Capes Conversations
Capes Conversations is a weekly podcast celebrating the stories that make the Margaret River Region such a special place to live and visit.
Hosted by Kellie Tannock, each episode explores a single topic, delving into the people, events and experiences that shape this vibrant and diverse corner of Australia's South West.
Blending relaxed conversation with music from West Australian musicians, Capes Conversations invites the local community to rediscover their own backyard while visitors get a deeper understanding of makes the Margaret River Region so unique.
Recorded at RMR 101.9FM, Margaret River Region.
Capes Conversations
More Than a Night Out
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From concerts and touring theatre to gallery exhibitions and local amateur performances, live events are a powerful way to bring people together, not only drawing visitors but creating meaningful experiences for locals.
The opening of Saltwater Busselton, a state of the art performing arts venue complements the Margaret River HEART, and increases the region's ability to attract world class performances.
But what does it take to put our region on the touring map? What do artists and promoters look for in a venue? And how do we balance big-name acts with opportunities for local performers and community access?
And it’s not just about what's happening on the stage but everything it brings with it. Shared moments for locals, new reasons to visit, and a region that continues to thrive after dark.
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For more inspiration on visiting the Margaret River Region follow @margaretriver on Instagram or explore www.margaretriver.com.
This show was recorded at RMR 101.9FM, Margaret River Region.
Welcome to Capes Conversations, sharing the stories that make the Margaret River region a truly special place to live and visit. I'm Kellie Tannock. Thanks for joining me. Today on Capes Conversations, we take a look at how live performance shapes both tourism and community life in the Margaret River region. Saltwater Busselton is a state-of-the-art performing arts venue which opened just this year. It complements Margaret River's HEART venue in bringing world-class performances to our region, from concerts and touring theatre to gallery exhibitions and local amateur performances. Live events are a powerful way to bring people together, not only drawing visitors but creating meaningful experiences for locals. But what does it actually take to put our region on the touring map? What do artists and promoters look for in a venue and how do we balance Big Name Acts with opportunities for local performers and community access? Well, I have Saltwater Busselton's venue manager, Sharon Custers with me in the studio to share some insight into designing and operating a purpose-built performance venue. Welcome, Sharon. Sharon, let's start with an overview of Saltwater's performance spaces.
Sharon CustersSaltwater has it's built as a multi-purpose space. So there there are lots of different spaces, and then some of those spaces can be used in different ways. So we have a 640-seat theatre, which uh that space is designed as a flexible space so that all those seats are retractable and it can be then opened up into a large space for a thousand people, just a flat floor space where you can build a stage on one end or or yeah, have a band, something like that. We've also got an art gallery, which is an A-class gallery, meaning it can take touring exhibitions, so it's temperature controlled, humidity controlled. And then we have a conference suite which is on the top level overlooking the bay, and that can also be used for performances. We've been turning that conference suite into a 400-capacity theatre. Yep.
Kellie TannockSounds like an incredibly flexible space. How has Saltwater stepped up our capacity to attract some of those big touring acts that we had been missing out on?
Sharon CustersI've had a lot of conversations, most of them booking for next year, but a lot of conversations with those tour promoters about making WA more viable for them, particularly coming from over East. It's quite expensive to get all of their big sets and all those things over here. So having just one more venue with a large enough theatre really makes the Southwest more viable for them to come to. So it definitely means we will be getting more of those shows because they can get a return on investment.
Kellie TannockI mean, we often wonder why certain acts don't reach us. So when a touring manager is mapping out a regional tour, what are they actually looking for in a town or a venue, as well as those things you described?
Sharon CustersThey do often look at demographics and look at what is already doing well in the region and yeah, and if it's a growing region. So Busselton's a very fast-growing town. It's moving more towards uh younger sort of families and that sort of thing. So that they'll be looking at that and looking at whether their demographic is in that region. They do definitely look at those sorts of things.
Kellie TannockAnd you mentioned the the flexible seating and the retractable seating and all those things. We described saltwater as state of the art, but what does that mean in terms of the other equipment and the design of the venue?
Sharon CustersWhen we say it's state of the art, what we really are meaning is that it's future-proof. So, well, I mean nothing's ever completely future-proof, but it's designed for lots of different ways that theatre and live events are going to evolve over the coming decades. You might have started to notice there's a lot more immersive experiences and things. It's it's not all designed for a traditional theatre with a tiered seating. So, you know, an example of a show that we'll be bringing is uh it's called Sea of Light. It's a family and children's show where it's basically uses the space as a big flat floor space. The the floor itself is a special technology that it lights up. So the kids paint with light on the floor, and and it's all these kids experience and interacting with this artwork. So you know they'll come in, they can stay as long or as short as they want. It's just a different experience to sitting in a seat and watching a theatre show. So as our amazing artists are coming up with these new ways of entertaining us, we have to have a venue that will suit different kinds of events. This venue is designed to be able to be flexible for all these different kinds of events that are coming through now.
Kellie TannockIt makes me wonder whether that sort of design consideration would actually make us available to host some events which might not be available in more mainstream or older theatres. Would that be right?
Sharon CustersDefinitely, yeah. So I know I've chatted to a few venue managers who are a bit jealous of what I have because traditionally they were always fixed seating. And there are a lot of theatres that have added smaller spaces that like the heart, they have a space where that is more flexible. But for us to have this sort of very large space, 640-seat theatre that's flexible is quite unique. I actually used to be a tour manager, so I've I've toured to probably about 40 different venues around the country and can 100% say this is the most flexible one that I've come across.
Kellie TannockWhat about some of the tech or some of the other tech, I suppose, that was considered in bringing uh a modern day theatre to the region?
Sharon CustersA lot of the more state-of-the-art things are to do with safety and things like that. So in a traditional theatre, the staff are working at heights a lot. We have what's called technet, which is a sort of a grid that sits just underneath where all the lighting bars are. So it essentially stops people from falling and and it it stops things from falling from the grid. So it protects the audience. So that's just one of the things that we have in there. All the equipment being brand new, it's all digital. Things operate through Wi-Fi and you know, sort of networks rather than necessarily having lots of cables running everywhere. So yeah, those are I'm not a particularly technical person myself, but yeah, that's those are some of the ways that um it's using new technology uh to make things work better.
Kellie TannockYou mentioned the light show. Can you share an example of an upcoming production or a concert that wouldn't have been possible in Busselton or the region before Saltwater? Is there anything coming up?
Sharon CustersYeah, so quite a few conversations I've been having with tour promoters for shows that would not have come to Busselton before, which I can't quite announce them yet, but they are some big name musical acts and comedians that are coming through that they wouldn't have come to a venue with a smaller than 640 seat capacity because it's just not it's not viable for them. So yeah, they will be. We will be announcing them soon. Oh, that's exciting.
Kellie TannockWe'll definitely have the radar up for those. Now, bump in and bump out are terms that you often hear, but what do they actually involve in practice? And and how did you plan for that when saltwater was located in the middle of Busselton?
Sharon CustersBump in kind of starts even before the tour, the tour bus or tour truck arrives. A bump-in is when you're just basically getting the venue ready for the event. So we would rig all the lights and and have that ready. Saltwater's loading dock is actually designed for a semi-trailer truck, so it can take big, big shows. Some of those trucks basically just full with road cases. So the loading dock has a lifter which meets the height of the truck and they can just roll all their road cases straight onto the stage. So, yes, it is right in the CBD, but we have done some tests of the sort of turning circle off Adelaide streets, and you can get a semi-trailer truck in there.
Kellie TannockAnd I'd imagine that when it comes to trying to attract touring acts, it can't hurt that we're in the middle of a world-class tourism region. Do you see uh production crews planning rest days to go exploring while they're here?
Sharon CustersYes, and in fact, when I used to tour, that was one of my favorite things to land in a beautiful place and have your two-day rest days. So you all all tours have to have rest days. And so being, you know, that there's now, say, five venues, uh, they they'll do those venues and then have their rest days in the region rather than having already moved on to another location. So yeah, definitely that people will enjoy the region. When I would had my rest days, I'd go on tour buses and check out the region because you know you're being paid to be there, so of course you're gonna spend a bit of money and enjoy it. So yeah, I can see that happening.
Kellie TannockYeah, so that's a real flow on for the region, isn't it? So you mentioned the local circuit, Sharon.
Sharon CustersWell, what is the local circuit? So, yeah, in terms of venues of a certain scale, from Perth they would head out to Mandurah, then Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River, and then Albany. So those those are all venues now that are a certain size that make it viable for the larger uh touring acts to come through.
Kellie TannockAnd exciting and as culturally enriching as all of these new bigger productions are for us to enjoy. What are some of the flow-on effects for the local economy?
Sharon CustersSome of those bigger shows have a lot of cast and crew. So, you know, if you've got a big ballet, you're talking about 30 people that are coming through, and that's before you've even had any guests come along to the show. So they've got to stay somewhere, they've all got to eat, all of that. So there's definitely that economic benefit of all of these touring acts coming through. And then, of course, you've got people who will come here because they maybe the date they wanted wasn't available at you know at another venue. Uh, and so well, you know, they'll hop in the in the car and come to Busselton to see the show. But there's definitely going to be people visiting um from other areas. So, yeah, a lot of flow on effect because you know, people don't just go to a show, they do go and get dinner as well, and you know, they sometimes stay overnight.
Kellie TannockI, for one, are really thrilled that Saltwater is here now in our region. But at its core, what role do you think live performance plays in a regional community like ours?
Sharon CustersThat's something I'm really passionate about. A lot of research has been done about the mental health benefits of not just participating in performing arts, but even just going to see a show. They've actually found statistically that if you consume at least two hours of performing arts a week, you'll have significant improved mental health. So it's almost like you know, eat your your your veg and whatever. Like so have your two hours of performing high live performing arts per week and you'll improve your mental health. And is there something for everybody? Yes, so so that's something that we've made sure with Saltwater. We've got a wide variety of events, from very low-cost events to the bigger name things, which will obviously have a higher ticket price. But yeah, wanting to make sure that there's no barriers for anyone to attend. We've even got some free community concerts and things. Yeah, definitely go and check out the Saltwater Busselton website because there's a wide variety of things from performing arts but also visual arts from our gallery. The gallery actually has a black box gallery as well with video art, and yeah, and then of course lots of other events that are non-performing arts, but more just um things to do with our conference suite and that sort of thing. So, yeah, there's a lot of different kinds of events happening at Saltwater.
Kellie TannockFantastic to hear. I'm Kellie Tannock. This is Capes Conversation, sponsored by Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association. And my thanks to Sharon Custers, who's the venue manager for Saltwater Busselton, for sharing what goes into designing and attracting world-class performances. I should say that Saltwater does have incredible conference facilities too, but that's probably a story for another day. Next up, we'll chat to Michelle Wright. She's the general manager of Arts Margaret River, which has been scheduling acts and managing Margaret River's cultural and performance space, The HEART. But first, let's raise the curtain on some show tunes from Australian Broadway Stars, winning a Tony Award in 2004 for his role as Peter Allen in Boy from Oz. This is Hugh Jackman singing I Go to Rio.
SpeakerKellie Tannock
That was Hugh Jackman's performance in Boy From Oz. This is Capes Conversations, a half-hour spotlight on this wonderful region which punches well above its weight in the arts. And today we're talking about the touring theatre, concerts, dance and comedy performances, as well as our strong local performing arts scene. I'm Kellie Tannock, and with me now is Arts Margaret River General Manager Michelle Wright. Welcome, Michelle. Thank you. Now, Michelle, perhaps you could give us an overview of Arts Margaret River.
Michelle WrightSo this is a bit tough, but let's just go broad brushstrokes. We've been around for 52 years as an organization. We've grown and changed a lot in the last five to seven years, especially. We do cinema, touring shows, art exhibitions, community events, Margaret River Theatre Group, we support them, after school events, art auctions, and we all back that up by having a very strong volunteer base of about 214 people behind us. That sounds very community focused. That is pretty much one of our primary aims. When we were asked to go back into the venue and take it over again in 2023, it was to make it sure it was a community-centric place. So community has pride and ownership of the venue and feels connected so you know they can access it when they choose. What's the process when you're booking shows for our regional venue? That in itself is complex. There's a lot of Tetris in that. And at the moment I'm looking at shows for 2026, 27, and 28. So, like one of the things I did yesterday is I went through and I looked at the whole plan year for 27, and then I actually blacked out days of days I go, okay, we need rest days in here and break that apart before we even look at touring shows to what can come through. But when we go to look at the shows themselves, we look to make sure that we've got a reach, especially for children and youth. We want to make sure things are low-cost affordable, connected, and just lean towards hopefully giving people a good time.
Kellie TannockSo when you are looking at those touring shows, what are some of the trickiest logistical challenges for hosting touring shows in a regional setting?
Michelle WrightLogistics is number one. It's really hard to get East Coast shows here cheaply. And then when you've got the bigger touring shows come through, then you've got an absolutely massive crew of tech and lighting. And we've got a really low base of lighting people and tech support in WA. So when there's a show coming through and they go, Okay, we want eight tech on ground, that's really difficult to action, especially when they expect an 18-hour day. And it's like that's not cool.
Kellie TannockSo with all those challenges, you must have had some memorable experiences with have there been any shows that almost didn't happen, any of those stories? No.
Michelle WrightWe're really lucky. Um we've had great success. One that did happen but had a glitch in it is when we toured 1984 last year, the George Orwell book, there was a technical hitch in their rehearsal, and then they fixed that up with their touring people. But then when the show actually started itself, that technical hitch started again because it had these back screens that were showing different scenery to what the actors were speaking. And so you didn't know whether they were taking George Orwell to another level or whether it was a mistake. And I was looking at it quite perplexed. And then two minutes later they were like, sorry, stage, we have to stop, and then we had to restart the show again. But some people left that thinking that was on purpose.
Kellie TannockYou mentioned there's quite a bit of discussion around how you do your scheduling. How do you balance Turing acts with local requests such as you know the Margaret River Theatre Group production and the end-of-year dance school recital and the high school performance and those sorts of events?
Michelle WrightWell, I can say thank you for asking. Uh, because that is huge. What we know that our annual occurrences are the school events, the high school events, the dance schools, the end-of-year concerts, the annual art auction, the wine show in the region, all those things that we do annually within our community and community business. We program them first and we lock them down and bed them away. So we've actually got attentive dates in for 26, 27, and 28 for all of them to make sure that they get catered for before we actually go outside. Why is it so important that these spaces serve both visitors and locals? For us, it's community pride and community connection, and we know the cost of living barriers are going up. We know isolation is at its highest ever. In fact, the isolation rates for youth are higher than for the elderly. And we know communication can be analog, and so we really want people to come back together and be in front of each other and having those levels of conversations and connections with each other instead of uh via a small screen.
Kellie TannockBut some of those bigger acts that you get, are you finding that you get people visiting from say Perth? Sometimes those acts are booked out in Perth and they might come down here. Are you finding that people are visiting specifically for performances?
Michelle WrightYeah, but especially after the back, you know, of having a successful readers and writers festival, that people will look at our brands and what we're doing and they will make a weekend to come away uh to Margaret River to include a show. So it's kind of like a nice niche. And a little more affordable sometimes. Yeah, sometimes our ticket prices are actually cheaper than the city. Well, actually a lot of the time.
Kellie TannockNow performances often become ambassadors for a place. Have you seen that happen here?
Michelle WrightWell, our biggest ambassadors are our volunteers. So I'll say that that's our bedrock. But we've found, especially with our festival and with a couple of like Belle Shakespeare coming through, they have become ambassadors for us because what they do is they go back and tell their networks and then they tell other people about wow, what an amazing venue, what an amazing building. And also knowing that we're approachable and that we work as a team. So we've actually had quite a few encounters where we go back and we'll have repeat visitation from a touring group because they've just loved what we do.
Kellie TannockAnd the region itself is obviously an attraction for some of the touring groups, I'd imagine.
Michelle WrightYeah, it is, absolutely. And we love to share that.
Kellie TannockIs there a show or a moment that's really captured the impact of live performance in this region for you?
Michelle WrightThere's probably two. Well, there's actually three. One was The Other Side of Me, which is a First Nations uh contemporary dance performance, which was about a boy's life who grew up here as an Aboriginal boy, but then was taken to the UK and raised as an English person, and his crossed identity and confusion from that. That was amazing. But then I'll just harp on I won't do all three. The second one was last week, which we did Yuri Yakin's Seven Stages of Grieving, and it was a single-woman play. It was an act that was delivered in 65 minutes with one person on stage. And the way that she captured audience and told characterizations of over 23 people was just mind-blowing. And the sets were stunning and simple, and they had a lot of uh backlighting behind and rear projection behind the set. So it was a cost-effective set to move because it was only lighting and some projectors. It wasn't a massive truck, but the uh stories she could tell from moving in front of and behind those screens were amazing.
Kellie TannockMichelle Wright, thank you so much. That's what makes live performance so powerful. It's not just about the show on stage, but everything it brings with it. Shared moments for locals, new reasons to visit, and a region that continues to thrive after dark. Thanks so much to our guests, Sharon Custers and Michelle Wright, for their insights. Both Saltwater Bustleton and Margaret River Heart have great websites with all their events listed. So if you live locally, take advantage of the depth of talent. Trust me, there aren't many small places as lucky as the Margaret River region in the performances that we have on offer here. If you're planning a visit, don't forget to check out what's on for your dates. There's bound to be something great on. I'm Kellie Tannock, and this is Capes Conversations. A look at what makes the Margaret River region so wonderful to live in and to visit. And thanks to our show's sponsor, Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association. I'm ending the show now with another theatrical performance and quite an unusual one at that. Anthony Warlow performed in The Phantom of the Opera for years. Here he performs with John Farnham in a musical mashup from a 1990 concert, the main event.