For a performer thriving in a successful career overseas, it often takes a combination of circumstances to draw them back home – as it did for Nathan Wright, who will be a guest instructor at VDF in Melbourne in May. His return began with a contract to perform in Elvis in 2019, followed by the challenges of COVID-19 and extended periods in hotel quarantine, even while continuing to work. Gradually, the idea of returning to Australia became the more appealing and certain choice. “It changed our priorities,” Wright reflects, admitting he once imagined he might “move to Bowral and open a wine bar”. Fortunately for the dance industry, that wasn’t the path he took.
Since returning to Australia, Wright, alongside his partner Andrew Bevis, has focused on building a lasting legacy. Together, they have established the professional training program Theatre Bridge, opened Teatro at the Italian Forum, and launched the company On Your Feet Australia in Sydney’s Inner West. These ventures represent an exciting contribution to the industry, offering valuable opportunities for both performers and audiences alike.
They created Theatre Bridge three years ago. “The program was always about bridging graduates and bridging them into the professional arena,” Wright explains. “The whole program is about how many times and how many ways can we bridge people in the industry to build that bridge for them to move them forward.” It is open to recent full-time graduates, as well as professionals looking to refine their skills. They get a chance to be mentored by some of the industry’s best, getting to extend their knowledge and practical skills.
Teatro At the Italian Forum has been a long time in the making. Wright and Bevis had been looking for a location for close to five years before discovering what now is Teatro. It was formerly known as the Actors Centre and found new life as full working theatre, seating a little under 300 people. It is makes for an intimate setting, allowing the audience to be close to the performers, so it is quite a unique performance space, especially when watching musical theatre which is commonly seen in larger venues. The theatre inside of the Piazza, and keeping with the Italian history of the Leichhardt suburb, Teatro (also pronounced the Italian way (tey-ah-troh)) is bringing life back into the Piazza which has been missed by many.
There have already been a few productions in the theatre, but the recent debut of The Prom is also bringing new musical theatre repertoire to Australian audiences – something that is really needed now with so much repetition in productions in recent years. How many times can audiences see the same shows or draw in new theatregoers as well as keep the things busy enough to sustain things at the box office? With Wright and Bevis’ theatre company, mounting new works makes it exciting for both theatregoers and the experience of the performer. Tootsie is the next show to debut in May, and Wright teases that there is more on the way, so stay tuned for upcoming announcements.
Theatre Bridge has been just that, a bridge from performers learning in the program to be contracted as the ensemble cast. Wright’s passion for both sowing into developing talent as well as seeing them transition into working in the theatre is so infectious, he just wants to see both to blossom.
He discusses how the entire ensemble of The Prom has been cast from previous seasons of Theatre Bridge. “The whole point was to bridge people with an opportunity where they are in a professional show, but they’re also working with these incredible artists,” Wright says. “The whole program is about ways can we bridge people in the industry and help move them forward. This is the first time we’ve been able to tie a bow around the whole thing and go, ‘That dream that we had all those years ago, it’s now finally happening!’”
These young and up-and-coming artists get the chance to work next to seasoned performers like Caroline O’Connor and Thern Reynolds, some even making their musical theatre debut in this season of The Prom.
Creating these opportunities just seems to spur Wright on even more.
Wright says, “The quality of work that is put on this country is phenomenal! We wanted to open this year with a strong premiere, to show that you don’t have to be a ginormous venue to put on phenomenal work.”
Go and see The Prom, and you’ll see exactly what that means. The show is as infectious in its joy as Wright’s passion for the Australian theatre industry. We’re lucky to have him back on Australian shores.
FUN FACTS ABOUT NATHAN WRIGHT:
Wright enrolled himself into his first classes at Conroy Dance Centre and took himself to classes all on his own! He found the studio’s number and called them from his dad’s car phone. “I remember I told my parents, ‘Look, I’ve enrolled myself at this dancing school; I really want to go. I went for two weeks, but the girls were mean. So, I left, but Rachelle Conroy actually called my parents and said, ‘Hey, listen. Can you please bring your son back?’ And that’s how it kind of grew. And I went back and then, well, my whole life changed forever.”
His top 3 career hightlights so far?
- “My first West End show, which was in 2015. That’s obviously a massive, massive, massive highlight. You live in Australia, and you grow up in Brisbane, and you think, how will I ever have a show on the West End? I think my first show in the West End in 2015, High Society, just changed my career!”
- “London Olympics, 2012.”
- “I would say out of all the musicals I did as a performer, my favourite show ever was Hot Shoe Shuffle. Yeah, I loved it!”
His most influential teacher?
“I trained in Brisbane at a dancing school called the Conroy Dance Centre. And I suppose the pivotal one for me was Rachelle Conroy, who now runs the studio. She was the daughter at the time. She was very pivotal in my whole trajectory.”
If you can’t get to see the show in Sydney, then you can catch him teaching Musical Theatre at VDF next month in Melbourne. To book, visit teatroitalianforum.com.au/date/the-prom and www.vdf.com.au/tickets.
By Dolce Fisher of Dance Informa.
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