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Global Creatures presents industry event showcasing backstage roles in Get Technical! – Behind the Curtain of Moulin Rouge! The Musical

ABOUT GET TECHNICAL!

In 2022, Global Creatures developed an industry program across Australia to connect people with careers in theatre, through its outreach program The Bohemian Project underpinned by its box office and critically acclaimed production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The Bohemian Project aims to support emerging artists and creatives through arts education and work force training and development.

Around the world significant numbers of backstage staff and crew left the theatre industry during the global pandemic and the usual practice of recruitment and up-skilling on the job ground to a halt. With productions coming back with a vengeance in 2022 in Australia there was a serious lack of trained and experienced backstage staff and an urgent need to find the next generation of production creatives, crew and technicians, to engage and train them into the theatre backstage work force.

One of the key initiatives of Moulin Rouge! The Musical The Bohemian Project developed in Australia was to solve the challenges around crew shortages and to celebrate the technical knowledge and expertise of the live performance arts practitioners. The production team at Global Creatures developed the very first Get Technical! – Behind the Curtain of Moulin Rouge! The Musical event to showcase the various back-stage departments and the roles in the performance of large-scale commercial musicals eight times a week.

The event hosted by Simon Burke, AO (Harold Zidler) launched in Sydney, Australia and provided a new and unique opportunity to showcase backstage roles to a targeted audience: anyone interested in a career in theatre, ranging from Year 11 and 12 students, tertiary students and adults with transferable skills looking to change careers.

At Get Technical! attendees experienced the unique opportunity to hear from theatre creatives, crew and technicians that work behind the scenes to create a world-class theatrical performance about their career pathways into theatre production and how a career in theatre can be professionally rewarding and potentially enable you to work around the world.

The team went on to hold the event in Perth in February 2023 to 1,300 attendees, Brisbane in June 2023 with 1,400 attendees. The Brisbane event featured special co-host Catherine Martin, four-time Oscar winning set, production and costume designer. Another Get Technical! event will be held in Melbourne on the 30th November this year. By then the event will have performed to almost 5,000 students across Australia.

Due to the success of the event in Australia, Global Creatures has rolled out Get Technical! on Broadway called Creating the Magic in partnership with Inside Broadway and the West End production team ran their own Get Technical! at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.

Get Technical! is now an award-wining event. Awarded Best New Event (National) and Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event (QLD) at the 2023 Australian Event Awards.

“As shows came back to performing post-pandemic many were struggling to find trained, skilled, experienced stage crew to run their shows. Moulin Rouge! The Musical was also affected by the lack of crew in the industry. We realised that we needed to engage with students and anyone with transferable skills by using the concept of the Bohemian Project to create an event to showcase backstage roles and lure new blood into working in these roles. We gave our Moulin Rouge! The Musical crew the opportunity to come out of the wings and into the spotlight to demonstrate what they do and talk about their career paths into the industry. The event is offered free of charge and the Sydney, Perth and Brisbane presentations have been attended by an audience of almost 5,000 attendees over the three events. As a result, interest in the backstage world has been unprecedented – people just needed to be shown what they can do and how to find a way into that world. Global Creatures has delivered on that”.
Dawn Martin, General Manager, Moulin Rouge! The Musical Australia

WHO IS THIS FOR & WHAT WILL THEY LEARN?

Get Technical! is for anyone who is interested in a career in theatre, ranging from Year 11 and 12 students, tertiary students and adults with transferable skills looking to change careers.

This event will give attendees the opportunity to understand the different types of positions and the work that goes on behind the scenes to create a world-class theatrical performance.

This event will create the opportunity to demonstrate the role that each technical department has within the production and the staffing structure within that department.

Attendees can hear from theatre creatives, crew and technicians their career pathway. There is no one single pathway to follow and there are a myriad of options for students to take in order to entre theatre production.

The performance is the tip of the iceberg – there is a whole other world going on behind the curtain that the audience never see!