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.
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