Selwyn Times: April 28, 2021

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Selwyn Times Wednesday April 28 2021 6 OUR PEOPLE – PHIL DEAN From the police frontline to centre stage Behind the razzle and dazzle of Chicago, currently staging at Rolleston, is director Phil Dean. The former senior policeman is devoting himself to theatre after leaving the force. He spoke to Susan Sandys about taking a leap of faith and balancing his yin with his yang Where did your journey with theatre begin? When I was 15 years old and I was at Whangarei Boys High School up in Northland. The girls’ high was on the other side of the road. The only time we came together was when we did productions. I enjoyed the fact that we were mingling with the girls. My very first show was Godspell, and I was lucky enough to be one of the leads. I think from that moment on, that was when I got the bug. (The director) would never have known that he was having such a profound effect on that little pain-in-the-ass kid. Can you tell me about your policing career? I joined the police when I was 26. I was a frontline officer, an investigator, a road policing manager. In the last 10 years I took on management roles – community services manager in Christchurch, Canterbury police highway patrol manager and the road policing manager. My very last job was as the Ashburton sub-area commander. All the way along, while I was doing that, balancing my yin with my yang, if you like, I was doing theatre as well. It sort of offered me a completely different community to work in. Why did you leave the police? I had done 25 years (by the time I left in 2019). I was in a really good place, I was working with a positive community (in Ashburton). I didn’t want to leave when I was in a job I wasn’t enjoying. It had taken me five years to make the decision to leave. I loved the police, but I SERVICE: Waitering is Phil Dean’s favourite task at the cafe he runs with fiancee Courtney Hyde. PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN knew that I couldn’t do it for the rest of my life. Why couldn’t you do it for the rest of your life? I don’t want to say it’s a young person’s job, but it is a young person’s job. I wanted to follow the positive parts of my passionate dreams of my life, and I wanted to be more creative, and to be more artistic. So I wanted to take what was my hobby and make that the main thing I did. I always imagined what I would do is get a part-time job somewhere, just so I could pay the bills, and I would volunteer all my time to the performing arts. What I did know is that the right thing would find me, and it absolutely did. The cafe (Robert Harris at Rolleston) came along. We (myself and fiancee Courtney Hyde who own and operate the cafe) have had two cabarets here in the last six months. We rehearse here too. (So there is) the ability for the money-making side of my life to support the other side. The message I have given to my colleagues in the police is – don’t try and negotiate your way out of the police, take a leap of faith, because the thing that you discover is that you take yourself with you. All the good aspects of who you are, and all the things that make you a good police officer, are the same things that will make you good at other things. You and Courtney founded CentreStage Rolleston about four years ago? Yes, us and a group of our friends. We were all involved in theatre around Christchurch and around Selwyn, but we all lived in Rolleston. We could see that there was a gap here. Stay comfortable all year round with Fujitsu’s sleek, stylish Lifestyle Range. HEAT PUMPS FROM $1999 inc GST INSTALLED! 2020 Heat Pumps 03 381 6950 info@powersmart.co.nz powersmart.co.nz Fujitsu’s Catechin Filters are approved by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ’s Sensitive Choice ® programme. FREE consultation from your local Accredited Heat Pump Expert It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Baby 21 - 29 May; Fri/Sat 7:30pm; Sun 23 2pm; Tues-Sat 7:30pm. General $59.00* Senior / Student $49.00* Groups 6+ $49* each Following the successes of Just the Boyz, Not Just the Boyz and Just the Boyz are Back Variety Theatre Ashburton brings you it’s only Rock ‘n’ Roll Baby featuring many of your favourite songs from decades gone by like I’m Into Something Good, Sugar Sugar, You’re the Voice, Wagon Wheel Sweet Caroline plus many more. Directed by Gavin Templeton, Musical Director Sarah Templeton and Choreography from Jessie Thomson joined by a cast of talented local performers It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll will leave you wanting more Baby. book now Venice Qin Thursday, 10th June 7pm All tickets $20* Venice will bring her power pop show to our stage for the first time. Venice is excited to perform her original material featuring her newly released self-funded single ‘Queen of the night’ produced by Laughton kora and mixed by Tiki Taane. Sunday 27th June 4pm Tickets Early Bird $75* until 4th May Fall in love with Simon o’neill, Jackie Clarke and Tim beveridge with an unforgettable evening of music and entertainment. See Simon o’neill, Jackie Clarke and Tim beveridge in Concert, as you’ve never seen them before in this once in a lifetime musical event. 03 307 2010 211A Wills Street, Ashburton 7700 admin@ateventcentre.co.nz For more information www.ateventcentre.co.nz An Evening With Simon O’Neill – Jackie Clarke and Tim Beveridge *Service fees apply
Wednesday April 28 2021 Selwyn Times Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz 7 and under the floodlights of theatre How do you sum up your theatrical career, I understand you have won awards? I have been involved in well over 100 performances all over New Zealand, both on stage and off stage. Yes, the shows I have been involved in have won awards, some have been for me personally. About 15 years ago, I decided I would get into more of the leadership side of theatre, more of the production management side, and then directing, that sort of thing. I’ve covered all facets of theatre – back stage, front-of-stage, lighting, sound, so I was in an ideal position to be able to start pulling them all together. And the things New Zealand Police had taught me about leadership were exactly the same things that theatre needed. So I would basically run a theatre show like a police operation. That sounds scary for your actors . . . The funny thing is, it is all about organising people, organising resources, and making sure that everything is in the right place at the right time. Both in the police sense, and in the theatre sense, those things are critical. It doesn’t mean you are strict on them? No, in fact my style of directing is very collaborative,and it’s more of a partnership than it is of a hierarchical structure. VERSATILE: Directing The Full Monty for the Kirwee Players has been a highlight of former police officer Phil Dean’s theatrical career. He served in the force for about 25 years. What has been your favourite production to have been involved in? When I had the opportunity at the Kirwee Players (in 2017) to direct The Full Monty. The Kirwee Players do some amazing things, for a small community they do some remarkable theatre. They gave me a chance for five years in a row to direct their shows. At the time we were living at Darfield. Why was that your favourite? The story of The Full Monty is these guys in a small community who are trying to raise money for themselves by working out where they could be strippers. In a small community like Kirwee, the conversations I was having with the actors were the same as the conversations in the script. We didn’t make the decision until very close to opening night whether we were going to go all the way, which was exactly the same as the script. When we did The Full Monty, (the audience) just howled with laughter, because you have got these guys who are from your community, who are now up on stage stripping, and doing a pretty good job of it too, I’ve got to say. And did they go the full monty? They did, on every single night. We did some clever stuff with lighting. It would have been all done within a second. They had a hat in front, and then as they moved the hat away, there’s a flash of light, then a blackout, so it would have been half a second. The eye is so confused, you don’t see much. What does operating the cafe involve? I do everything, from dishes, helping in the kitchen . . . my favourite thing is to take food from the kitchen to the customers. And that is because the food that we cook here is such good food. Doing the dishes is probably my least favourite. I’m six-foot-seven tall, and the sink is just a bit low for me. If I’m there for an hour my back starts aching. I have been trained as a barista, I am one of the six baristas we have here. What is your favourite coffee? Long black. Our blend is such a smooth blend. I will declare a slight bias here. CentreStage Rolleston is currently staging Chicago and you are the director. Has there been any glitches preparing this production? When anyone has come down with a slight sniffle, we have told them not to come to rehearsals. Firstly because of the concerns around Covid, but also we don’t want to spread anything (else) around. That’s probably been the biggest challenge. When we went to level two that made it hard. I had a couple of online rehearsals, but mainly we stopped, we said this is an opportunity for us to hone our skills (at home). You must hardly get time for yourself, do you ever get tired of theatre or see it as a job? Courtney and I are both incredibly busy, but it’s doing things we love. Between us we have five kids (aged 11 to 22). When they are all home, our house is a very noisy house with music and laughter and those sort of things, it’s just lovely. Most of them performed on the stage or sing or play instruments. Had a hearing check? Now do a price check Shop our everyday low prices on hearing aids See upfront prices and book your free initial 15-minute hearing check at specsavers.co.nz/hearing Free 15-minute hearing check: If further testing is required a fee may be incurred. NZ_180_SSK
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Selwyn Times: April 28, 2021

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