In the early 1980s, a small group of theatrically trained adults formed a little holiday club. Fast forward 36 years and that club has transformed into a local theatrical institution. Electric Light Theatre’s humble beginnings are something Lynde Adams, president of the company, is very proud of. She sat down with Danielle Wilcock to discuss her involvement with ELT, while offering an insight to the company’s colourful history.
FOR Lynde Adams, Electric Light Theatre is in her blood.
She has been part of the company since its second production in 1986, only taking time away to have her three children, all of whom have gone on to progress through the ELT ranks.
“I was in the second show as a cast member and I stayed for seven years but the last few years I took on a lot of the choreography,” she explains. “I took some time out but went back to ELT when my eldest daughter, Kayla, started.
“It’s been fantastic to see my children experience what I did. On ELT’s anniversary year all three of were involved, which was beautiful to see.”
Lynde’s son Jameson started as a junior two years ago.
She’s undoubtedly passed down her passion for theatrics to him as she says he’s “absolutely loving it”. Her two girls, Kayla and Lily, are also following in their mother’s footsteps, taking on prominent choreographic roles within the production.
“It gives me great pride watching them,” Lynde says.
“I think it’s lovely to be involved in what your children are doing.
“And it’s not just me. There’s quite a few cast members who went through ELT as kids and now their children have also gone through ELT.
Lynde’s involvement in ELT surpassed that of a parent-volunteer back in 2016, when she opted to join the company’s committee. She was elevated to president three years ago and hasn’t looked back since.
“I started off just volunteering, helping out backstage with costumes and props,” she explains.
“Being president is very time consuming, running it alongside my job and being a mum, but I really love it.”
After being involved with the company almost since its inception, Lynde possesses fond memories of those early days.
She talks warmly about the presence of a live orchestra at shows, handmade costumes and delightful, antiquated props.
Interestingly, the company travelled interstate, something they unfortunately no longer do.
“Back in the 80s we would also venture down to Murrayville and Patchewollock and do a condensed version of our show,” Lynde says.
“It was great. We’d have a weekend where we’d teach them parts of the show.
“It was great to give the outback communities something to look towards. We made many memories.”
ELT was founded by Mike Saunders, who alongside Scott Bildstein, John Bradley, Mike Hellwege, Janeen Milne and Darren Stephens, produced the very first show in 1985.
Each of them brought their own unique set of skills to the production.
They wanted to utilise each other’s skills and provide them collectively to children during the school holidays.
The aim was to teach the “age-old art of stagecraft”.
As an establishment they pitched in together to print tickets and posters for the inaugural show held at the Mildura Arts Centre.
“They all put their own money in to achieve a $500 budget for their first show,” Lynde says.
“They had a lot of passion and simply wanted to teach their craft.”
The premise under which ELT was established is instilled in the company to this day. The committee and production team place great emphasis on the importance of learning theatre craft in its entirety.
“At ELT we want to teach people about the art of theatre craft as opposed to just having a production,” Lynde explains.
“Regardless of whether they come to us as a singer, they’re still expected to participate in the dance items.
“It gives them a taste of all areas of theatrics and sometimes they really excel in another discipline they weren’t expecting to.”
To get up on stage and perform in front of hundreds of people for many would be a daunting experience.
Lynde talks about the benefits of theatrical performance, highlighting the fact that even the most shy individuals can thrive.
“One of the most rewarding parts about being involved in ELT is seeing the children grow throughout the season,” she says.
“Whether that’s in friendships or approaching other people, or confidence to put themselves out there.
“A lot of the children come without any confidence at all and by the time the show comes around they’re a different person.
“Even if they don’t go on to pursue a career in theatrics, they can take what they’ve learnt at ELT with them to other jobs and relationships.”
A few years ago, the company lowered its entry age to eight, wanting to encourage even younger children to try theatre.
“We dropped the entry age to eight to get some younger children in but now we’re at capacity, which is great but it’s hard, saying no is hard.”
After 35 years, ELT has amassed quite the extended family.
“We’ve had over 1000 kids over the past 35 years,” Lynde says.
“We say to them all, once you’ve been part of ELT, you’re family.”
ELT students have endured much success domestically and overseas.
Lynde talks of past students going on to forge successful careers in theatrics, both in the UK and US.
Success stories such as this don’t come along without hard work and determination.
This is something that Lynde, her fellow committee members and production team must undertake each year.
“Auditions start in September with rehearsals starting in October,” Lynde explains.
“We go right through until we get into theatre in the second week in February.
“The production team starts planning for the following year’s show almost straight away.
“For the committee, we have a couple of weeks off but then we’re back into organising things like funding, advertisement and securing a rehearsal venue.
“Our biggest issue for the past few years has been securing a rehearsal venue.
“We’ve actually never had a permanent venue, that’s what takes up a lot of our time during the off season, it’s working out a rehearsal venue for the following year.”
Despite some last minute upheaval with regards to this year’s venue, the Electric Light Theatre pulled off a successful show.
February has played host each year to their annual theatre production since the company’s inception. The show this year was all about “Let It Shine”.
“We don’t really have a theme as such, Let It Shine is about letting each person have their moment,” Lynde explains.
“Each skit has its own identity. There’s dancing, comedy skits, singing and acting.”
The show has always had an element of variety, something the company prides itself on.
This format allows more scope for members to train in different aspects of stagecraft as opposed to a traditional play or musical.
Lynde talks about the exchange student program ELT has built in conjunction with the Rotary Club and how the experience is of immense value.
“For the past five years I’ve hosted an exchange student through work with the Rotary Club and their program,” she says.
“Each of them do three months with ELT and it’s a really great experience for them.
“This year we had Max, from Germany. He wasn’t keen at all on taking part, he didn’t like the dancing but he really took to the comedy. He did a really great comedy skit.
With more than 35 shows under their belt, 1000 cast members and 100 volunteer members, be it committee, production staff or crew, the numbers really do speak for themselves.
For more information on how to get involved in the next ELT season, visit www.eltmildura.org.
