Harvest Rain Theatre Company was a not-for-profit theatre company based in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia. Beginning as an amateur company, it evolved into a professional musical theatre company presenting arena productions around Australia, before closing in 2022.

Early history

Harvest Rain began in 1985 as a small drama group in

New Farm, Queensland New Farm is an inner northern riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , New Farm had a population of 12,197 people. Geography The suburb is located 2 kilometres east of the ...

, Australia. The founding members of the company were the brothers Robbie Parkin and David Parkin and the husband and wife team Chris Crooks and Judy Crooks. The name "Harvest Rain" was chosen because Chris Crooks liked the word "harvest" and the team felt that the word "rain" softened it. The company initially staged a range of amateur productions and the shows featured a small ensemble of dedicated actors, operating out of the Sydney Street Theatre in New Farm. In 2008 the company moved to the Mina Parade Warehouse in Alderley and began presenting all its mainhouse productions at

QPAC The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (also known as QPAC) is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct. Opened in 1985, it includes the Lyric Thea ...

Professional productions

In 2012, the company announced that it was in the final stages of transitioning into becoming a fully professional musical theatre company, the first of its kind in Queensland. Harvest Rain produced ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' in 2013 as its first fully professional production. In 2014, the company's first fully professional season included ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'' starring Ian Stenlake and

Daryl Somers Daryl Paul Somers (né Schulz; 6 August 1951) is an Australian television personality and musician, and a triple Gold Logie award-winner. He rose to national fame as the host and executive producer of the long-running comedy-variety program ' ...

, ''

Spamalot ''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot: A Musical (Lovingly) Ripped Off from the Motion Picture ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail) is a musical theatre, stage musical with score by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, with lyrics and book ...

'' starring

Jon English Jonathan James English (26 March 1949 – 9 March 2016) was an English-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated from England to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for S ...

Simon Gallaher Simon Gallaher (born 24 October 1958) is an Australian singer, actor, director and pianist. He teaches Mouth Organ at Jomamma Music School Tamborine Mountain. Biography Gallaher was born in Brisbane and educated at the Anglican Church Gramma ...

Frank Woodley Frank Woodley ( Wood; born 29 February 1968) is an Australian comedian, author and musician who is best known for his work alongside Colin Lane as part of the comedic duo Lano and Woodley. The two first performed together for almost 20 years in ...

and Julie Anthony, and an arena production of ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'' starring

Marina Prior Marina Prior (born 18 October 1963) is an Australian soprano and actress with a career mainly in musical theatre. From 1990 to 1993, she starred as the original Christine Daaé in the Australian premiere of ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 mus ...

and featuring over 500 performers on stage, making it the largest production of ''Cats'' ever staged in the southern hemisphere. In 2014, the company moved its training, rehearsals, and administration to a building on the north side of Brisbane known as the Hayward Street Studios. ''Spamalot'' won Harvest Rain the

Matilda Award The Matilda Awards recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre, and performance in southeast Queensland. History Established in 1987 by Alison Cotes and Sue Gough, the awards are an annual event held in February or March. The awards are ...

for Best Musical or Cabaret in 2014. In 2015, the company produced ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 3 ...

'' to celebrate QPAC's 30th birthday. The show starred

Andrew O'Keefe Andrew Patrick O'Keefe AM is an Australian former television presenter and lawyer. He co-hosted the weekend edition of breakfast program ''Weekend Sunrise'' from 2005 until 2017 as well as the Australian versions of game shows ''Deal or No De ...

, John Wood and

Nancye Hayes Nancye Lee Bertles AM ( Hayes; born January 1943), billed under her maiden name as Nancye Hayes, is an Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director and narrator. She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre sin ...

and featured Billy Bourchier as Frederic and Georgina Hopson as Mabel, in their professional debut. The production was directed by

. In 2016, Harvest Rain presented an arena production of ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * Hairspray (1988 film), ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** Hairspray (1988 soundtrack), ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundt ...

'' in Brisbane, Adelaide and Newcastle, with a cast featuring Lauren McKenna,

Simon Burke Simon Gareth Burke (born 8 October 1961) is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre. Biography Simon Burke began his career at the age of 12, starring in Michael Cove's ''Kookaburra'' (1974); a painful look at a dysfuncti ...

Christine Anu Maia Christine Anu (born on 15 March 1970) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress of Torres Strait Islander origin. She gained popularity with the cover song release of the Warumpi Band's song " My Island Home" in 1995. Anu has been no ...

, Tim Campbell, Wayne Scott Kermond and

Amanda Muggleton Amanda Lillian Muggleton (born 12 October 1951) is an English Australian theatre, television and film actress. She is best known for her supporting television role in soap opera ''Prisoner'' as Chrissie Latham, with appearances between 1979 an ...

. An arena production of '' Grease'' followed, performed in Brisbane, Newcastle and Adelaide in 2017, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and Brisbane again, in 2018. In 2019, an arena production of ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' toured Brisbane, Adelaide and Newcastle in 2019 and Sydney in 2020.

Closure of the company

The company closed in November 2022. Multiple media outlets reported that O'Connor and his partner had been charged with sex offences against children.

Notable people

Notable people associated with the company include:

Crew and staff

* Jack Bradford, theatrical director, 1996–1997, 1999–2001 *

, company chair, 2012–2015 * Tim O'Connor, administrator, theatrical director, CEO

Cast

* Jack Bradford, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, roles in multiple productions * Tim Campbell, 2017, Johnny Casino in '' Grease the Arena Experience'' * Mark Conaghan, 1999, 2005, roles in multiple productions *

Julie Eckersley Julie Eckersley is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, producer and former Head of Scripted at SBS Australia. Career Screen Eckersley has appeared in comedy televisions shows including ''Let Loose Live'', '' The Wedge'', '' Newstopia'' an ...

, 1999, in ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' *

, 2014, King Arthur in ''

'' * Michael Falzon, 2009, in ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice mu ...

'' *

, 2012 in ''

'', 2014, in Spamalot * David Knijnenburg, 1999–2001, 2005, 2007, roles in multiple productions * Tod Strike, 2000, Joseph in ''Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' *

, 2014, Nicely Nicely Johnson in ''

''. *

Steven Tandy Steven Tandy (born 23 October 1952) is an Australian stage, television and film actor. He is best known for playing Tom Sullivan, the second eldest son in the classic Australian television series '' The Sullivans''. Biography After graduating fr ...

, 2010, 2012, roles in multiple productions * John Wood, 2019, The Wizard in "The Wizard of Oz"

References

External links

Harvest Rain Theatre Company
{{authority control Theatre in Brisbane Theatre companies in Australia Companies based in Brisbane Musical theatre companies in Australia Culture of Brisbane 1985 establishments in Australia 2022 disestablishments in Australia Organizations established in 1985 Organizations disestablished in 2022