Harvest Rain Theatre Company

Harvest Rain Theatre Company is one of Australia's musical theatre companies. Based in Brisbane, Australia, the company is known for musical theatre productions.^[1]

Since its inception in 1985, Harvest Rain has produced theatre productions at a range of venues throughout Brisbane. From 1985 to 2008 the company operated out of the Sydney Street Theatre in New Farm. Now, Harvest Rain presents most of its major productions at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre at South Bank,^[2] while the base of the company's operations and training facility is the Hayward Street Studios in Stafford on Brisbane's northside.

Past productions

History

Establishment and early years (1985-1992)

Harvest Rain Theatre Company began life in 1985 as a small drama group run out of the Christian Life Centre on Sydney Street in New Farm, Queensland, Australia. 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. In 1987, Chris and Judy moved to Sydney and then later back to England, and leadership of the company was passed to the Parkin brothers. The company initially staged a range of amateur productions (plays, musicals, theatre restaurants - mostly original works) in the CLC church auditorium and the shows featured a small ensemble of dedicated actors. The most successful of these original productions was a full scale musical, Off the Planet, which was written by the Parkin brothers and which played for two sold out seasons.

The Harvest Rain Theatre years (1993-1997)

In 1993, the company took up permanent residence in one wing of the CLC complex on Sydney Street in New Farm, and this area of the building was crudely converted into a makeshift theatre - the Harvest Rain Theatre. The company began to produce more well known works, most specifically Broadway musicals such as Man of La Mancha and Godspell.

Sydney Street renovations (1998)

In 1998, the CLC complex was entirely renovated and the wing that Harvest Rain had been using to stage productions was converted into a fully functioning theatre.

Becoming an independent company (1999 - 2001)

In 1999, the company broke away from the CLC church and became its own independent company, a not-for-profit arts organisation. At the same time, the CLC church made the Harvest Rain theatre unavailable to the company so productions had to be staged elsewhere. During this time, the company staged productions at the Cement Box Theatre, the Gardens Theatre, the Schonell Theatre, and La Boite theatre. At the end of 2001, the CLC church once again made the Sydney Street venue available to Harvest Rain and shows were once again produced at this venue, newly named the Sydney Street Theatre.

Becoming a pro–am theatre company (2002 - 2008)

By 2002, the Parkin brothers were beginning to step away from running the company and handed the reigns over to the young director Tim O'Connor. Under O'Connor's leadership, the company began to grow into a pro–am company, whereby actors were paid small honorariums for their work on each show. During this period, the company grew to be so popular that each production would have to run for 7 – 8 weeks in order to meet demand for tickets, and the company started a youth theatre and youth holiday programs. By 2007, it became clear that the company had outgrown the Sydney Street Theatre.

Moving to QPAC (2009 - 2012)

In 2009, the company left the Sydney Street Theatre and set up its permanent offices at the Mina Parade Warehouse, a large venue where the company could rehearse shows, run classes, stage small productions, and store costumes and sets. At the same time, the company took up residency at QPAC and began staging large scale productions in the Playhouse, Concert Hall, and Cremorne Theatre. The Harvest Rain Musical Theatre Internship Program was also started in 2009, giving young emerging artists the opportunity to train full-time in singing, acting, and dancing.

Becoming a professional musical theatre company (2013-)

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. The company's 2013 production of Oklahoma! was the first fully professional musical the company staged.

At the end of 2013, Artistic Director Tim O'Connor announced that the company's 2014 season would be their first full season of professional musical theatre, including productions of 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.^[4]

In 2014, the company moved their training, rehearsals, and administration to a state of the art building on the north side of Brisbane known as the Hayward Street Studios. They continued to produce musicals, mostly at QPAC but also at other venues throughout Queensland.

Artistic directors and board members

The current Artistic Director is Tim O'Connor. Previous Artistic Directors were brothers Robbie and David Parkin. The current Chair of the Board is Simon Gallaher.

References

External links

• Harvest Rain Theatre Company website