Whitehorse Musical Theatre was formed in 1971 as a breakaway group from the Box Hill Musical Comedy Society. The Company's first show was "Brigadoon", performed at the J. H. Charles Memorial Hall at Box Hill High School. The show was financed largely by membership fees and the total budget was approximately $3,000.

Whitehorse performed its first five shows in the J.H. Charles Memorial Hall at Box Hill High School and then, in 1973, moved to a proper theatre with orchestra pit and fly tower at the then Burwood Teachers' College (now Deakin University, Burwood Campus)

The theatre at Burwood was the company's home until 2001, except for a period following a disastrous fire in 1977 which gutted the theatre and forced the company to move its production of 'Pickwick' to the National Theatre in St. Kilda. Four more shows were performed at the National Theatre and one at the Alexander Theatre at Monash before Whitehorse was able to return the renamed 'Phoenix' Theatre in 1980. In 2001 Whitehorse moved its productions to the new Besen Centre in Burwood.

Whitehorse has produced two shows every year since its inception, with the exception of 1980 and 2002. In 1980 year we did "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", the first full scale musical production at the new Karralyka Theatre in Ringwood, "Sweet Charity" at the National Theatre in St. Kilda and "Irene" at the refurbished Phoenix Theatre at Burwood. The second half of 2002 saw us concentrate on setting up a new costume storage and set construction facility.

Productions at the Besen Centre include "The Sound of Music", "42nd Street", "Les Miserables", "Bye Bye Birdie", "Hello, Dolly!", "West Side Story", "Cinderella", "Crazy For You" and "Disney's Beauty and the Beast".

In 1996 Whitehorse Musical Theatre proudly celebrated its 50th production and 25th Anniversary by staging "Brigadoon", the company's original production.

In addition to popular musicals such as "Oklahoma", "My Fair Lady", "Carousel", "King & I", "Sound of Music", "West Side Story" etc. the company has staged many less well-known shows such as "On the Twentieth Century", "Candide" and "On the Town". We also presented the first Australian productions of "My One and Only", "City of Angels" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".

Throughout most of its life, Whitehorse Musical Theatre Inc. has rehearsed in church halls, apart from a short period at the RSPCA hall in Burwood. The company has a factory in Bayswater for costume and props storage and for scenery construction. It has an extensive collection of costumes, props and scenery are all available for hire.

We are proud that many members of our casts and stage crews have gone on to further work or even a career in professional theatre, and many who have worked in professional theatre have been more than happy to come back and work with us.


Life Members:

Philip Brady, Michael Saxon

President - Stephen Cavell

Vice President -  Carin Tynan

Treasurer - Michael Saxon
Secretary - Vanessa Burke

Assistant Secretary - Brigid Deneef
General Committee - Karen Keefe

General Committee -  Keith Stubley

General Committee -  Tailem Tynan

 

 Postal Address

Whitehorse Musical Theatre, PO Box 154, Burwood, 3125