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Feature
Interview
6 iNarrabri Magazine
April 9th - April 22nd
trent bruinsma
What is your role at The Cross-
ing Theatre?
As the Crossing Theatre’s Venue
Manager, I am responsible for the
day-to-day operational and stra-
tegic management of the venue.
I also manage the minor and
major events for the venue.
How did you come to be at The
Crossing Theatre and for how
long have you been working in
the industry?
I commenced at The Crossing
Theatre in December 2012. I
have been working in the Hospi-
tality and Events industry for over
sixteen years in both operational
and management roles. The ma-
jority of my experience is in Major
Event Management and Event
Execution.
What have been the personal
highlights thus far for you
as Manager of the Crossing
Theatre?
To date, the most satisfying part
of my role has been successfully
managing the Daft Punk Album
Launch in Wee Waa, and then
securing Keith Urban to perform
here in Narrabri, and successfully
managing the event.
What do you think are the
strengths of Narrabri as a town
and the Crossing Theatre as a
venue?
Narrabri possesses significant
strengths that it can be proud of.
If I was to single one out, it is our
town’s capacity to bind together
as a community in times of need
and disaster, and equally in times
of celebration and triumph.
I believe The Crossing Theatre’s
single biggest strength is that its
best days, regarding attraction
of major events and operational
performance, are yet to come.
What do you believe are oppor-
tunities for the Crossing Theatre
moving forward?
The greatest opportunity for The
Crossing Theatre is to capitalise
on the venue’s size and capacity
for events. I see the venue as a
viable and attractive venue for
local and national touring artists
to visit and produce quality events
that will be well supported by the
entire community.
What are you currently work-
ing on?
There are always numerous things
being done concurrently in my
office. To list them all would take
too long...
What skills are fundamental for
you to run a successful opera-
tion?
Initially, you need an absolute
understanding on the operations
of a venue, and to deliver on
clients needs. More importantly
however, is the capacity to be able
to regularly analyse raw data and
review and manage budgets.
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Which aspect of your role takes
up most of your time?
Meetings, meetings, meetings...
reports, reports, reports!
But these are absolutely neces-
sary to ensure that not only are
we satisfying our clients’ needs,
but also keeping the Council
and community informed of the
venue’s performance.
What aspect of your job gives
you the most satisfaction?
Two things give me the greatest
satisfaction professionally. Firstly,
the look on a client’s face when
you have helped deliver a perfect
event. Secondly, is the capacity to
give back and try to mentor and
train staff to enhance and up skill
them to further their careers. I
was very fortunate to have great
mentors and managers who gave
me the skills to succeed.
What’s coming up at the Cross-
ing Theatre that you are looking
forward to?
We have an extraordinary amount
of exciting things coming up.
To name a few, we have The Roy
Orbison Tribute Show, the Next
Gen Black Tie Ball, a fabulous
Mothers Day Brunch and Lunch,
the not-to-be-missed Sydney
Mens Choir in June and the very
funny Sydney Comedy Festival
Showcase in September.
If you could book five current
acts (money not being an issue)
who would these be and why?
Gee, only five? Hmmm... I would
book
Bruno Mars - why else but for
Uptown Funk!
Bernard Fanning - Australian
musical genius.
Beyonce and Jay Z - would be a
phenomenal show and produc-
tion.
Elton John - He has arguably the
greatest catalogue of hits and
anthems.
And finally... Silverchair - my
beautiful wife’s favourite band!
How do you unwind or relax
after a busy day / week?
I am a bit of green thumb so I
love my lawn and gardening. I
also love camping and boating
with the family, and catching up
on the latest episode of the best
show on TV... NCIS!
as the venue manager of THE CROSSING THEATRE, trent
bruinsma PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN PROVIDING ENTertainment
for our community...