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[0:10] Joshua Broadbent: Hello, you are listening to a brand new episode of Whispers in the Wings, and this week I am joined by special guest host, Monique Orton⁠, who is a radio mic tech currently working on Tina Turner, the musical.

[0:21] Joshua Broadbent: I am so excited to welcome Monique onto the podcast today because this is our first special guest outside of the world of stage management.

[0:30] Joshua Broadbent: So today we are going to learn all about the incredible world of sound, to which, as you will hear a couple of times throughout this episode, I don't know a lot about, but I am really excited to bring Monique on.

[0:39] Joshua Broadbent: Before we do, and before I read out her bio, I do want to let you know that this episode touches on topics of mental health and the importance of finding that work-life balance.

[0:48] Joshua Broadbent: If you or anyone you know is in need of support, please reach out to Support Act, who offer a free phone counselling service for anyone working in the Australian music or the arts industry by calling 1-800-959-500.

[1:02] Joshua Broadbent: If you are overseas or not in the industry, please reach out to your relevant providers.

[1:06] Joshua Broadbent: So before I bring Monique into the studio today, let's find out a little bit more about her.

[1:11] Joshua Broadbent: Monique Orton⁠⁠ is a live entertainment tech working in Australian theatre, cabaret music, burlesque, circus, and comedy.

[1:18] Joshua Broadbent: In the last six years, she has designed lighting for musicals, managed venues and teams, operated sound, lighting and projections simultaneously for festivals, mixed musical artists of all genres, and worked as a radio mic tech or sound swing on professional shows such as Come From Away, Hamilton, Mary Poppins, and not only the recent Phantom of the Opera Tour, but the outdoor production of Phantom of the Opera in view of the iconic Sydney Harbour.

[1:40] Joshua Broadbent: Monique documents the experience of working in theatre and the arts through her YouTube channel, Monique Tech, in hopes of giving theatre fans a unique insight into the shows they love, inspiring a new generation of techs to join the industry and to empower them with the knowledge of what that might look like.

[1:54] Joshua Broadbent: She has most recently taken on the role of Radio Mic Technician on the Australian premiere, Tina, the Tina Turner musical now playing in Sydney.

[2:11] Joshua Broadbent: Hi Monique, thank you so much for joining me on this episode today.

[2:14] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Hi, how are you?

[2:15] Joshua Broadbent: I'm very well.

[2:16] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Still battling a cold.

[2:18] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's uh it's never going away.

[2:19] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: But that's what happens when you wrap up a show and you know, you get a little bit of time off, you get sick.

[2:24] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Your body really does just start to shut down.

[2:26] Joshua Broadbent: I think this is a universal experience for everyone.

[2:29] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah.

[2:29] Joshua Broadbent: Now I'm really excited to talk to you today because you are our first guest that is outside the world of stage management.

[2:35] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I feel very honoured.

[2:36] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I'm very excited because I don't know a lot about sound.

[2:39] Joshua Broadbent: Which is probably the only department that you don't know a lot about at this point, honestly.

[2:43] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, yeah.

[2:44] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It seems like.

[2:45] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, I mean, uh, yeah, for once at the moment, I'm I'm team lighting and AV and put all of that at the same time.

[2:51] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So yeah, I'm excited to learn a little bit more about the world of sound today.

[2:54] Joshua Broadbent: I love this.

[2:54] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I think actually stage we were talking about this on Phantom when people were all getting sick.

[2:59] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I think stage management would be the department who could step up an emergency fill-in sound the easiest.

[3:05] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like the person who calls the show would probably be the best at randomly jumping on the console to mix.

[3:11] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah, yeah.

[3:12] Joshua Broadbent: Like it it probably wouldn't be a comfortable experience, but purely based on calling the show, they'd probably know it quite well.

[3:18] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Well, that's the thing, because they uh you need to know the lines and where the line falls, who comes on when they go off, all of that sort of stuff.

[3:24] Joshua Broadbent: So I see that.

[3:25] Joshua Broadbent: Would I put myself up to do it?

[3:27] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Um, probably not.

[3:29] Joshua Broadbent: Now, you've worked on a mixture of things from musical, cabaret, music, burlesque, circus, comedy, so so many areas within the industry.

[3:38] Joshua Broadbent: How did you get started?

[3:39] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like, what interested you in in theatre, and were you always interested in moving into sound?

[3:44] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: When I was in high school, I was a performer purely because I didn't know that there were other options.

[3:50] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I knew that I loved the arts, I loved theatre, I loved live music, passionately hated being on stage.

[3:58] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Not necessarily because I was afraid, but because I didn't ever feel partially that, but also because I didn't really feel a strong connection to the audience.

[4:08] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like a room full of strangers, I was like, I don't really feel like I'm getting a lot out of this interaction, which other people, as we know, some very talented people we work with are very good at that.

[4:19] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I wasn't great at it, which might have been because I was in Orange and there was about two people to connect with in front of me.

[4:24] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: But the people backstage and the people that you were putting on the show with and the other band members and cast members were the people that I really that was the connection that I felt like I was getting a lot out of.

[4:36] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I did a music industry course at TAFE while I was a high school, and in that course we learned a little bit about sound, recording it and also doing it live.

[4:47] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And as soon as I got in front of a console, I was like, Oh, I see.

[4:51] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: This makes sense to me.

[4:53] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: This all makes sense, and I love it, and I don't ever want to be on the other side of this ever again.

[4:58] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Which I did continue to do a little bit, unfortunately, but I just kind of fell in love with it.

[5:03] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like the technical side as well as the uh emotional side of you know putting on this incredible thing with incredible people, being part of the team, that process I just fell in love with, and as soon as I finished school, I started studying sound, moved to Sydney because there wasn't a lot of options in Orange to pursue working in production.

[5:24] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Mm-hmm.

[5:25] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And throughout the course of uni, I really struggled, honestly, but I found a group of friends that I just absolutely adored, and they were putting on a show of the last five years with Blackout Theatre Company.

[5:39] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And they really needed someone to help with lighting.

[5:43] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And because I was kind of doing everything because I'd gone into small venues where it was like, surprise, you're on sound, so you also therefore need to do lighting.

[5:51] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And I was like, Oh, okay.

[5:53] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: In that process, I just fell in love with the process all over again.

[5:56] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like it really reignited my passion for the industry and for theatre specifically, because I was doing lots of small gigs and like you said, cabaret and burlesque and music and comedy and kind of just like small venue gigs, which I also loved.

[6:10] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: While I was managing a couple of small venues in Sydney and doing their tech, I then moved into doing community theatre shows with a company in Sydney.

[6:19] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: They kind of taught me everything I know.

[6:21] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I didn't learn a lot at uni, which is part of my negative feelings about the experience, but I did learn so much there.

[6:27] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Did a bunch of fringe festivals, did a bunch of touring with comedy festivals and cabaret performers and things like that, and then eventually kind of found myself just falling into professional theatre two years ago.

[6:40] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Actually, yesterday it was two years since my first shift at Come From Away, which was my first show, which is where we met.

[6:47] Joshua Broadbent: It has ears.

[6:48] Joshua Broadbent: It's so fascinating to hear because obviously, you know, people go through university and take many different things away from it.

[6:56] Joshua Broadbent: Some people love the experience, some people go, Yeah, I was there, I made some connections, but I really, you know, I didn't feel like I learned as much.

[7:03] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: But it it is very much once you get out in the industry when you can actually put your fingers on the physical console, you know, and actually be doing all of those things where you actually start to develop those skills further.

[7:14] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, I think that there are a lot of departments within production, and I'm sure it's I'm sure it's all of them, honestly, where you can sit in as many classes as possible and you might learn in them, but nothing truly compares to the experience of actually being in the building and actually doing the job.

[7:32] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: That is why a lot of you know, when when this industry started, there was no courses on these roles.

[7:39] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: There was no regulations around how to do them.

[7:41] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It was just a group of people making a show hit the stage and work.

[7:45] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And I find that learning that way still really works.

[7:49] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah, I mean, that is what theatre is.

[7:51] Joshua Broadbent: It's a collaboration.

[7:52] Joshua Broadbent: You know, we we are segregated in a way of departments, and typically you don't cross departments and you sort of just stay in your lane and you do what you need to do.

[8:00] Joshua Broadbent: But when you actually have the ability to look outside of stage management for me and actually look at what other people are doing, you get a really wider understanding and appreciation for for that collaboration which is theatre and what is what I love about theatre.

[8:16] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, me too.

[8:17] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's such a interesting, especially professional theatre, it's such an interesting workspace because I did come from that world of community theatre, small shows, fringe shows, especially where there is not this, like you said, kind of segregated departments.

[8:33] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It is I am here, there is this problem that needs to be fixed or this task that needs to be done, and so I will do it.

[8:40] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: There was not a oh well, I'm in town, I'm not stage management, so that's not my problem.

[8:45] Joshua Broadbent: But on a scale like professional theatre, you really need to do that because not everyone can do all of these jobs.

[8:53] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Well, except for you apparently.

[8:55] Joshua Broadbent: I don't want to be doing them all.

[8:57] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I'm happy to know who doing them all.

[8:59] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, it is quite overwhelming.

[9:00] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: But it also I imagine that from a stage management perspective, you do get more of a view of everyone's role within the show because you do to some extent oversee every department, organize who needs to be where when, what rehearsals need to be done for different departments, not just the cast.

[9:18] Joshua Broadbent: Whereas other people, like I never think about what order are doing, you know?

[9:23] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: That's fair.

[9:24] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: That is that's absolutely fair.

[9:26] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Except for when I almost get hit by something because I'm an idiot.

[9:31] Joshua Broadbent: You've always got to be eyes on the back of the head.

[9:33] Joshua Broadbent: You're always gonna be watching out what's happening.

[9:35] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: But also, you know, any stage manager or any mech on the deck also should be watching out for you.

[9:40] Joshua Broadbent: Oh, always you know.

[9:42] Joshua Broadbent: We're always looking out for each other.

[9:44] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: What is the sort of like day-to-day life like in in sound?

[9:49] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: The radio mic tech position I have found is a lot of social skills, which I didn't really expect.

[9:57] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I didn't get into tech because I have phenomenal social skills, so that was a little bit unexpected.

[10:02] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Within the sound department, there are usually, depending on the size of the show, but quite commonly it is three people and then maybe a swing.

[10:11] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: There will be a head of department who mixes the show most of the time and does all of the like people admin head of department kind of things.

[10:20] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: There's a deputy who really kind of oversees and has a really good understanding of the system of the show and how it's put in and where everything is.

[10:30] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: They do what is often called the B plot backstage all the time, which is the monitoring plot, and they also learn to mix the show.

[10:39] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And then there is the Radio Mike Tech, which is my position, who uh kind of oversee the microphones that go on cast and do the backstage plot with cast and other crew on deck moving around, fixing things throughout the show, as well as maintenance for all of those microphones and those kind of things.

[11:02] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So a lot of the time I am the messenger between the cast and a lot of people backstage and our head of department slash engineer because they like we're it's been what almost a month since we've opened the show I'm currently working on, and I still think that our head of department has not met most of the cast purely because they're stuck out the front, learning the show, mixing the show, all of the text.

[11:27] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: They don't get to come backstage and hang out with everyone the way that I do.

[11:30] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So to a lot of them, in the first instance, myself and the deputy are kind of the face of the department, which can be a little bit overwhelming, but exciting as well.

[11:41] Joshua Broadbent: As you said, it's a very social role because you are getting quite close with the cast.

[11:46] Joshua Broadbent: Like you are physically having to, you know, put a microphone on their face.

[11:51] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's a very bizarre uh part of the body to be accustomed to for people.

[11:55] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I think about that sometimes because other departments will watch me fix people's microphones and they find it really odd, which I don't find it odd anymore, but it's funny to see it from their perspective.

[12:05] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like a lot of the times, if I am, for example, if I'm pulling back someone's microphone and we're backstage so it's dark, so I can't see very well.

[12:13] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I'll often be standing in front of someone with a finger on their forehead to feel where their mic is, and then pulling the cable at the back of their neck.

[12:20] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So I've kind of got like my hands around their neck and on their face while I'm standing in front of them, which is a little bit intimate.

[12:26] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's a bit bizarre when you really think about it.

[12:29] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Then I'm also taping behind people's ears, taping behind their necks, often on their backs, up in their scalp, separating their hair to clip into pay clips.

[12:38] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's a bit, yeah, it is quite personal.

[12:41] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: But one of my favorite parts of the job is that you are often one of the last people someone sees before they go on stage, and one of the first people they see when they come off stage.

[12:52] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And that is quite special for what is usually or can be really huge important moments in someone's life, or really impactful and difficult parts of a show.

[13:02] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: That is quite a special experience to share that with someone.

[13:06] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Seeing a show from an audience perspective, one of the first things you notice is when sound goes wrong, you know, when there's a crackle in a microphone.

[13:15] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Oh, don't they just we had two show stops for once in Melbourne due to a crackling microphone because it's a bit of a smaller show.

[13:23] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: We do have two mics, you know, the backup mic in the hairline, but we only have one pack.

[13:28] Joshua Broadbent: Right.

[13:28] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So we have to stop the show to swap from one microphone to the other in the in the pack.

[13:33] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: You know, you don't want to be stopping the show for for you know a microphone thing, but you also can't have the audience listening to that that sound.

[13:41] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Well, yeah, and there's also for some characters in a lot of shows, they never come off stage. Like I did a community production of a show, and there was someone on there who was telling me, like the engineer setting up the show was telling me about when they did community shows of Les Misérables, that on the plot, which would be like a big table that has every single character, every single song, and who is on for which scenes and whether they have solo lines on.

[14:07] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Next to Valjean, there is a column that says the stalking of Valjean, which is the few times he is off stage and where and for how long. Because if he has a problem, you never have an opportunity to fix it. And honestly, Tina is kind of like that as well, which is very stressful. I think Tina comes off stage a total of I would say collectively over the show, she is never off stage for more than a total of five minutes, and she's not in the very first scene really, so that is most of it. But other than that, all of her changes are quick changes. Most of them are on stage. And it's quite stressful because it's a really, really, really demanding role. It is so much dancing, so much physical action on stage.

There is quite a bit of fight scenes within the show. There's a lot of like domestic violence scenes, unfortunately, which is just part of her story, which they do very, very well uncomfortably. And she's getting thrown around, she's dancing, she's running all over the place, she's never off stage, sweating up a storm because they are just doing the most incredible job. And there are so many issues that can happen in that time that the times she comes off stage very briefly are very important if you have an issue. And I guess that's where the importance of you know stage management and sound working together, because throughout rehearsals we're sitting there, we know when people are coming on, we know when people are leaving the stage, we you know, we populate all that information to put together to make you know not only you your job easier, but anyone else that may need that information of when things are happening on and off stage.

[15:45] Joshua Broadbent: What other sort of key information is crucial from stage management that helps sound, you know, immensely, but we may not realize.

[15:54] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Oh, so much. Probably not that you don't realize, but there's so much all of our information about cast changes, split tracks if they ever happen, which are a terrifying time for everyone. All of those are super important to sound because for the two departments to work together in that because to say John is going on for Jamie's track, but Jeremy will do the dance parts. That doesn't really tell sound a lot of anything. Like saying this person will be doing a speaking line, we still want this person to be ensemble singing, this person will do this line. Those kind of bits of information are super necessary because sometimes it involves putting a different pack on someone, reprogramming the show for that one show.

And the communication of all of that information for us comes from stage management. Also being told, which I think is one of the most common ones, being told someone is unwell, they might be going off is always an incredible warning because we can then prepare the microphones and the belts and all of the things and prepare how we're going to do the change as quickly as possible for the person being swung on, especially if it's mid-show. That kind of information is so crucial, and we only get that from stage management. But also on some shows, stage management do some of our cues, which is crazy, but I guess you guys kind of get left with that all the time. Any department who has a cue that they can't make is kind of ends up being your problem.

But within Tina specifically, there is a microphone that comes out of the floor. And in other versions of this production, the floor is deep enough under the stage that you're able to set the microphones and leave it and forget, and it will just rise and come down due to Australian theaters and the fact that they are not all like this show I think very much was made to sit in one theater. It was not it's not that easy to tour, we have discovered. Uh because the microphone that comes out of the substage does not fit in the basement of this show.

[18:06] Joshua Broadbent: Oh great. That's helpful.

[18:07] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And because I'm not on comms, because sound are on their own radio to their own team, we are not on comms like a lot of the other departments. Someone in stage management has had to take the role of being there for the mic lift because they are on comms, they can, you know, clear it, they can make sure there's no problems, as I wouldn't be able to do, and also because I am busy on stage, and if I was to leave stage, that would mean that other people's microphones and their problems are vulnerable to not being fixed. Because I'm downstairs, so stage management have had to help me out with that one, which has been great. Also, we have a lot of mic stands on the show, which are live and news, they are not props.

And they are moved around stage. I can't carry four at once, obviously. And there is a point in the show where four at once need to move and stage management are my right hand when it comes to those kind of moments, which is really nice. The relationship between sound and stage management is really important for those reasons.

[19:04] Joshua Broadbent: Uh like I haven't been backstage on a big show in a while. But I when I think back to any moments of like you said, if someone's going off sick over having a mid show cast change, there's so many different departments you need to communicate with. But in my mind, I go, sound is kind of number one because if someone is, you know, feeling ill, you guys need to know because you don't want that sound to be amplified throughout the audience. And it's it's also, I think, one of the departments where it's hardest for one of the main people who needs to know that information to know. So we need that warning as soon as possible. Like other departments, you can go to the head of wardrobe and say, This person's going on, can you get your dresses to gather their costumes and do what you need to do?

Our head of department, who is out the front and every actor will have their own profile, for lack of a better word, of their sound settings, depending on the role that they're going on for. So the engineer out front will need to adjust things to the fact that someone new is coming on, they need to be aware that that is happening because the way that they mix the show is knowing how certain cast members deliver certain roles because that affects how they mix the show. They cannot get on the radio and have a big old chat. They are only able to communicate with us by the person backstage doing the monitoring, can type a message to front of house and they can radio back to us, but they can only look at the screen if they have time to stop looking at the console or stage.

[19:37] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah.

[19:37] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah.

[19:37] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So knowing that as soon as possible and knowing when it's gonna happen, also because if it's in the middle of a song where that person might actually be on stage or is meant to be on stage, they need to mute their microphone until the correct mic is put onto the pack to go on to the new person. They need to know that, otherwise you're gonna hear it. And if someone randomly comes off stage unexpectedly because something is wrong, they need to be told as soon as possible so that they can mute the person who is making noises that are not expected for that scene. I've definitely had, especially on this show, because the dance track is so demanding for the female ensemble. In the end of the show, there is like this concert mega mix situation after the bows, which is honestly quite cruel. It's like you did three hours of a show and now for 15 minutes, you're gonna fight for your life.

[21:17] Joshua Broadbent: Wow.

[21:23] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I have not I haven't seen it yet. So I'm not sure.

[21:25] Joshua Broadbent: It is so demanding.

[21:27] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Uh we've been told before, you know, this person who is on one of the female ensemble who is essentially like an eye cat at that point, or one of Tina's backup dances, she's feeling unwell. So just be aware because if she happens to run off stage, obviously we need to mute her mic and whatever, but you know, if she's unwell, not a great scene to be doing. Not a great scene at all. But there's also other things that in terms of illness, if cast members have colds or things like that, there are things that front of house can do to help them, which is really nice, but that kind of information needs to be passed on to us. Sometimes people need a little bit more help than usual. And if I can't be there to hear that request stage management often are, or they will find if someone can't find me, they will find stage management who will find me.

If they can't find me because they need more tape, their mic is in a weird position and they don't want to adjust it themselves, those kind of things. I'm often found by stage management and not necessarily that person.

[22:41] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Specifically Hosha's production.

[22:43] Joshua Broadbent: Oh like outdoors.

[22:45] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yes. I I did um Ayda Opera in the Harbour uh 2015, and you know, it was an experience for me as a stage manager. A lot of ponchos, a lot of spending the day being wet, just for rain, you know, it it's done at a time of the year which is one of the wettest times in Sydney. What are the like logistical nightmares obviously involved with sound? It's outdoors, you've got the weather, you've got the elements, all of that sort of stuff. Like what's it like working on that from a sound point of view?

[23:16] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Traumatic and incredibly rewarding. Yeah. It it is one of the most like that's just that's the show I'm gonna be talking about when I'm old, you know. Like I'm gonna be telling the kids about the time that I did that show, and it was truly incredible. But I would not rush back to do another production outdoors like that. It would have to be a show I loved, and I think that I only enjoyed it so thoroughly because I loved Phantom. Uh and it was one of my like dream shows. It was my favorite show when I was a kid and growing up. So to get to do it, to get to do it outside, to get to do it in this spectacular event in a way that it had never been done before. And you know, Angeloid Weber showed up, he was there, which was also very wholesome.

We met a lot of like very important people in Phantom World, even just Marie, who was our Madame Giri, she was a Christine in Australia when we first had Phantom. Now she was Madame Giri on Broadway. Phantom has so much history and community around it, which was a beautiful experience. But in terms of actually putting the show on, like you said, you're just wet. You're just wet all time. Um to get to the actual site, there is no possible way to get there, even if you drive without walking about 10 minutes. And in that time, somehow, every single day, I think, my shoes were just soaked. Just soaked. And having wet shoes all night is not a great experience. There's kind of three areas where it was difficult for sound. The microphones, obviously. I saw, I think I had to stop myself from going on social media and looking at because a video of the show in a torrential downpour went viral.

[24:58] Joshua Broadbent: Yes.

[24:58] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: A video of our Christine and Phantom doing pass the point and no return in a torrential downpour, which we did stop the show after that song. I saw all these people on TikTok and on Twitter and whatever commenting, like, oh, they're special microphones for the outdoors, they're waterproof, blah blah blah. And I was crying in under the stage, like, no, they're not. It's just the worst day of my life. I was just waiting for someone's mic to break their pack to break something like that, because to a degree, they are made to be protected from moisture because of people's sweat and those kind of things. But they are not waterproof. They're just not, especially not the packs. And I'm sure you've heard before the sound of someone sweating out when their microphone fills with sweat and it needs to be removed, and it sounds like they're underwater.

I was just waiting for that. Every show, the whole show. Also, as the crew, we had to be outside in the rain all the time. The casts were constantly getting drenched. That was uncomfortable for them. The wind was a huge element as well because I'm sure everyone's heard or been on the phone outside in the wind, and you can hear it across the microphone. Things like that are a concern. Another huge one was the orchestra pit.

[26:16] Joshua Broadbent: Because the orchestra pit's under the stage, isn't it?

[26:18] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah. The orchestra for the show is under the stage, and due to the way that they put the stage together in order to make the show work, it is not waterproof either. So the reason that these shows stopped when it was torrentially pouring was often because the orchestra pit would flood and they would have to remove the players from the pit so their instruments didn't get damaged and ruined. There was a particular show, there's a video somewhere of me standing over Anthony, who was playing keys at the time, who was then our MD on the next Phantom. I'm standing over him with an umbrella while he plays a song, just trying to keep the water off his keys, because there was nothing else to do. Like you either had to stop the show and or try and direct the water away, hoping that the rain would stop, which we did do multiple times and was very stressful. The musicians were not thrilled about water being near their instruments, understandably.

[27:15] Joshua Broadbent: Of course.

[27:15] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And that was one of the hardest parts. But the other one, which is very fun, was that often in shows fallback is put into the floor on the stage because that is the best way for the cast to be able to hear themselves and to hear the orchestra without being, having like, you know, going to a gig, you see big ugly wedges on the front of the stage pointing up at people. You obviously can't have that on a show. Well, you could, but it would be disgusting. It would look horrific. So they're in the floor a lot of the time, or hidden in the wings. We didn't have wings either, so they were hidden behind like certain poles or bits of staircase or things like that where we could, but most of the fallback was in the floor. And if you put something in floor where there are holes in it, because obviously that is where the sound is coming out, and you are in rain, they will fill up with water.

[28:03] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So we were having to get water out of the foldbacks, like remove the water from those holes within the stage, which all of that combines for a very stressful show, but it was just beautiful. Like it was an incredible experience. It taught me so much. Our team was fantastic. Shelley Lee was the sound designer on that show, and she is phenomenal. And she, Emily Adams, who is our head of department engineer, myself and another mic tech named Emma. We just trauma bonded so severely on that show. But to work with such, you know, talented women, especially to work with two women that I look up to and admire so much on a show like that, who also just really believed in me, even though I didn't have a lot of experience being the main mic tech at that point.

What a way to be thrown into that position. That was one of my favorite experiences. From my experience working on it as well. It's definitely one of those shows where you've got to do it at least once. It's almost like doing like hot yoga or something. Like it is awful when you're in the process, but the euphoria afterwards when you've made it work and you've not when you've survived. Yeah. Not that I've done hot yoga, but that's what I imagine it's like. Hot yoga does not interest me. But I can see it. But I can see it. And getting to work with, you know, I know Emily very well. I've done shows with Emily, and I look up to her as well. I think she's one of one of the best sound engineers out there.

But it's very much about the people that you work with on those shows that are that little bit more difficult. Yeah. It's everyone coming together for finished product, which is you know, putting on a wonderful show. Absolutely. And I've been I've been so fortunate that the shows I've worked on, which I've only been doing commercial professional theatre for two years, and I've worked on multiple shows. And I've I've really been lucky in the departments that I have been part of. I've had so many incredible people take me under their wing and teach me lots of things, especially like I said, Emily and Shelley Lee. Also Anthony, who is the current head of department on Tina and who is my head of department on the indoor Phantom is one of the best people I have ever met. And just to work with such kind, talented people who are so willing to offer their years and years of experience and knowledge to me is such a privilege.

[30:47] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I really feel like in a role like a mic tech, there is no this is the handbook of how you do it, how you put a show together, how you maintain the show, how you do this particular show. There is no hand. Some shows that have been going around for a long time, everyone's like, Well, this is what we did 20 years ago. But you are entirely left alone to just make that work, and that can be so overwhelming. I found that very overwhelming on Tina, actually, because it was Phantom. There is so much documentation of past shows and different productions that are currently happening in the world and what people are doing, and the people I was doing the show with, like Shelly's done Phantom a million times.

When I did Phantom on Hosh with Emily, Emily's done it a million times. So I had their experience and their knowledge to draw on. When I got given Tina, it was here is a bunch of different plots that we have from various different versions of the production all over the world. We have no idea what it means. Is it the same sort of thing for for you? Because I know when we get a lot of paperwork and documentation for stage management that comes from overseas, it's not very clear and concise. Like I feel like the Australian creatives and you know teams here put so much effort into paperwork and documentation. But I always feel like when we get stuff from the states, I'm always like, okay, this this is half complete. Like this doesn't have all the information or two different documents are contradicting each other. Did you find that working on this?

[32:24] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Oh, absolutely. And it I think the thing that I found the most challenging for Tina was that the plots that I were given were from teams where they clearly had more people than we had. Like there were multiple people doing what is essentially my role because the B plot were situated in the basement, so they could do a lot of the substage stuff. There was just a different division of staff, and there was multiple different versions of the show. So I took all of these plots, which they'd also separated the plots between like a normal cast, normal deck plot, and then also the stand plot, which if you get to see the show, notice how many times microphone stands come on and off stage. Yeah, I was gonna ask you that before if there was a was it was a specific microphone stand plot.

So the microphone stand plot was given to me as its own thing, which I took all of the plots and made them one mega draft plot and kind of using the archival that I was able to access and watch as well. And then I was fortunate enough to be able to go watch rehearsals three times while we were bumping in. Which, if I didn't do that, I would have been fucked because it was. The show is so much and it is huge for everyone. Which it looks so like it looks so nice and wrapped up and sleek from out the front. Like the design is beautiful, but like quite simple and effective. So I don't think anyone is really thinking that it is an absolute shit fight backstage, which it's not really anymore. But at first, oh my god, it absolutely was for every department, especially wigs, hair, and makeup are fighting for their lives on this show.

[34:07] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: But the stands throughout the show, there are six different stand microphones and eight different handhelds on stands. These are all used in various different songs at different heights. They also change like the top, like the microphone itself that's on top of the stand multiple times throughout the show to reflect the era of time that we're in. Every time one comes off stage, which is always from a different location, they're preset in different spaces, they have to be changed height, top, where they go, what song they're being used for, which cast members using them, put in the right location, ready to go for the next song. And sometimes you have half a song to do that. Yeah. They're also weirdly heavy because they're made to look like they are like they're wired microphones, which just means that we've had cables soldered specifically to fit between the base of the stand where all of the technical gear is to make it wireless, kind of like their microphones.

Yep. And then the wire that connects the mic to that piece of equipment. There's that. And then there's also all of the cast on mics. There are speakers and different sound effects coming from inside different props. There is a band that's on stage, and majority of the band are also on like a wireless setup because the band move back and forth up and down stage throughout the show, and the brass section also get up and walk around, as well as drums and bass also do that too. They are on stage for a lot of the show. So the backstage plot is quite demanding. And the show is is a lot. But it's beautiful. It really is worth it. But it was it was interesting when I finished Phantom because we had a particular show where we had a huge battery issue.

And I was sold this show with like the fact that we would be using a certain kind of transmitter that takes a 14-hour battery, so you don't have to change battery between shows on the cast, which obviously saves heaps of time in turnaround. It's beautiful. It's great time. We had them on Poppins and it was fantastic. They didn't uh mention the uh other things that would be using batteries during the show, like all of the handheld microphones, all of the in-in-monitor packs for the band and for props, all of the little elements of technology that go into the bottom of the stands to make them wireless. They all take double-A batteries, and there are also like motorbike batteries essentially that go into a piano and also into the electric drum kit that is used on stage.

So in the course of a show, we use over a hundred batteries every show. And I also lift those mic stands over 50 times every show. Who needs to go to Hot Yoga when you can deliver the microphones there? It really is quite demanding. It's uh it's been a huge challenge, but it's been also really rewarding. It's been a very difficult plot to teach, which has I've quickly realized, and that is where, like you said, Australia really take a lot of care with their plots. That is where that has really come in handy. I think the plot that I have made for this show is the most detailed plot that I have ever created. But in the times where someone's had to cover me a couple of times when they didn't they didn't get a chance to shadow very much or to watch me do the plot, which words on a page and seeing them in action, I'm sure it's the same for you guys, are very different.

Like it doesn't really make a lot of sense until you see it in action. But in those situations, the person who covered me was just asking stage management where I usually am, what I'm usually doing, or they would be saying to them, I don't know what she's doing, but she's usually in wing two right now, and they would be able to kind of figure out what was going on from that point. So I've been saved by stage management on this show by knowing not only their own plots but also where everybody else is, because like you said, you guys are watching every department for who is meant to be where, especially in terms of safety, in terms of people coming on and off stage, but also watching everything that happens on stage. You're everywhere.

[38:15] Joshua Broadbent: Nearby's everywhere, you really do. It's difficult. It's it's not easy. You know, that that slight lapse of concentration and your you struggle to get back in.

[38:24] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Oh yeah, I can imagine. As I said, I haven't seen Tina yet, but I have a feeling now going to see it in a couple of weeks' time, that I'm going to have such a different perspective on it and a wider like sound perspective on it as well. Like I'm everything you've talked about, I'm now gonna be like Monique's running back there somewhere doing you know, doing her mic stand plot. I'm very excited for it.

[38:45] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, there's there's also such an incredible sound design involved with the show as well. Our um our sound designer Nevin, who he done a couple of little shows you might have heard of Hamilton in the higher Tades town, Derevin Hansen. He's done a couple of shows, so he might know what he's doing a little bit. Also, just the nicest person who is so heavily involved with the cast in the production process. We did a wandle probe, not a sits probe, where I had no idea what that was, but the wandle part makes sense because he walks around stage with the cast and hears what they're hearing and wants to know if they are being supported by the sound on stage and their experience, and he communicates with them so clearly, and I feel like that really set a foundation for the company feeling like they could trust the department to an extent because of the foundation that he set, which was really special, especially in a show like this, where we're dealing with a lot of really heavy themes in the show.

Sometimes the things that are happening on stage are not as important, I imagine, as the things that people are wrestling with having to perform this show. There's a lot of things that would stick with you when you leave the building. So to be in a supportive company where anyone is able to walk up to any department and talk to them has been really important, and I think that our creatives did a really, really great job at doing that international and Australian. And his sound design is just beautiful, and it he was telling Shelly about you know, we usually when uh engineer is given the show, they're given a script and it's got like mixed to negative 10, mixed to this person, blah blah blah.

Like you hit the marks, and Shelley was telling me that his description of there's a certain scene where all of the people kind of from Tina's past that we've seen, like her grandmother and the child version of her and the people that were in the first scene who are representative of her ancestors are called onto the stage, and the symbolism of that was because there's a whole bunch of the show that exists in what is called the ether land, which is Tina's kind of dream state almost. But it's this really emotional point of the show where she kind of is having this breakthrough, it's the end of act one. It's it makes me cry every time, even still, and she calls on the ancestors for help and basically and for support, and they all come out, and this happens a couple times in the show, and when talking about how that is mixed, it wasn't like, yeah, put them to this level, do this, the reverb should sound like this.

His request was, you know, what does someone invoking their ancestors sound like, and that is what you should make happen, which I just think is beautiful because in a space where you know it is so easy to just follow the technical to do that. Sometimes you forget about, or it could be easy to forget about if you're not someone who is often thinking of that. The fact that there are people in the audience emotionally experiencing this show, and that the sound design can aid in that communication of what is going on and of the emotion of a scene based on what you do, and so to work with a sound designer who puts emphasis on that and who cared so much about putting together a team who could handle and support the cast with the themes of the show, that is amazing, and I'm so thrilled to be part of a show like that.

[42:12] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It sounds so beautiful and so important to, you know, as you said, the audience are going through that emotional journey every show as well as the cast and everyone backstage. It's so wonderful to hear the sort of story behind that and that it's not just, yeah, set it to this level and be done. It's like, you know, that could change per venue, per, you know, city that they do this show. Like that emotion of how that sound is put together. It's so wonderful.

[42:55] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Obviously we've talked about the topics within Tina, like that they can be quite dark and quite heavy. On my last episode with Daniel Story, we spoke about, you know, the importance of derolling, especially as a stage manager. The cast need to deroll at the end of the night to make sure they're not taking any of that baggage from the show home. I think it's really important for us as creatives in any department to go through that same process. What are you doing for yourself, you know, at the end of the night to help sort of push all of this show away and focus on, you know, getting back into your real world?

[43:27] Joshua Broadbent: What a good question.

[43:29] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I really struggled with this when I started in the industry, not just in theatre but in all other parts for a long time, especially because working in this industry is the dream. Yeah. Everyone in it I think, or almost everyone, this is what they dreamed of. So when you do it, sometimes it's really hard to leave work at work and not bring it home with you and not make it your identity almost in a way. Um, which makes it, you know, difficult for you to set boundaries and to prioritize your health, mental and physical, all of those kind of things. One of the biggest helps that I have found in the last year, year plus, has honestly been my partner. Like having a really strong home life where I feel safe and comfortable, and I feel like that is my identity, like who I am at home with my family and with my friends has become the home base.

Where I found I struggled with this when I went on tour with Venton when I was away from that home base, um, it's really easy for work to become the default, work to become the home base and for going home and sleeping and eating and all those things to be the filler instead of a space where you rehabilitate yourself before you have to go back in because we're working such long hours doing really demanding roles, especially in production and in tech. Like the hours we rack up are insane, and I imagine you guys, they're probably even worse. I think on the Phantom Load In in Sydney, we did an 128-hour work week straight, which was more than seven days, but it was done straight. And how do you take care of yourself in conditions like that?

[45:15] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah, it's not easy.

[45:16] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, but in terms of just like a normal show life and schedule, I really try to make sure that I have my life outside of work prioritized and make sure that on my day off I see people I don't work with. I see my friends who aren't in the industry. I see, I make time to talk to my family. I have found that inviting my family and friends to kind of be part of the work experience in certain ways has also helped me feel grounded. Like working in this industry has taken me away from my family and friends. Like I think it does all of us in a way that we don't think about when we get into the industry. Like I've missed birthdays and Christmases and holidays and girls' nights and just things like that because hot yoga with the gals because of the nature of our industry.

And I started a YouTube channel just over a year ago or about a year ago and that allowed my family to an extent to see what I was doing for work and what I was doing in my day to day which made them feel more involved in my life and like I wasn't just a stranger popping back in. But also meant that we still felt familiar when we were together with my family and friends. Like they knew what was going on with me. We didn't have to just talk about my job when we caught up I could ask about them we could do other things and that really helped. Yeah, loving the home I'm living in setting up a really good home has also been a huge one for me which again is difficult for some people if they're touring and in company comm.

Yeah. Um but that's been a really important one for me and one that I've prioritized like when we went to Melbourne with Phantom I didn't stay in company comm. I went and found somewhere else to live which was difficult um because I needed that separation. If I only live at work it very quickly deteriorates my ability to show up as the person that I want to be in the workplace and being able to remove myself and be Monique, the partner, sister, daughter, friend, and not just the mic tech is the only way that I'm able to step back into that role with the joy and enthusiasm that I always want to.

[47:29] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Also, baths, Epsom salts. I live in the bathroom.

[47:31] Joshua Broadbent: I'm the same.

[47:34] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's taken me a long time and still is. Like I've just been in Melbourne for the past month for once. And my sort of, you know, a role as a stage manager is I'm kind of on 24/7. Like you set your boundaries, but I have cast members, you know, calling me at 11:30 at night. You know, work had only finished an hour ago, I'm still very much awake. Or needing to be awake at 9 a.m. for any cast changes or anything that may happen. I'm not working all day every day, but I'm, you know, I am still on, and even now I'm on break at the moment, but I am still working because we're in the Gold Coast shortly, and you know, there's still jobs that need to be done. So I'm still very much working right now, but in my time, which is really nice.

But I would find in Melbourne I was I was in coming accommodation, I was going from the accommodation to work to the accommodation to work, and I've left Melbourne going, I didn't not really do much in Melbourne. I've been to Melbourne many times for work, but one thing that I would try and do at least once a week is go and do one of those floats.

[48:37] Joshua Broadbent: Oh yeah.

[48:38] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: There'd be times where I'll go and do it where I just don't tune out of my brain's tool too active, but then there's times where I, you know, feel really relaxed. But yeah, it's one of the sort of conversations that I'm having with guests now on the podcast, is just around, you know, that derolling and how what do you do to find time outside of work because yeah, as you said, you don't want your identity to be a radio mic tech. I don't want my identity to be a stage manager, and that's all I do. But it's not easy. It is hard. It does take time to work out what that healthy work-life balance is. And it's so difficult because you know, I love my job. This is everything that I ever dreamed of and more.

And I truly, truly love it. And I think it is such a blessing to have a job I love. A lot of people don't get to make money off of their passion, especially not enough to survive, which is incredible. I'm working on these huge, beautiful shows that child me growing up in Orange couldn't even imagine. Like I've worked on both of my favorite shows already. I've worked with some of the most talented people all over the world who've come into Australia to share these shows with us and do these jobs, and it is incredible. But one day I'm not gonna be a mic tech. One day I'm just gonna be Monique. And I want my nephews and nieces to remember me and to not just have me be that random person who floats in and out every couple of years at family events.

I want a stable, healthy relationship with someone who truly knows me and memories of that that we can look back on, which finding time off to go and actually go on holiday in this industry, kind of unheard of. People wait for gaps between contracts where they then have to choose do I go have an experience that isn't just work, or do I go reconnect with my family? And you have to choose between the two. Or do I choose my health and get all of the things done that I can't do on tour, like go to the dentist and go to a proper doctor, or get my wisdom teeth out, or yeah, you know, all of those kind of things. It's so demanding and it's such a special job, but I very, very quickly realize that it's not gonna be my life forever.

Yeah, and so I need to treat it like a job. It can still be the dream and still be a job. And I find that looking at it like that, I'm able to have better boundaries in the workplace. I'm able to say, actually I need a break now. Actually I am injured and I do need to see the physio. Things like that, which when I first started, oh I would never have rocked the boat. I would never have asked for a day off, said, Oh no, but I actually needed that time off and I expressed that to the company in the first place or I need to go see a doctor today instead of Oh, I'm literally dying. I'm coughing up a lung in the basement and I can't breathe, but I will still come in and do my job. Which it sounds weird to say luckily COVID in a sentence, but I think that the pandemic really people were forced to take days off.

[51:45] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah.

[51:45] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like before that it was especially in any kind of entertainment, it was like you're unwell, what do you need to do to be at work anyway? Because no one can cover you and you're not really encouraged to take time off. I think that's been a really big change that I've seen since COVID and like when I was studying it was very much like, No, you just work. Work is life. This is what you do, like this is everything. And I've seen a lot of change since then, uh, since COVID, in regards to like take time off. It's okay to be sick, like, you know, yes, we still need you to work 'cause there may be no one to cover you, but like we understand it, like it I think there's a lot more acceptance about actually taking that mental health break.

[52:26] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, I think that was kind of drilled into me quite early that I needed to prioritize my body because and like my health in all ways because when I started working out of uni, not in theatre but just in like general crewing and bumping in and out like really big concerts and stuff, and I was often the only young person, the only woman as well within a crew of, you know, men who were in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and all of them, if given the chance, would tell me to look after my back and to make time for my family because you know, there's an organization in Australia called Support Act who, as far as I'm aware, which I might be mixing two different stories, but from what I believe that my brain remembers, was created out of this generation of roadies and crew in Australia in, you know, the 70s, 80s, 60s who didn't have unions, who didn't have work regulations, who didn't have all of those things that we now fortunately in a lot of parts of the industry have.

And so they just worked and destroyed themselves for their job. They a lot of them took drugs to get through the shifts that they were doing and to stay up for the long drives they had to do. They fucked their bodies up because they were doing demanding roles and didn't have anyone to help, and they didn't understand the work, health and safety around lifting. They were climbing things without harnesses, touching electrical things without safety gear, they never found and developed stable long-term relationships because of the nature of touring all the time. If they had kids, they were never around for their kids because of the nature of the job, and there was this whole generation of crew who were just either miserable or unfortunately ending their lives, and there were organizations created off the back of that to offer support to these people and to people within our industry who are going through financial, mental, physical hardships to support them because they've seen the consequences of what happens if they don't.

[54:35] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: So I feel very fortunate. This took a very dark turn. Sorry. But I feel I feel very fortunate now to be at a point of the industry where not only is there a lot more diversity and inclusion, and that is changing every day, thankfully, but you know, there's still a lot of work for us to do in that space. But health is prioritized more, and COVID kind of forced that to really become a priority, which is great.

[55:05] Joshua Broadbent: Thank you for sharing that insight into the industry and you know, your views on that and talking openly about the importance of caring for yourself and you know what you can do to make sure that you are not only physically but mentally there and present within your job. You want to go to work and be present, but you also want to be able to go home at the end of the day and be present. Like you've got that balance is not easy, and it takes time. And thank you for sharing your journey on that.

[55:31] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's also for the sake of the job, right? Like I don't see a time in my life where the goal is to retire and not work because I love this industry. I think I always, as far as I can see right now, at you know, 25 years old, I always want to be involved in this community and in this industry in some capacity, and I need to make sure that I'm able to do that.

[55:53] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Right now I'm like I said, injured, and normal 25 year olds are not injured from their job. So I want to do everything that I can to make sure that I can be a person outside of the job, but also so that I can keep doing the job. It's that thing that I always say to people, because people go, Oh, you work such long hours, you do this, you do that. I'm like, it's one of those industries where if you didn't love what you do, you just don't do it. Anyone that sort of is in a place of struggling because they're not sure if they want to do it or make it or you know, whatnot, if you're sitting in that place, really do just step back for a minute and go, Do I actually love it? Because if you love it, you can do it. And it's not saying that it's easy to do it, but I very much love what I do, and that's what helps me continue to push myself.

[56:38] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, it is that choice that you make where you know, as an 18-year-old looking at what I wanted to do with my life. I, you know, I was raised by a single mum who obviously then had to work enough to support a family on her own, and I saw how much working was a part of her life that adults, because of the world we live in, have to work, most of us. And that majority of my life was probably gonna be spent in a workplace to some degree. So I'd never wanted to go to work and wish I was somewhere else. I wanted to go to work every day loving what I do and thinking that it's worth it, and the kind of work hours and the work days and the travel and all of those things that we do are a part of it, and I think everyone has to weigh up whether it is worth it and whether that impacts whether it's still enjoyable to them. Because if that stuff ruins it and doesn't make you happy, you're right, you may as well not do it. Because if you don't love it, God, it must be fucking miserable.

[57:44] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah, yeah, that's that's very true. You've got to love what you do.

[57:48] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: If I wasn't crying in the wings every single bowl of every show I've worked on every night, I wouldn't be doing it. And I it is like that. I especially, oh my god, especially Come From Away. Every show sobbing. Just every every day it hit me. As much as I've really tried to make that division between like work is a job and I need to take care of myself outside of that. I still have such a romantic view of what we're doing, of the show, of the story coming to life on stage. And I think that helps me to love it so much still, even when it is difficult.

[58:25] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: What's that saying that's like if when you let your own light shine, you give others permission to do the same. It's like when you talk about your own well-being and work life balance, you give other people permission to do the same.

[58:37] Joshua Broadbent: So we touched briefly on your YouTube channel. You said that you set it up to share what you were doing with your family, but you found a little bit of a following. Like people are really and I myself really enjoy the content that you're producing because you give them a really great insight into what it is like working backstage. Is that something that you're really passionate about? Like that inspiration, you know, inspiring your next generation.

[59:01] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah, I think when I entered the industry, I had no idea what to expect. I knew nothing, especially, you know, in fringe and stuff like that. It's kind of just everyone's making it up as they go all the time. But in an industry like theatre, which is already so structured because of, you know, it's a money-making machine. A lot of money is being made out of these shows, so there is a lot of intention behind what the show is like, what is like the audience's experience, what the company's experience is like, working, where people live, what people do, like all of those kind of things are thought about and kind of decided for us. And there's almost a, or at least I felt when I started, like almost an expectation that that is common knowledge.

[59:49] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah.

[59:50] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Which was not common knowledge. Oh, oh my goodness. Like it was, you know, things about touring and the work hours and even things as little as like preparing meals because you're not gonna have enough time to go and get food between every shift, but you need to because you're not gonna be home for dinner.

[1:00:12] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah.

[1:00:13] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Or that the theater you're in, depending on it, might not have food around you, or your break might go over and then you miss your opportunity. Like things like that. Like there are so many little tips and tricks that people started sharing with me, or that I started picking up that I wish I had before I entered the industry, or I imagine there is a lot of people who enter the industry and go, This is not what I thought it was gonna be like. And you don't know that until you're in it. I was fortunate enough to get into the industry and really love it. But I imagine that some people have the opposite experience because of especially I don't know how parents work the way that we do. I'm so in awe of the parents who maintain parenthood along with this industry, and I have no idea how they do it, how they manage that, because those are two full-time roles, those are two more than full-time roles. Those people are never off. And I thought that if I just shared, you know, some of these things, then that might help people entering the industry.

[1:01:17] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And also, there was all of these great mic techs and great, you know, crew members who were sharing their little tips and tricks with me, and I just thought it'd be cool to share it on a bit of a larger scale. Also, theater fans, whether they're fans of the technical side because they're within our industry or whether they are just audience members who love shows. Like they love the process. They love especially doing Phantom was every show I think has like a little bit of a cult following, but doing Hamilton and doing Phantom was an insane insight to the way that a lot of people want to know everything about the shows that they love because it means so much to them. And it's been really rewarding to share that with people and to engage with the theater community because as crew I don't think that's something that we get a lot of access to.

[1:02:11] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: And they will follow them online and talk to them and follow their careers in a way but that is you know often they don't know who the ASM is. Or like things like that. It's just a beautiful like sharing of knowledge and information that was one of my favorite things about entering the industry that all of these people who had more experience than I did or different experience than I did were sharing their tips and tricks with me and I'd be a little sponge and absorb it all and that's kind of what the YouTube channel has become because I might be you know the one making videos but I've got a Discord as well that people are in and there is a real like little community that we've made around the channel full of some really incredible talented people and lovers of the arts who just want to love it and it helps me stay romantic about it because they're excited about things that I was once excited about but am now accustomed to and it just reminds me to stay present in the shows and in the job and in the things that made me want to do it in the first place.

[1:03:48] Joshua Broadbent: I love that and that's sort of where my mind goes as well with like all the content that I share through my many social media accounts and through the podcast as well is that you know there are that next generation of stage managers or you know soundies or whoever out there that want to understand more about what happens what the real life backstage is. You know you sort of get an insight into little bits and pieces but unless you're working on them that you really don't understand what the full operation is and and that's what I want to do. I want to be sharing all that sort of information that I can you know obviously there's things confidential that you can't talk about.

[1:04:23] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yes people always want to be like tell me when this thing went wrong you know tell me about that and you go I kind of can't talk about it.

[1:04:33] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah and you'll never know but you will know but you won't I think it's it's really important and and I absolutely love the content that you put out and and the things that you talk about you know through your social media channels because it is it is that sort of that little Monique looking to get into sound may not have found interest in sound without you know coming across your videos and and the stuff you talk about. So thank you from the audience for sharing all of that wonderful content.

[1:04:59] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: When I was looking online for information about, you know, when I first started, I wanted to know everything about the industry. I wanted to know about, you know, I was looking up like Broadway and West End, you know, backstage, you know, podcasts and blogs and and things like that. And I was struggling to find anything, and definitely not anything within Australia. And I think now there is a little bit of you know, there are a few of us who are doing things, but a bunch of them are performers, and that's great, but majority of the people who work on our show are not performers most of the time. Like there is almost double the crew, usually, and there's like you know, two thirds of the building worth of jobs up for grabs, and we talk a lot about and there's a lot of discussion around representation in theatre and in the arts in general, and a lot of that conversation is still quite centered around performers, obviously, because they're who the audience are seeing. But I think there's still a lot of work in that space to be done for us as well.

[1:05:56] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like I only met female engineers once I started working many years in, kind of by chance. I'd never seen a woman who was in my role until I was the one doing it myself. I was the first female engineer I ever knew.

[1:06:12] Joshua Broadbent: Very eye opening, isn't it?

[1:06:14] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: It's quite, you know, there's a lot of reasons why I felt comfortable to do that when I like why I felt like I could do the role, and there's a lot of privileges that I still have, even though you know, I am a woman in an industry that is quite male dominated. And I think about the change that I want to see in the industry is everyone being welcome. I think theatre is probably the most diverse workplace that I've been in. But there's still so much work to be done in that space, and if just empowering people with a bit of knowledge and information about what they should expect or what they should I'm prepared for helps make that change. And if, you know, throughout the process of the communities around these channels and podcasts and things that we're concrete like that we're creating, we can encourage more people into these jobs because also, damn, the industry needs crew.

[1:07:05] Joshua Broadbent: Yeah.

[1:07:06] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: We are in a shortage.

[1:07:07] Joshua Broadbent: Oh yeah.

[1:07:08] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Like if we can get more people in, then you won't have to be lighting stage management company management, you know?

[1:07:14] Joshua Broadbent: Yes.

[1:07:16] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Yeah.

[1:07:17] Joshua Broadbent: Well, Monique, thank you so much for joining me on this episode of Whispers in the Wings. If our audience wanted to reach out and find out more about you and connect with you, where could they do so?

[1:07:27] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I have an Instagram account and a YouTube account where I make videos and you know share content about my experience working in the industry and of the shows that I am working on. Those are both under Monique Tech, nothing in between, just Monique Tech, and there are new videos every week, as well as I constantly share the chaos of working in the industry. I've also got a Discord which is under the same name, which is a really wholesome community that if you want to chat to people about the arts, about theatre, about sound, that's a really good place to be.

[1:07:57] Joshua Broadbent: Amazing. Well, I'll pop all those links in the show notes so that the listener can check them out and connect with you. But once again, thank you, Monique. I really appreciate chatting with you today.

[1:08:05] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Thank you.

[1:08:07] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I'm very honored to have been the first non-stage manager.

[1:08:11] Joshua Broadbent: Yes. Oh, I just remembered that too. I was so lost in our conversation that I forgot about that. I am that is gonna be that's going on my CV.

[1:08:18] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: Please.

[1:08:19] Joshua Broadbent: It's gonna be my ego for the next foreseeable future.

[1:08:23] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: I cannot wait to see what else you get up to and where this credit takes you.

[1:08:31] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: This new ego that I have, which I will also be using too. If you head over to my Instagram, you will be able to see me wearing my That's the Five jumper because the five is a very important time for sound as well. It is where sound and stage management meet.

[1:08:44] Joshua Broadbent: It is.

[1:08:45] Monique Orton⁠⁠⁠: We meet there, we spend our time together. It's a very important time.

[1:08:48] Joshua Broadbent: It is.

[1:08:52] Joshua Broadbent: Well, my friend, that does bring us to the end of this episode of Whispers in the Wings. And I do want to acknowledge the open and honest conversation Monique was having about the industry and how it is really, really important and vital when you are working in this industry that you do find support when needed. As I mentioned at the start of this episode, Support Act offer a free phone counselling service for anyone working in the Australian music and arts industry. And you can reach them by calling 1-800-959-500. And if you are overseas or not working in the industry, please do reach out to many other wonderful support services. Prioritize your well-being. Reach out for help if needed, and remember that you are not alone. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and I'll catch you next time.