Castlemaine theatre company Three's a Crowd are planning for the future as it celebrates its 10th birthday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The company launched its 2019-20 season on Tuesday night with fundraiser events planned to run alongside the main musicals each year.
Artistic director Matt Sheehan said part of Three's a Crowd's plans for the future was reinvigorating the company.
"We are trying to look at a funding model that can sustain us into the future," he said.
"It has as been a difficult 10 years but we want to show what we're about and get more support.
"We are looking at what we got right and are doing well and how we can improve."
Mr Sheehan said the company had been unsuccessful in a number of grant applications in the past 12 months.
"What we do is expensive, which is why we are trying to change our (funding) model," he said.
"We had a home for a couple years but are now homeless again. It is a constant struggle to keep ahead with (finding) rehearsal spaces.
"Our grant applications were unsuccessful, so we are fundraising by holding concert style (evenings) where we get people sing."
As well as working to improve their funding situation, Mr Sheehan hopes to get more people involved in Three's A Crowd.
"We have relied on same people for a lot of 10 years. Some are ageing and we want to reinvigorate the company and look how we can reduce the burden on those already involved," he said.
"We are happy to have people involved on stage, behind the scenes or in planning shows."
Smaller budgets and casts mean Three's a Crowd take on smaller, lesser-known shows that are achievable.
"We try to do things that we think can do justice to," Mr Sheehan said.
"A lot of the big things shows like what someone like Bendigo Theatre Company do, like Mary Poppins or Fiddler on the Roof, we're not capable of those things.
"We don't have the facilities or access and we don't want to do a half-assed job of something.
"So we pick smaller things with smaller casts and show the variety of musical theatre. I much prefer musicals with some substance to them, that have relevant issues. Musical theatre isn't all fluff.
"Some of the shows we done have been very famous, successful Broadway productions that are not necessarily mainstream."
On Tuesday, Three's A Crowd announced it will perform the musical Bright Star in September and October.
Bright Star is a bluegrass musical is written by comedian Steve Martin and US singer-songwriter Edie Brickell.
It follows a woman at two points in her life - a carefree 16-year-old and a well-to-do magazine editor 22 years later.
Mr Sheehan said the music style of the show favoured the musical talent in the region.
"Central Victoria has quite a number of accomplished well-known folk musicians," he said.
"We wanted to try to utilise and partner with musicians in the region.
"Normally, we do heavy black comedies but Bright Star is something more lighter and fun. It's a nice change."
In 2020, Three's a Crowd intends to produce the show Next to Normal - a 2009 musical that follows a suburban family as they cope with crisis and mental illness.
Mr Sheehan said when the company formed in 2009, he wasn't sure how long it would last.
"I didn't really ever think about it going beyond the first show (Little Shop of Horrors)," he said.
"(The 10 years) has gone quite quickly and I would hope we have developed something in central Victoria that was lasting and that people like."
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.