Harvest Rain Theatre Company
AddressBrisbane
Australia
Years active1985 - 2022
Website
www.harvestrain.com.au

Harvest Rain Theatre Company was a not-for-profit theatre company based in Brisbane, Australia.[1] Beginning as an amateur company, [2] it evolved into a professional musical theatre company presenting arena productions around Australia, before closing in 2022.

Early history

Harvest Rain began in 1985 as a small drama group in New Farm, Queensland, Australia.[3] The founding members of the company were the brothers Robbie Parkin and David Parkin and the husband and wife team Chris Crooks and Judy Crooks. The name "Harvest Rain" was chosen because Chris Crooks liked the word "harvest" and the team felt that the word "rain" softened it.[4] The company initially staged a range of amateur productions and the shows featured a small ensemble of dedicated actors, operating out of the Sydney Street Theatre in New Farm.[5]

In 2008 the company moved to the Mina Parade Warehouse in Alderley and began presenting all its mainhouse productions at QPAC.[6]

Professional productions

In 2012, the company announced that it was in the final stages of transitioning into becoming a fully professional musical theatre company, the first of its kind in Queensland. Harvest Rain produced Oklahoma! in 2013 as its first fully professional production.[7]

In 2014, the company's first fully professional season included Guys and Dolls starring Ian Stenlake and Daryl Somers, Spamalot starring Jon English, Simon Gallaher, Frank Woodley and Julie Anthony, and an arena production of Cats starring Marina Prior and featuring over 500 performers on stage, making it the largest production of Cats ever staged in the southern hemisphere.[8]

In 2014, the company moved its training, rehearsals, and administration to a building on the north side of Brisbane known as the Hayward Street Studios.[9]

Spamalot won Harvest Rain the Matilda Award for Best Musical or Cabaret in 2014.[10]

In 2015, the company produced The Pirates of Penzance to celebrate QPAC's 30th birthday.[11] The show starred Andrew O'Keefe, John Wood and Nancye Hayes and featured Billy Bourchier as Frederic and Georgina Hopson as Mabel, in their professional debut. The production was directed by Simon Gallaher.

In 2016, Harvest Rain presented an arena production of Hairspray in Brisbane, Adelaide and Newcastle, with a cast featuring Lauren McKenna, Simon Burke, Christine Anu, Tim Campbell, Wayne Scott Kermond and Amanda Muggleton.[12] An arena production of Grease followed, performed in Brisbane, Newcastle and Adelaide in 2017, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane again, in 2018.[13] In 2019, an arena production of The Wizard of Oz toured Brisbane, Adelaide and Newcastle in 2019[14] and Sydney in 2020.[15]

Closure and connection with sexual assault charges

In November 2022, the company (now rebranded as AVT Live), was reported to have cancelled an Australian capital city tour of We Will Rock You: The Arena Experience after Tim O'Connor (company director) and Matthew Dennett (musical director) were charged with a combined 75 sexual assault offences against eight men and boys aged 12 to 29 between 2001 and 2021. Changes to QLD laws allowed the 2 men to be named in October 2022.[16] They are currently arraigned on bail and awaiting trial and sentencing.

The company closed in November 2022.[17]

Its Hayward Street Theatre is now operated by Queensland National Ballet.

Notable people

Notable people associated with the company include:

Crew and staff

Cast

References

  1. ↑ "Divas Harvest Rain". Australian Stage. March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  2. ↑ Tonya Turner (28 November 2009). "New home and new life for theatre company". Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  3. ↑ "Reaping the Harvest : Harvest Rain". Theatre People. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Harvest Rain plans bountiful theatre year". Bmag. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "New dawn for Harvest Rain Theatre". Performing Arts Hub. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "Harvest Rain 25 interview". Scene Magazine. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "Professional musical theatre for Brisbane : Harvest Rain's 2014 Season". Aussie Theatre. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "Hey Hey it's Harvest Rain's first professional season". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "On Centre Stage". Hush Hush Biz. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "Queensland theatre excellence at Matilda Awards". Brisbane Times. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "The Pirates are Aboard for QPAC's 30th birthday". Aussie Theatre. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  12. ↑ Bartle, Delia (29 January 2016). "Record-breaking 'Hairspray' in search of performers". Limelight Magazine. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Longworth, Ken (16 July 2017). "Grease's massive cast deserves applause". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  14. ↑ "Wizard of Oz reimagined in arena spectacular". The Star. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  15. ↑ "The Wizard of Oz – Arena Spectacular | Harvest Rain". www.australianstage.com.au. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  16. ↑ "From today, accused rapists in Queensland can be named by the media before they go to trial. Here's what's changing". ABC New Australia. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  17. ↑ Hope, Zach (9 November 2022). "National arena shows cancelled amid Queensland sexual assault allegations". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  18. ↑ "Simon Gallaher to star in Harvest Rain's Production of Hairspray". Stage Whispers. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  19. ↑ "Hey Hey it's Harvest Rain's first professional season". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 November 2013.
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