Sydney Opera House performance see Bendigo-born performer Aaron Lynch's dream come true

Overseen by Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne, the production has taken over the Sydney Opera House, a stage Lynch has dreamed of performing on since he was eight years old.

"The opera house has always been a dream of mine," he said. "I remember when I was eight, my mother took me for a trip to Sydney and took a photo of me standing on the opera house steps doing best impression of opera singer.

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"I remember telling her I was going to perform there. Flash-forward to being 28 and now that's my office every day. It's amazing."

Lynch is a swing performer and assistant dance captain in the production, meaning he goes to the theatre and gets ready to perform, only going on if a cast member is unavailable, sick or is injured.

The role means he has to know the show inside-out and be ready to perform with only minutes to get ready.

"You are emergency cover. Effectively you don't go on stage unless you're needed," Lynch said. "You come to theatre every day and do the full preparation - all the warm ups, the physical and vocal work, and do make-up and wig prep when required.

"People call into work saying they are injured, sick, unwell of need a personal day and the swing is notified to go on for that performance. Sometime during middle show one the cast members might have an issue and can't finish, then the swing is called on to step in."

Lynch, 28, is in his fifth professional musical after studying to become an elite dancer while in Bendigo before moving to Torquay and then going on to study musical theatre in Melbourne.

"There wasn't a lot of training available in the early 2000s when I was at school in Bendigo," he said. "Mum and my step dad used to drive me to Melbourne a couple of nights a week to train.

"There was a great ballet programs in Bendigo, and I did a lot of ballet training as a young person in Bendigo and surrounding areas like Ballarat. I was also part of competition dance circuit growing up."

Lynch began to take an interest in theatre at the same time, joining Bendigo Theatre Company for a production of Oliver.

"That's a very warm memory I have because it was my first introduction to theatre," he said. "I remember thinking 'I've found my people, I've found where I fit in society'.

"That happened a BTC. I couldn't classify as training but it was the introduction to a world never I had otherwise never been a part of."

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In his early 20s, Lynch began auditioning for professional productions, with one of his first major jobs being part of a South Korean tour of Cats.

"Once I got that from it was a flow-on effect," Lynch said. "I did Cats on and off for eight years and then on home soil did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a swing.

"I was lucky to audition for Phantom while in South Korea for Cats. While on tour, on my spare days I would be filming tapes for this production. I did that for over six weeks.

"It was a unique position because of COVID, the entire audition process was (by videio). So when I got the job, I was not only thrilled, it was a unique experience."

Phantom will go on in Melbourne at the Arts Centre from October 30.

The Victorian season will be something of a home coming for Lynch.

"I've very thrilled to be coming back to my home state," he said. "I'm proud of Victoria'sculture and arts scene. It is thriving and diverse and rich.

"I really feel the threatre scene in Melbourne is a community, which is a unique thing in Australia. There is a real sense of family. It's a special environment."

With drama, dance and theatre training now more readily available for young hopefuls eager to work in the performing arts sector, Lynch had some advice.

"Fortify yourself with patience and good humour," he said. "It can be a very tough industry and you will get bruised and be rejected.

"But if stick with it and stay light-hearted. It's easy to get bitter and saddened but is stay true and keep at it.

"Out of those thousand nos you will get a yes. And when you get that yes, it makes all the hard work and dedication wort it."

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