Behind the scenes

Life backstage is more than rhinestones and feathers for Liz Koops, producer of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical. By Francesca Newby.

What you see on the stage is just the tip of the iceberg when you consider what it takes to put on a show. Long before the first performance there’s the writer, with an idea and a script, then months of rehearsals to bring that script to life. Then there is the casting and the costumes, the lighting and props, make-up and, for some productions, even a wig room. Yet, before any of these things can be brought together, there’s the producer working hard to coordinate the entire production from concept to fruition. And if you work in the international arena of showbiz, like theatrical producer Liz Koops does, it takes very long days.

7am: It’s not long after dawn at Tamarama beach and all is quiet. The sand is freshly ploughed and empty of all but one set of footprints. The morning begins slowly, with a solitary surfer coming in from the waves, board underarm. But it doesn’t take long for the day to awake and soon a number of surfers slip on wetsuits while walkers stroll past, their dogs in tow. The calm of the coast is a world away from the backstage bustle of the theatre, which is why producer Liz and her husband and business partner, Garry McQuinn, try to start each day they’re in Sydney here.

Working together is a dream for many couples, but 10 years as partners has taught Liz and Garry a few truths about their workday relationship. “The office is about working, not being, together. Once we are there, we’re busy doing different things and work a really long day,” explains Liz. “The morning is our quiet moment together before the daily storm starts.”

Today’s walk on the beach has special significance. After years of living out of suitcases, they have bought a house nearby. A brisk walk has been planned, but the temptation to seek out views of the house and short cuts up the hill wins out.

With their musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, still on stage in Sydney, a confirmed move to Melbourne to plan the next season of Priscilla, and a roster of various shows playing throughout the world, time is short, so Liz and Garry press on with a shortened walk before heading home to shower.

8am: A life spent largely in hotels and airports can make the routines of home life more precious than ever. For Liz and Garry, breakfast at Tamarama’s M Deli Cafe is a ritual. “It’s about mixing pleasure with the routine that keeps things running,” laughs Liz. She settles down at the window bench with a stack of the daily papers while Garry picks up washing and dry-cleaning to load into the car. The couple are such regular customers they barely need to place an order. Peggy, owner of the cafe, and her staff are clearly pleased to see Liz. “They’re the loveliest couple,” confides Peggy, “and really generous. They organised for all of us to see Swan Lake while it was on.” Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is another of the shows that Back Row Productions, Liz and Garry’s company, have toured in the past year. Checking the daily papers for press coverage of their shows takes place over coffee and croissants. It’s an important task that feeds into many of the day’s activities, and Liz can’t resist checking, and reading aloud, the day’s best stories at the same time.

9am: A drive through peak hour traffic lands the couple at their office in Ultimo, not far from the Lyric Theatre, where Priscilla is coming to the end of its year-long run in Sydney. Once they walk in the door, Liz and Garry will spend much of the day apart. Garry is squirrelled away in a separate office, while Liz has the run of the large open space that houses the rest of the Back Row team. The day starts with the daily ‘prayer meeting’. All of the Sydney-based office staff are here to check through the day’s activities. It’s clear from the teasing that Liz’s being on time is a rare event, but she takes it in good humour.

9.30am: A meeting with commercial director Catherine Haigh and ticketing manager Angela Gahan is next. The scope of activity covered by the meeting is huge. Ticketing, marketing, tourism, travel and corporate events are all linked and the team need to ensure everyone is up to date.

“We’re responsible for around 400 employees around the world,” explains Liz. Knowing that the livelihood of so many people rests on their efforts makes it vital Liz stays on top of the details, from ticket sales in Sydney to theatre size in Stockholm. A quick phone call for Angela brings good news – the end of the Sydney season had been announced and the result was the biggest day’s sales for the show so far.

10.30am: Liz hits the phones. Back Row Productions have offices in Sydney and London. At any time Liz can expect to be responsible for shows from Melbourne to Moscow. Right now the focus is on Melbourne as the company gear up to the mammoth task of transporting the cast, crew and fabulous costumes of Priscilla in time for the Melbourne season to start later this year.

"We’re thrilled to be moving Priscilla,” says Liz, “but it’s only one of the shows we have on the go at the moment.” Swan Lake toured Paris, London, Athens, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, before finishing its run in Perth in May this year. Back Row also act as consultants for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production company, Really Useful Group, and UK impresario, Cameron Mackintosh, plus it has European productions of Starlight Express and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to plan. Then there’s a Tap Dogs tour of the UK and Europe in full swing and Priscilla’s move to London’s West End next year, followed by its Broadway premiere.

“There’s a lot on the cards,” admits Liz. “I’m excited about launching Shane Warne: The Musical, in 2008.” It sounds like a joke, but Liz is serious. “We’re workshopping it at the Cabaret Festival in Adelaide this year in preparation for bringing it to the stage.” The company has high hopes for the show, written by the same team who created the musical Keating! (yes, after the former PM), another unusual success.

1pm: Liz heads to the theatre to check everything’s in place for tonight’s show. The cast of Priscilla are clearly a hugely talented bunch, but they’re not the only stars of the show. The amazing costumes, designed by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, the same team who designed the costumes for the movie the musical is based on, also deserve top billing. The costumes and props represent an enormous investment, so Liz checks that everything from the eponymous bus to a feathered headdress is in shape. “I knew that if the show failed and Garry and I went broke, at least we’d have 500 costumes and two buses,” jokes Liz. She forgets to mention the 1.5-metre tall lipstick, towering pink-glitter stairs and an enormous stiletto.

3pm: Liz takes a quick break to grab lunch at Francois Pastries, a small cafe behind Sydney’s Star City Casino, site of the Lyric Theatre. Lunch is eaten on the run, but Liz takes time to choose a box of cakes and pastries for the office staff. “I promise this isn’t just for the cameras,” jokes Liz. Her niece, Becky Wise, currently assisting in the office and waiting to take the goodies back, adds, “we need our afternoon cake to keep going!”

3.30pm: It’s time to head backstage again, this time to check in with the army of crew required to keep a show this size looking good and running on time. With six evening performances and two matinees a week, keeping everything in good repair and on track is a colossal task. The cast and most of the crew are yet to arrive, but the warren of rooms behind the scenes are full of activity. There are wigs being steamed, costumes repaired and a group hard at work putting the bus through its paces.

5pm: Liz heads outside for some fresh air just as the cast begins to arrive. Actor Lena Cruz, who plays Cynthia, the mail-order bride of Bob the Mechanic, is arriving, and the two stop for a chat about Melbourne plans. “Lena was our Cynthia from the moment we saw her,” remembers Liz. “We had quite a few girls audition and straightaway we realised half of them were too young to have seen the film. They’d start doing Pop Muzik, the audition piece, but you could tell they had no idea what the ping-pong ball was for. Then Lena strutted in and just nailed it.”

6.30pm: After running through the checklist with company manager Sandra Willis, Liz makes her way to the dressing room of three of her ‘girls’. The wall is covered with lipstick kisses on sticky tape. “Sticky tape is the only way to remove the lipstick after a show,” explains Trevor Ashley. Making his big-budget debut as Miss Understanding, Trevor is busy transforming his face with a thick layer of turquoise and white eyeshadow. Liz is here to chat about last night’s performance, the first with Bill Hunter in the role of Bob the Mechanic. It’s not long, however, before they move on to the topic of the day – the move to Melbourne. “It’s fab doing a long run,” says Trevor, “but it can get hard to operate when it’s all open ended. Knowing we’re closing here and opening there gives everything shape again.”

 

Photography: Sam McAdam. Hair & Make-up: Tira Jaye.