The curtain is about to come down on Bruce Carmichael's long career. He is retiring from his role as director of the Canberra Theatre Centre at the end of November.
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Carmichael, 66, has worked at the Canberra Theatre Centre since 1985. He began as a mechanist and worked his way up to become the institution's director in 2007.
Carmichael says his vision when he became director was "to grow the business".
Part of this is sheer economics - only 25 per cent of the theatre centre's budget is provided by the government: the rest it must generate itself. And it seems to be more than justifying its existence financially: its budget is $3.5 million a year and it generates $33 million for the ACT in ticket sales and bringing non-Canberrans to town who spend money on accommodation, food and sundries.
And part of it is artistic, to bring, and show, a variety of quality works - local, national and international - from across genres: plays, musicals, operas, dance, music and more. These are presented both in the subscription season and in between those productions.
He says, "We don't have a state theatre company - this takes the place of a state theatre company."
He's worked with deputy director - programming Gill Hugonnet and others to ensure many different works are in each season, from popular entertainment to more cerebral offerings.
Among the productions that have been in the Canberra Theatre Centre over the years he's been director, Carmichael names a few highlights.
One of them is the Sydney Theatre Company's production of The Secret River in 2013, programmed by the Centenary of Canberra's creative director, Robyn Archer. It sold out its Canberra season.
Adapted by Andrew Bovell from Kate Grenville's novel and directed by Neil Armfield, the play tells the story of the escalating tensions between a white family who settled on the Hawkesbury River and an Indigenous family who already lived there. Carmichael doesn't think there had been a drama of that scale presented in Canberra before.
Another success - and an ongoing one - has been The Wharf Revue. The Sydney Theatre Company's satirical revue, which takes aim at politicians and issues in Australia and internationally, has been coming here since 2008. Its subject matter made it a natural for Canberra.
"It was so popular it went from one week to two."
And, he says, a number of artists from companies like the Wharf Revue team and Bell Shakespeare - another regular attraction - have described the Playhouse as the best theatre space of its kind in Australia.
The 2017 production of the ABBA jukebox musical Mamma Mia! was also a huge financial success that began its Australian tour in Canberra.
"It sold more tickets in one season than anything else."
Also reliably popular, he says, are large-scale international magic shows such as The Illusionists.
Carmichael has his own artistic preferences but as he says, "We can't program for my taste."
Still, there have been productions that have reflected his interests.
He has a strong interest in contemporary music, an area looked after by music and comedy programmer Jem Natividad Carmichael enjoys musicians such as Heath Cullen ("One of the best ones I've seen recently") - and also likes intellectual and issue-based shows.
Carmichael enjoyed artist William Yang's picture-and-talk show Blood Links, for example and is interested in programming that represents Indigenous issues including annual performances by Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Even if some of the theatre's more esoteric offerings don't attract huge audiences, he thinks it is important to include them for a balanced and sometimes challenging program.
As for supporting local theatre, Carmichael says this is partly dependent on which venue Canberra companies want to use - the smallest space, the Courtyard Studio, has often hosted productions by Canberra companies. As for using the bigger theatre for local productions, he says artistic quality is the determining factor: Pigeonhole's Playhouse Creatures and Everyman's The Musical of Musicals: the Musical! had one performance each in the Playhouse after earlier seasons in different venues. He's been involved in the discussions for a new, 2000-seat theatre space and says if it is built, this might enable local productions to use the existing Canberra Theatre.
Bruce Carmichael was born in Melbourne and came to Canberra several years later when his father, a public servant, was transferred here. He attended Campbell High School and worked backstage on a school production of a musical, Reedy River, pointing to his future.
Carmichael says he originally wanted to be a journalist and applied to study creative writing at the University of Canberra. But his life took a different turn.
While attending a music gig he tripped and fell on broken glass, severing an artery in his right hand.
"I couldn't write," he says.
That put the kibosh on the writing course. He moved to Sydney and began working in various capacities for bands including AC/DC, Cold Chisel and Mental as Anything, everything from backstage duties to ticket-taking, while also working backstage in theatre. Despite the temptations of the rock scene in the 1970s, he said, "I kept on the straight and narrow."
In the early 1980s he returned to Canberra.
"Sydney was a real struggle - it's a big city and I wasn't really going anywhere."
Carmichael undertook a TAFE course in photography while working in a mini-lab and also worked for Theatre ACT. He made theatre contacts and became a mechanist, assembling sets for the Canberra Theatre Centre, in 1985.
While still studying photography he "decided I needed a real job" and applied successfully for the position of head mechanist.
Carmichael was asked by the then programming manager, Michael Leech, to be production manager for three National Festivals of Australian Theatre under the artistic direction of Robyn Archer, events that brought a lot of attention and artists to Canberra.
He moved on to become the CTC's Production Manager and then Operations Manager, a position in which he played a key role in designing the current Playhouse.
And then in 2007, he became director of the CTC.
Carmichael also served on a number of regional, national and international bodies, including as board member for South East Arts, executive councillor for Live Performance Australia, and an executive member of the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (now Performing Arts Connections Australia) and of the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres.
Carmichael said he was very grateful to be given the opportunity to be the CTC's director, saying it was "a lot of fun" and that "even if I'm not involved in the creative process, I get to work with all the people who are."
Former ACT chief justice Richard Refshauge chairs the board of the Cultural Facilities Corporation that administers the theatre. He has known Carmichael since the latter's time working for Theatre ACT.
Refshauge is a longtime theatre enthusiast who says he though the recent Bell Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing was "brilliant" and West Side Story was "great".
He says, "I think Bruce has been a great director ... he's very passionate about theatre."
Refshauge names three areas in which he thinks Carmichael had been particularly successful: contributing to the physical rehabilitation of the centre, especially the new Playhouse; being involved in national organisations, which helped bring more productions to Canberra; and developing the CTC as a regional centre, attracting audiences beyond the ACT. And, he adds, in addition to attracting artists from around Australia, Carmichael has supported local arts organisations including QL Dance.
"I think he's left his mark."