Tango Techie Tales: 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....