IN today's gig economy, there can't be a job more exciting than stage manager for a world-class travelling cabaret show.
Bel Gerard, stage manager for Strut & Fret's show, The Party, currently playing at The Spiegeltent in Civic Park, savours every moment of her unique position.
It's definitely not her first rodeo. She worked for producers Strut & Fret in the box office at The Garden of Unearthly Delights festival precinct in Adelaide in 2020, then took on a post as a producer for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (she's from Perth), and went on to work as a stage manager for producer Gilded Balloon at their flagship venue at Edinburgh Fringe - the world's largest fringe festival, which runs for 25 days in more than 320 venues with nearly 60,000 performances of 3800 different shows.
As stage manager of Late 'n Live at Edinburgh, she was on the cutting edge. The stand-up mixed show runs nightly, beginning at 11pm, with proven and up-and-coming comics pushing their limits.
"It's raucous, you never know what you're going to get. Everyone's a bit drunk," she says.
Adding to that background, Gerard worked as a life model, grew up performing ballroom dancing and toured a science education program across Western Australia.
It's the perfect resume for stage manager for The Party, which has a run of 45 shows through May 7 in Newcastle.
"The Party is a hot chaotic mess, but in the best way," she says. "It's that sort of show and experience everyone wishes they'd been invited to, but maybe hasn't had the opportunity to. So it's actually a beautiful thing to put on such a raucous, wild night for everyone and everyone's a part of it.
"One thing we've worked really hard to do is we've blurred the boundaries between the audience and the performers. We want the audience to feel like they're coming to a party, that it is a party they are invited to... we always bring people up on the stage every night and that's a big part of it."
The Party came together in a short period of time. The cast only met in late 2022 and rehearsals got underway early in 2023 before the show debuted at Adelaide Fringe in March. Newcastle was the second stop, so timing, routines and adjustments have been ongoing since day one.
The show does not travel with a director. The performers are experienced professionals from around the world, trained in dance, acrobatics, acting, song and juggling.
"It doesn't really matter how much experience you've had in this industry or how well you know an audience, you never really know how something will go until it's in front of a live audience who have paid tickets to come and see it," Gerard says.
"We'd done a lot of incubation and a lot of development in Sydney... but until we put it in front of a live audience in Adelaide, who knew what was going to happen.
"And there have definitely been things that have worked really well, things that have developed over the different seasons and things we want to fine tune and finesse."
Where does Gerard fit in to the chaos?
"My job is to make sure everything is running smoothly in the background and that the performers have everything they need to put that show on safely and happily," she says.
"So that can mean things like fixing costumes, it can mean things like logistics, running the schedule, running rehearsals. It can be communicating between all the different teams, like the front of house team, the bar team, the site team...
"My job is very much to run around in the background and put all the pieces together, so that the cast only have to worry about putting on their performance, putting on their clothes and makeup. They are incredibly talented, so I want them to be able to focus on that, rather than worry about other little details."
It's Gerard's first visit to Newcastle, and it has met expectations inside the tent and in leisure time. She was told it's a beautiful city, and the shows draw a raucous crowd.
Over-the-top fans are to be expected, she says. "We've had like a few people who've taken it too far, which we've had to address. But for most of it, everyone has been amazing," she says. "They've been up for it.
"I do think we present some topics and some themes that people aren't necessarily comfortable with? There's a lot of moments of queer-based interactions and I think sometimes that can make people feel a little bit uncomfortable. And you can feel the energy shift a little bit during those moments.
"But for the most part, people have been really up for things, which is great."
Gerard loves the city's friendliness and arts-leaning attitude.
"Every time we are here, the community really gets into it and they are behind it," she says. "And I can see even when I go to The Press cafe or Koutetsu or Rum Diary, people here are just so lovely, and they recognise us from the show."
It's also become a great place to practise her new hobbies - rollerskating and surfing.
