hadn’t seen it yet but Toni had checked me in and put my bags in my room), wondered off in the direction I was pointed, got lost, caught a cab that prob drove me about 3 blocks and promptly went to bed and slept for 10.5hrs and it was good..!!

Myself, Rocky, Adrian (Syd Dance) & Wren after Load Out.

We were only in Theatre Royal for a week but it was good to stop for awhile. Wren (Renee) the head LX was a great find, as were Rocky & Harry. A few decent nights out were had during the week we were there. We also sold out our Season! Apparently that hasn’t happened in around 10yrs where they’ve physically had to turn people away – not a single seat left! We got great reviews and I was especially pleased with the Daily Telegraph as it stated, “The second half comes alive with sophisticated lighting used to create a fiery backdrop with subtle followspots used to highlight the sensual choreography.” I’m going to happily state here, in print, that I’m pretty damn chuffed with that as I’ve really played with Act II to make it more ‘theatrical’ and very much fall in line with the title of the 2nd half – The Show. Act I is titled “Milonga” and is set in a cafe with everyone milling on the stage whilst dancing happens. I don’t ‘reveal’ or use the cyc (back cloth you light with colours) until the 2nd part. For me, it leaves me with a few more tricks up my sleeve & depending on how the spots have coped with Act I, I’ll work ‘em harder to add some more ‘pizzazz’in Act II. If they’ve been a bit sloppy, I run it a little differently. Usually I can decide what kind of night it’s going to be by the end of the first couple of numbers in Act I. Nothing makes me happier than to have decent spot ops and just see them add in the extra little touches that is impossible to communicate, especially for one show. As soon as I see that, I go for my ‘best look’ show and 9.5 times out of 10, they deliver & man do I get a buzz!!

Linda, Matt y myself.

Social Syd also brought about the chance to have a catch up session with Linda, whom I went to Uni with, and her husband Matt. I hadn’t seen them in over 9 months so it was a great unwind & catch up session. The other bonus being – they weren’t theatre people!! No offence to the theatre folk out there but all I really hang out with these days are people who I work with, so to have some ‘civilian’ contact was Gold! We had a great night out in Darling Harbour that ended up back at their house in Paramatta drinking red wine to the wee, wee small hours of the morn!!

Don't even ask..! Like I said, I'mnot one to judge!!

Brisbane was another social catch up session. A mate who used to work for the Opera is now based in Bris-vegas. Managed to catch Jono for a couple of beers between shows on the Sat we were there. The main socialising came from the Aus Ballet – they were performing in QPAC (Queensland Performing Arts Centre) at the same time! It was funny walking into the Green Room and seeing people that I was only used to seeing in Melb!! There was one night where Mick (Ballet LX), Lynda, Nico, Christian and myself went out and painted the town red. A whole bunch of us were having drinks at a bar near the theatre and then when it shut, Nico & Christian were up for more & dancing was required!! Mick said that there was a backpacker type bar near his hotel, which was across the river & away we went. When we entered, it was dodgy – trashy 80’s music playing very, very loudly – and it was packed, and I’m going to feel so stupid writing this, with lots of young people!! Lynda, myself & Mick summed it up in one quick look at each other and were going to suggest moving on... but Christian & Nico made the decision for us and beelined straight for the dance floor!! If you can’t beat ‘em...!!

Nico dancing up a storm at the Backpackers Bar..!!

QPAC Concert Hall was prob, no strike that, WAS the best the show has ever looked in a Hall. I think I’ve moaned about Halls before as they generally have “an orchestral wash (no colour) over the stage that you can’t touch and then you can focus those 3 over there, those 4 there & that 2 here” and those lights that I am able to focus are pretty much in positions that are neither practical or remotely where I need to get shots from!! The Arts Centre’s Hall is not too bad as they have an orchestral rig and a ‘performance/theatrical’ rig so there are at least options but, I’m sorry to say, QPAC beats Hamer Hall as they have FOH positions that allow for washes of the stage – in multiple colours – and box boom type side light. Also, the design of QPAC has not one lamp exposed, everything is ‘hidden’. Hamer has everything exposed & whilst that’s not a terrible thing I must admit that the ‘clean’ look of QPAC was amazing!! Dean (Head LX) and his crew were great value too. They knew the venue back to front and the first 20mins was spent standing on stage explaining what I needed to achieve, having worked out a Magic Sheet using their in-house paperwork but then putting it into 3D were two very different things. Dean suggested this position & that position & I’m pretty sure I took all of his suggestions on board. Most of the time it was “I need to get a window gobo (pattern) shot over here” and he’d just talk to the crew and all of a sudden – there it was!! That was the other great thing about QPAC is that I was still able to achieve the full theatrical look of the show, done slightly different, but it was ALL there. Usually I have no toys in Halls which means, I have no fun!!

When we went to the Gold Coast – the worst venue on the tour – we rubbed shoulders with Melissa George! I guess she’s a C Grade celebrity...?? She was on ‘Home & Away’ for a few years before heading across to the US where she’s done a few things. She came backstage after the show and there was a little bit of media done etc. BORING..!! Especially when all you want to do is Load Out and hit the road back to Brisbane! Gold Coast was also the worst venue of the tour. They weren’t ready for us when we arrived and their crew were quite young and seemed inexperienced. They appeared to understand about theatre but most of them were fairly new to the venue. The show was all ready on time but I was having to do alot of work myself. That may sound dumb but I shouldn’t have to be rigging lights, colouring lanterns and pulling EWP’s (Elevated Work Platforms) around – I’m the cool, hilariously funny, bow to my every whim Touring Tech!! In those situations, even though I don’t like having to, I ‘take over’ the venue and chase down equipment and just start doing it ‘my way’ in order to get it done. It either has one of two effects – the crew shape up or they entirely ship out!! It’s either they lift their game and try to match me so the steam stops coming out of my ears or they run into a corner whimpering...!! I’ve never held the curtain yet and be damned to the first House that means I have to!!

** Please note that this is not a common occurrence. Generally, I’ll let the technicians run wild and free and as long as I’m at certain points by certain times, all is good. For examples of where I did ‘go postal’, please see High Wycomb & St Albans of the UK & Fairmont, West Virginia, USA.**

We wrapped up the Aus/NZ Tour with a return week in Perth, so it was easy street for both them and us! It was a nice way to wrap up the Tour which went really well. I was really happy with how I went at my new role & look forward to taking on the challenge again at some point in the future. But for now, it’s a 6 week, self imposed ‘holiday’ before heading off on the next, long and probably demanding leg that will put us on 4 of the 7 continents over 8 months...!! I do think that there might be a market for Tango in Antarctica though....

Myself y Mick from Aus Ballet in Bris-vegas.

Nico y Lynda

Lynda trying to recreate the shot - roles reversed..!!

I seem to be gathering a collection of me wearing witches hats...?!?!?

The Tango Fire Family- minus me - Hugo's BDay in Perth

I think this door in His Maj, Perth was a classic - and they were serious!!

Aus & New Zealand – What A Social Ol’ Time!

This leg of the tour has seen my workload increase a bit as I’ve been elevated to the additional role of Production Manager as Dan is off to Bali for a mates wedding – as you do! It’s nothing that I haven’t done before but the last time I PM’d something was years & years ago and heading into it, I’ll admit, I was a little nervous. But, putting things into perspective, the job was no different to being the Ops Manager of the LX Dept but was most similar to the co-ordination of contractors to cover the maintenance of all things theatrical – the gig I sadly had to resign from to take on this tour. The work ethic required was exactly the same, just the end result was slightly different!

My kind of business...!

As with any gig, especially PM, no matter how much pre-production work you do, there are always more questions to be answered – both from your & their end. The good thing is, the more questions they/you ask early on, by the time you get to the gig you’re really only worrying about how many paper cups are required and what colour icing should be on the cupcakes!! It’s only til the truck doors shut after a performance that you can ‘officially’ close it off – even then, there are generally a few post production issues to clear up and chase down.

With Dan heading away, we added Ray to the Tango Family as our Sound Guy. I’ve worked with Ray for many years at the Arts Centre and he has a very dry, deadpan delivery style of a very sharp & quick wit!! The Argy’s were very welcoming of him & very quickly he was called ‘Roy’. Not as a nickname but because they thought his name was Roy! It wasn’t until about 3 venues in that I was walking across stage when the muso’s were doing soundcheck and I hear Marcello (violinist) say “Hello, Roy..? Could you give me more in my monitor?” I pulled him up and said, “It’s Ray, not Roy”. To which I was told “No!” Rightly so though, as Marcello is quite a comedian and there are always gags being pulled, so he’s naturally suspicious!! He then proceeded to ask Roy/Ray what his actual name was, to which Ray/Roy replied over the sound sytem, “Ray!” The muso’s were very apologetic but Ray wasn’t offended in any way. In the next venue when the muso’s were doing soundcheck, they were asking Ray questions by name and I said, “Not Ray, Roy!” to which they started off with Roy & then swore at me & told me to do some very unpleasant things to myself – all whilst laughing luckily!! And such, Ray was born and the tables were quickly turned on me and I became Tom..! The Tom & Roy, Sound & Light Show..!!

Myself, Christian & Lynda out & about.

It is weird how the muso’s do tend to be separate from the rest of the Company. They very rarely, if at all, call me Chancho. Tom will no doubt stick now, as will Roy, for many months. They work and fit in with the rest of the Company but I guess, somewhere deep down they feel themselves either above or alienated from the rest of the Company. It’s weird that I have one set of running gags with the dancers & then another whole different set with the muso’s!

We’ve also welcomed Sebastian & Vicki into the Company – which, sadly, means we’ve shed a couple... The couple we’ve lost is Pablo and Mariella, which is a shame as Pablo was a great guy & friend. The Company has also shed Carolina, the Artistic Director...!! It’s no longer ‘her’ show and is now owned and run outright by HVK – my employers. I won’t go into the details here as pretty much most of it happened at a level far above my pay grade!! But basically, it was political but a move that had to be made in order to maintain stability within the group. There had been power plays, secret threats & rifts forming so the trouble was cut out at the source!! I’ve got to admit, even though I wasn’t really aware of the goings on before hand, I can definitely notice a change of atmosphere amongst the kids. Sebas is quite a sly comedian & joker. Not much English but we manage to communicate well enough thru humour! Vic is also really cool & stunning! There, I said it but to take that statement any further in 3D is a fireable offence! Plus, she’s married to Sebas...!!

Matt, Tallon, Bob, Ben, myself & Studsy - Perth crew from The Maj.

Anyhoo, the joy about touring round Aus was that there were many people to catch up with pretty much everywhere we went! First port of call was Mandurah (bout an hour south of Perth), WA where I met the brother of a mate, Andrew Podolski, who runs the Princess Theatre in Melbourne! When we hit His Maj in Perth, I walked onstage to meet & greet the crew & myself & the Head Mech straight away recognised each other. Studsy (Ian) had been the Touring Mech for WA Ballet’s ‘La Boheme’ that had toured through the State Theatre about 4 years ago. Another of the crew members, Ben, had also passed through the Arts Centre as Work Experience when he went to WAPA. We’re also returning back to The Maj at the end of Tour for another week as we’ve sold so well! Which means that’s one less venue I have to prepare as we’ll have been there only 4 weeks previous!! Huzzah!!

Myself & my old mate Cass in Auckland.

Even when we flew across to New Zealand, Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert was performing and it allowed us to catch up with a heap of people I haven’t seen in ages! The night we caught up with the Priscilla Gang in Auckland was great but oh so wrong!! They knew a pretty decent and local pub – they were staying in the same apartments as we were – and we all trooped down there after we’d arrived & checked in. Please keep in mind that we had a Load In & show to do the following day! It was a great night but the problem was, the pub was open 24hrs...!! They failed to highlight this point but it was inconsequential to them as they had the following day off!! I was expecting there to be ‘last drinks’ called at some point..! Not to be! For us Tango kids (only Lynda, Christian & myself), getting home at 0530 is not & never will be a smart idea!! Especially when you have to be in the venue at 0930...!! It was easily the worst condition I have ever been in whilst working on stage, not just Tango Fire, ever on stage! Ever..!!! I had to keep running offstage to drink gallons of water so I could actually have enough moisture in my mouth to call the focus and get the rest of the stage set up! It was a very, very long day but we got there & the show went really, really well & looked pretty dam decent! Huzzah...zzzzzzzzzzz!

Lynda, Christian, Andrew, Lucetta & myself.

The crew in Wellington were great too. They invited me over to their Concert Hall after we’d Loaded Out to join in some drinks that were attached to the final night of another presenter. As we had to be in the lobby at 0330 to fly to Adelaide for a 5pm show, I decided to accept the offer. I went home and packed first & was down at the Concert Hall around 0100. This may sound like a silly venture but I really only stood the chance of getting max 2hrs sleep & I’m pretty sure most of that would have been spent worrying that I was going to sleep thru my alarm and the other half would have been spent worrying that I wasn’t going to sleep..!! The crew down at the Concert Hall were great – there were your stereo typical Mech’s, Tech’s & other assorted caricatures of people that I knew. It is reassuring to know that theatre folk the world over, despite language barriers, are generally all cut from the same cloth!

The delightful Kelly & I.

Ian, who had worked on Tango, took me onstage and showed me their domed roof. A lot of old theatres have domed rooves that used to be able to be opened to allow fresh air in and also to have the feeling of an ‘outdoor’ venue. I’ve seen heaps of them but this one, this one was still functional...! It’s also where the nickname ‘Dome’ comes from for a Followspot. It’s mainly an Australian term but when the domes were closed & modified, that was the location where they generally put the followspots. The guys were tempted to open it to show me but as it was winter & they hadn’t opened it since early Autumn they decided against it. Apparently when it’s opened for the first time each year, a heavy shower of assorted bird by-products and other delightful crap falls down and seeing as they hadn’t laid out a drop cloth, they decided against it! Dammit..!!

Last Fools standing...!

Adelaide, although I was exhausted, was great as my Dad and his Fam (well, my fam too!) were able to see the show! Mum saw it in Melb, the very first time I worked on it and after a year, it’s great that Dad was able to see it so he has some idea of what it is I’ve basically left Aus for!! It went to show how decent the guys and girls are as they were genuinely excited for me that my Dad and family were in the audience and a few of them got to meet him after the gig.

There was also a tech at the Festival Centre, Nathan, whom both of us swore had met the other before. Throughout the day we threw shows, people, events at each other to no avail. It was my first time working in theatre in SA and he had never worked as a tech in Vic before...! He knew heaps of the Opera & Ballet people but as they tour alot, that’s to be expected. There was one name that we swore was the link, it had to be The Link... Dave Membery! But still we couldn’t think where or why. It was really strange! In this industry you meet so many techs so briefly or you hear names mentioned, meet new faces at Opening Nights or social gatherings that many times you have the “We’ve worked together before” conversations that fade out to nothing. Nathan & myself KNEW that we had met before & we just couldn’t figure out where! As soon as Chris, one of the Managers, walked in I immediately knew that I’d worked with him on the Dame Kiri tour I did through the wine regions of Australia many, many years ago! Nathan still remains a mystery...

Andrew, me & Kel being 'attacked' by Christian.

Another Round Of Dutch Love!

Another bonus of having Amsterdam as a base was that my good friends Jules & Prem lived nearby. (For those who came in late or have hazy memories of past Blog entries : I worked with Prem on the Asian Games in Doha. Jules is a Melb mate who came & visited Tango in London & also worked in Doha – hence why she now lives with Prem!) Due to the nature of the tour, we only really got to catch up with them for one night but we did manage to see Jules a few nights as she was working on Les Mis in Rotterdam and by the time her bus pulled in each night, it was around the same time we rolled back into town! Perfect!

I hadn’t seen Prem in person since mid Dec ’06 so it was nice to finally catch up and reminisce about The Stoop & all things Doha! With the tour sched that lies ahead, they’re hoping to make it across to Hamburg – along with Paul & Floris! – when we’re there in Oct!

** As a side note to Holland, I managed to find a little Italian restaurant that I’d eaten in the first time I was in The Dam! The reason being that it had the best calzone I’ve ever eaten & I can happily claim, that they still make it pretty damn good! **




Jules, Dan & myself were asked to point to our eye....!



Standard self portrait shot really...!




Prem, Jules & myself on our night out!

Four idiots on a boat..!!

Dan, Jules & myself.

Prem & myself out the front of where I stayed when first I came to Holland as a backpacker! Found it by sheer chance & fluke!!


Myself & Jules, only a few hours before Tango flew outta town...!