Desperate for staff, Moulin Rouge lures talent with a free show

Similar events were already held during Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Moulin Rouge!) seasons on Broadway and the West End, as well as Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Ms Pavlovic said the company was investing to rebuild a theatre workforce “shrunk beyond recognition” by the pandemic.

“Globally, we had seven productions in either planning, rehearsal or performance when COVID hit, and finding the crew to open or reopen them all has been incredibly difficult,” she said.

The Broadway production of Moulin Rouge! was forced to replace half of its cast and crew lost during its 18-month shutdown, and Ms Pavlovic said the situation had not been much better in Australia.

“Like everywhere else, we had a lot of our people leave the cities, retire or retrain, but in Australia we also lost a lot of people to the film industry, which was exploding for a while there as the only place in the world you could make movies.”

Global Creatures has never returned to a comfortable level of technical staffing. General manager Dawn Martin revealed that only this month, two backstage crew calling in sick meant that Moulin Rouge! had to “borrow” a mechanist at the last minute from another of the theatres operated by the Regent’s Marriner Group.

“It’s not quite as dire as 18 months ago, when some nights we had company management stepping in to run cues, but it’s still tight,” she said.

Technically, Global Creatures has filled all the 100 or so cast and crew positions it requires while Moulin Rouge! is in season at the Regent.

But as musical theatre experiences a surge in popularity – in September all six of Sydney’s main stage theatres were booked with musicals for the first time in decades – Ms Pavlovic said it was becoming harder to replace anyone who left.

“These are highly specialised skill sets we’re talking about, even before having to learn all the cues that are unique to each show,” she said.

Ms Pavlovic acknowledged that the Albanese government had recognised the talent shortage. Its last budget allocated an extra $5 million to The National Institute of Dramatic Art, which trains for some backstage roles.

However, she said the theatre industry still faced critical shortages of stage managers, lighting technicians, hair, wig and makeup artists, wardrobe assistants, set automators and mechanists, among other roles.

Ms Smith said Get Technical! stressed the point that people of all skill levels could find a role backstage. For instance, a former sculptor is now Global Creatures’ head of props, and a woman who started out placing microphones on Moulin Rouge! performers showed an interest in the sound desk, and was trained up to the point where she now regularly mixes the entire show.

Get Technical! Behind the Curtain of Moulin Rouge is at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre on November 30, from 1pm. Register at groups@marrinergroup.com.au.