Off-stage drama dominated company's life

March 8: It was a dream come true for respected performer Peter Cousens, but national musical theatre company Kookaburra quickly became a nightmare. As it faces almost certain collapse, TROY DODDS looks at the troubled existence of the organisation, and tries to figure out exactly what went wrong...

One year ago, on March 10 2008, Peter Cousens stood before a good crowd at the Seymour Centre in Sydney and launched Kookaburra's 2008-2009 season. He rolled the dice, took a gamble and hoped that it was somewhat of a fresh start for his company.

On that night, he declared: "This season will consolidate our financial base and also strengthen the Kookaburra brand. The stronger the Kookaburra brand becomes the more success we will have in presenting the new, the challenging, the edgy and the Australian musicals, along side the well known musicals populated with stars."

Pictured right: Katrina Retallick, Hayden Tee and Jolene Anderson at the Kookaburra 2008-2009 season launch.

The season launch came after a rocky first season, in which every show was dogged by some sort of drama.

First came a rather lacklustre production of Pippin at the Sydney Theatre, and in a major step back in time Kookaburra played the national anthem prior to performances, a move defended loudly by Cousens, the creator and Artistic Director of the company.

It seemed bizarre, however, that the Australian anthem would be played prior to an American musical, and by the time Kookaburra's second show, Company, came around, it was dumped. The story goes that the cast of the show voted to dump it, and Cousens ultimately had to take on their decision.

Company was a stunning production and Kookaburra even managed to score a major coup - composer Stephen Sondheim attended the opening night. He gave the show the thumbs up, as did critics and audiences, thrilled with its stellar cast that included David Campbell, Anne Looby, Chelsea Plumley, James Millar and Katrina Retallick. All hell broke loose, however, when young rising star Christie Whelan, who was playing April, fell sick one night.

Kookaburra had decided to not employ understudies, a move that had already proved costly during Pippin when shows had to be cancelled after the deaths of two performers' mothers. With no understudy to replace an ill Whelen, Cousens took drastic action and ordered that scenes involving the character be cut. It will perhaps be what Kookaburra is, unfortunately, best remembered for.

We reported at the time: "So angry was composer Stephen Sondheim over Kookaburra's decision to cut vital scenes from Company on Wednesday night that he threatened to pull the plug on the show mid-season by withdrawing the rights."

Cousens eventually apologised: "Kookaburra celebrates the work of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth and apologises for interfering with the integrity of their work."

Pictured left: the cast of Company

Three things stand out from the crisis that engulfed Kookaburra during that period.

The first was that no announcement was made to the audience on the night of the cuts, and while Cousens would later again defend his decision to cut the scenes, he would regret not telling the audience what was going on and admitted that this was a mistake.

The second was allegations that he essentially lied to the media, though exactly what happened there is clouded. The story goes that Cousens initially denied knowledge of the cuts, telling The Sydney Morning Herald "I was in Melbourne … I certainly didn't hear anything." He later added some clarity to the situation: "I instructed the director, musical director, cast and crew to make the cuts to the show, and of course it was my decision to keep the curtain up."

The other point that dogged the scandal was the relationship between the cast and Kookaburra. Many were dismayed at the original decision, and while none really want to go on the record, there is a feeling that much grief is still harboured by some cast members who feel a witch hunt took place in an effort to find out who informed Sondheim of what happened.

That said, many would remain in Kookaburra's good books: James Millar was commissioned to write a musical, while Katrina Retallick was cast in I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Exactly who leaked the news to Sondheim is known by some within the industry, but it generally remains a tightly guarded secret, as does much of what happened behind the scenes during what was a disjoined and unprecedented week in Australian theatre in July 2007.

Kookaburra's next work, Floyd Collins, was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. In hindsight, the decision to place a little-known musical into the large Sydney Theatre was never going to work, though perhaps originally Kookaburra thought that the first two shows would be received so well that people would want to flock to whatever the company did. It wasn't so.

It would be almost a year after Company before Kookaburra presented another show, largely because of another cancellation in the shape of Sideshow Alley. It was to be the company's first Australian musical, but soon after announcing they would present it, Kookaburra pulled the pin. The company knew when Floyd Collins was cancelled that it would not be able to present Sideshow Alley, but for whatever reason delayed the news. It left the show's creators devastated.

Taking stock, Kookaburra re-evaluated its position and announced the 2008-2009 season.

"We have carefully chosen this season to consolidate Kookaburra in the hearts and minds of the general public," Cousens declared at the March 10 launch.

"We have chosen a season that will have wide audience appeal, at a scale that is affordable for Kookaburra, and adheres to our philosophy of keeping the performer at the forefront of the storytelling."

By now, Kookaburra had a new publicist. Michelle Guthrie, who took the organisation through its first year, was gone, replaced by Libby Gauld. She would help Kookaburra turn around many of its problems with the media behind the scenes, but she too eventually departed, replaced by final publicist Emma Caddy, who was equally talented.

The first show of the 2008-2009 season was Tell Me On A Sunday, equipped with an understudy after the lessons learned in 2007. The show starred Jolene Anderson (pictured right), a face well known to the general public, the very audience Kookaburra was trying to attract. Unfortunately the star casting failed, with a lacklustre response to the show from the critics.

As the company's next show, Little Women, fast approached, rumours about the financial position of Kookaburra started to surface. There were whispers that the set builders refused to release the finished product due to a payment problem, and rumblings started to suggest that all was not well at Australia Hall. It quickly became evident that the company's future may be dependent on the success of Little Women.

Little Women proved to be an extraordinary production and Kookaburra appeared to have a hit on its hands, but financially the show struggled and ultimately resorted to dropping ticket prices to $2 in an effort to fill the house. Despite positive reviews and good audience responses, Little Women failed to be the company's saviour.

Just before Christmas, Kookaburra sacked its staff. In the first week of January, the story that Kookaburra was on the brink of collapse was rushing through the theatre industry and again, drama was engulfing the dream of Cousens. Within weeks, the Kookaburra website was pulled from the internet, Australia Hall was back up for lease and the mystery started to deepen, with no official word from Kookaburra about its financial state, nor its future.

In the last week, the third production of the 2008-2009 season, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change was officially cancelled. Of the seven shows Kookaburra promised to deliver during its short existence, only four ever reached the stage.

As it stands, Kookaburra has yet to officially confirm its demise and it is understood that the Board is still meeting with banks to try and work out some sort of solution. While much criticism is being directed at Cousens for remaining silent, it is understood that the Board has essentially gagged him and he is unable to make comment.

So how did it happen? How did the dream become a nightmare?

Some within the industry say that no matter what happened, Kookaburra was never going to succeed. There's a train of thought that a national musical theatre company simply can't be sustained in Australia and while Cousens' dream was admirable, it was just that, a dream.

Others say things would have been different if money was spent more wisely. For example, some of the marketing campaigns delivered by the company for it shows were befitting those of a major commercial musical with a multi-million dollar budget, as opposed to the six week runs being delivered by Kookaburra. It just wasn't sustainable, and nor was the number of staff employed.

What most agree on is that not one single issue was behind Kookaburra's demise. While the Company scandal stands out as a major issue, there's no real evidence to suggest it affected the company's standing with the general public down the track and nothing to suggest that ticket sales became a problem afterwards.

Kookaburra's loss is by no means a major problem for theatre as the industry was yet to accept the organisation as a permanent fixture but for the actors, writers, designers and crew that had hoped more work would be created for them by this venture, Kookaburra's demise is a devastating blow.

Kookaburra achieved a lot in its short life - much of which has never been reported - but ultimately the venture didn't work. Many businesses don't and unfortunately that's the way of the world. Cousens tried his heart out, and unfortunately it wasn't enough to save his dream. Just who he blames is perhaps the most intriguing unanswered question of all.

Perhaps one day the many questions will be answered. Perhaps Cousens is even considering writing a book. After all, being a fly on the wall at Kookaburra over the last two years would have been an experience to savour.

The industry now awaits Kookaburra's next move, or at least a final nail.

Coming up soon: We get the industry's response to Kookaburra's imminent collapse, and its lifetime. From those on the inside, to the observers, what did Kookaburra do right, and what did they do wrong? Stay tuned... the industry is about to respond.