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You can enter the backstage world from whatever location you like – through Joshua Broadbent and Kelly Plank’s podcast Whispers in the Wings. Their podcast focuses on life as a Stage Manager. It offers fun and fascinating insights of life backstage. Bringing order to chaos and making the impossible possible on a daily basis. In this article, listen in, as Joshua Broadbent tells us about his and Kelly’s creation: Whispers in the Wings.
The professional podcast is aimed at anyone interested in a Stage Manager’s life, at those who are new to the industry, as well as at anyone who is curious about this unusual career path.
New episodes will drop fortnightly, with each episode divided into two acts.
In Act One, the hosts dive into a specific topic related to theatre. From rehearsals to tech, touring life, show calling, the good the bad and the ugly, and so much more.
In Act Two, they pass the torch to the audience, allowing the listeners to ask questions, seek advice, and share their own experiences.
Find out more about Whispers in the Wings here, in our interview with Joshua Broadbent.
Whispers in the Wings is hosted by me, Joshua Broadbent, and by Kelly Plank. We are two Australian-based freelance Stage Managers.
Kelly recently returned to Australia after spending 5 years working in the United Kingdom as a Deputy and Assistant Stage Manager. Her credits include Thriller Live!, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Full Monty and The Phantom of the Opera.
Prior to relocating to London, Kelly worked the Australian Music Festival circuit as a Stage Manager and Artist Liaison.
I have been actively working in the industry for the past 7 years after graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
I’ve toured Australia with productions like The Wizard of Oz, Evita, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Come From Away and, most recently, on 9 to 5.
This month, I will be commencing as the Stage Manager for Once at Darlinghurst Theatre Company.
Outside of theatre, I’ve gained experience in events with credits including the Sydney New Year’s Eve Celebration, Mardi Gras Parade and Mardi Gras Afterparty.
As professional Stage Managers in the industry we found there was a lack of open conversation by Stage Managers for Stage Managers.
The concept of Whispers in the Wings was crafted with the intent to create a safe and open place in which experiences can be shared, by ourselves and our audiences.
The podcast is mainly aimed at those new to the industry or being interested in it.
I fell in love with theatre, especially musicals, at a young age.
I grew up traveling to Sydney from Newcastle multiple times a year to see the latest Broadway musical with my parents.
In the early 2000’s I joined a youth theatre company with the idea of becoming an actor.
However, it was performing in my first production that I realised there are so many other elements that make up live theatre.
From then on, I spent every weekend in the theatre, moving from role to role until I had a basic understanding on exactly what went into making a show.
I didn’t realise that Stage Management was a career path until I was accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
It was there I focused my studies towards becoming a musical theatre Stage Manager. It wasn’t an easy area of the industry to break into, but I am extremely grateful to have had the privilege to work on so many wonderful productions.
I love the fact that it is LIVE theatre. With musicals having so many elements coming together there are many things that can go wrong. Luckily however, they often don’t.
Stage Managers must be quick, think clearly and logically. And as the person in control, you need to be able to get to the solution before something happens. It’s in the moments of show stops that we really get to shine.
Show calling is one of the best parts about the job. And twice now, I’ve been required to learn the show call within a short period of time.
On Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, I joined the company a month into the season as there was a shift in the stage management team. Within two weeks I was up and calling the show.
More recently, I was required to learn the 9 to 5 show call in 2 days as the SM team were affected by Covid. There’s a whole episode of the podcast on this experience.
Covid has affected our industry drastically both in Australia and around the world and we are still working hard to make our way back.
Working on Come From Away and 9 to 5 we were shut down temporarily because of outbreaks within the company as well as the community.
We’ve learnt a lot during these processes and have experienced first-hand the resilience the theatre industry has to keep fighting.
There are some definite learnings to take away from it all.
For example, in the time before Covid we were taught that having a day off was bad. But now I understand the importance of looking after yourself physically and mentally. If you’re feeling unwell it is okay to take the day off.
If our podcast teaches you anything it is that there are many ways of doing the same job.
Both Kelly and I have a unique approach to doing things and we often don’t align. However, we can see how our individual processes work.
Our podcast is aimed at having healthy conversations around the challenges of being a SM. And to share tips and tricks too.
While this industry can be seen as very competitive, it doesn’t need to be. We are constantly getting DMs from our listeners thanking us for answering their questions or helping them navigate the industry.
I continue to do this outside of the podcast as well. We should find ways to support each other and encourage this conversation as much as possible.
Whispers in the Wings is available where all good podcasts are – Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor.fm, Stitcher, and more.
Act Two of every episode is focused on answering audience questions.
As I mentioned earlier, the concept was crafted with the intent to create a safe and open place in which experiences can be shared, by ourselves and our audience.
So we love to get our audience involved, and there are three ways you can reach us to share your stories or ask a question:
Via DM on Instagram @whispersinthewings
Emailing us at whispersinthewingspodcast@gmail.com
Or (my favourite option) you can send us a voice message which we can play during the episode:
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and insights with us Joshua! We wish you and Kelly all the very best with Whispers in the Wings!
Official Podcast site Whispers in the Wings
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Liam Klenk was born in Central Europe and has since lived on four continents. Liam has always been engaged in creative pursuits, ranging from photography and graphic design, to writing short stories and poetry, to working in theatre and shows. In 2016, Liam published his first book and memoir, 'Paralian'.
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