Musicals on hold as costs rise

The Moana Jnr cast in rehearsal at Act 2's theatre space

A perfect storm of circumstances means Act 2 Visual and Performing Arts School artistic director Toni Neve has had to make the difficult decision to cease staging large scale end of year musical productions.

By Chris Marshall

The shows have been a feature on the school’s calendar for years.

In a communication to parents, Neve says Moana Jr, being staged in early November, would be the school’s last such production.

Rising costs, like the rights to the musical, hiring the Great Lake Centre, sound technician and equipment, (totalling $27,000 for this show), and the economic climate were making such productions difficult.

“The situation we are in at the moment, and it’s a Taupō problem as well, is people don’t commit until the last minute and so you don’t know if you can cover the costs which is just stressful... It’s a risk I can’t take.”

Normally Act 2 would be able to sell its shows, she said.

Hiring the GLC and sound were her biggest costs.

“Most of it is technical really because I’ve got to pay an extra staff member to work the sound, I end up bringing in because their equipment isn’t sufficient.”

“I think the community just needs to know, because part of it is all the people that go ‘O yeah I am going to go and watch that’ and then they don’t buy their ticket until the last minute … If I am going to put 54 kids on the stage that are going to play to 50 people, nobody wants that.”

Moana Jr includes five performances from November 7-9, a Friday morning show for schools as well as two evenings and two more matinees.

The Taupō District Council website lists the full day local rate for the GLC theatre including backstage rooms as $720 – around half the commercial rate of $1,350.

The multi show day community rate is $935 compared to the commercial rate of $1810.

To cut some costs Neve said Act 2 had already shaved off some rehearsal time in the GLC.

“I couldn’t afford the theatre for the whole week. The only way to save on overheads there was to do two rehearsals instead of four which is never enough for children, but we just have to make it work.”

With 97 students on her books, most of whom “are the kind of kids that have got their fingers in many pies” being able to go on stage at the end of the year and be a part of a big story celebrates their work throughout the year, she says.

Looking ahead, Neve said Act 2 would do smaller shows through the year in its own small theatre.

“They will still perform but they will be in much smaller casts... And I will reassess it in a few years to see whether it is something we can afford to do.”

One of her problems, she said, was that Act 2 was a business which meant limited funding available in terms of council or lottery grants.

She urges anyone who wants to support the company’s young actors to purchase tickets for Moana Jr through Trybooking or on the Act 2 Facebook page.