A heartfelt farewell after forty years of service
Winding the clock back to 1981, things looked very different. Power dressing with oversized blazers and big blowouts were all the rage, whilst hits like ‘Keep on Loving You’ from REO Speedwagon, Blondie’s ‘Rapture’ and John Lennon’s ‘Woman’ swirled through the airwaves. Andrew Llyod Webber’s Cats premiered breaking conventions of stage shows, and Dreamgirls changed the shape of musical theatre with its glitz, glamour, and godly vocals.
In Geelong, there was a cultural buzz in the air, with the former Plaza Theatre site making way for a new era of performance with Geelong Performing Arts Centre. Welcomed by a major opening ceremony on 27 April 1981, the sparkly new entertainment centre was christened by performances from Patrick Thomas MBE, along with the award-winning, outstanding Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Mere months after the doors burst open to an excited Geelong community, a fresh faced 19-year-old Canadian, Tina Rettke, found her home in Geelong and within the Geelong Arts Centre family.
“Geelong Performing Arts Centre opened officially in April and I moved from Canada to the region in July of 1981. Because I had worked in theatres in Canada during my high school years, I was drawn to this place,” she offers.
Rettke’s tenacity pushed her to become part of the evolving arts scene and allow for her entry to the growing arts operation. Starting as a volunteer, inserting herself officially into the centre’s employment roster in the hospitality arena, and then stepping across into ushering, front of house and then the Box Office, Rettke found her footing in Geelong Performing Arts Centre quickly.
“I started hanging around volunteering for some of the local companies, and ushering, and I got to know some of the staff here. That’s how I got a job working in their restaurant as a waitress. I did that for a couple of years, realised I hate working with food [laughs], and then a job opened up in the Box Office which is what I had been doing in Canada,” she explains.
After six years, Rettke stepped away for a brief pause to work at the now infamous Pyramid Building Society. Movement within the Geelong Performing Arts Centre saw an opening, signalling Rettke’s return.
“The call came through from the new General Manager who asked if I wanted to run the Box Office and it was a big yes!”
Tina RettkeThe comeback came just in time, as Pyramid Building Society collapsed a few months later in what was a major controversy for the banking world with a flow-on effect that completely shook the Geelong community. For Rettke, this career move was serendipitous, one that would ultimately root her in the Geelong Arts Centre organisation for the rest of her career.
Following her return in 1990, Rettke moved through the organisation, evolving with the centre and becoming integrated with the Geelong Arts Centre DNA as one of the frontline faces of the organisation. For 32 years, she managed Front of House, moving from audience to Box Office where data and spreadsheets were her comfort as the Senior Manager, Audience Insights and Ticketing.
“I’ve worn a lot of different hats here.”
She’s seen the centre through it all - the foundational stages of teething and testing; the lines rounding the blocks for internal performances; and the partnerships with Ticketmaster and Ticketek; the introduction of technology with ticketing moving to online; the rise of local theatre and dance companies; the pandemic driven lockdowns; and the most notable major redevelopment of the facilities. It’s been a challenge but one that Rettke has relished.
“With IT, Box Office was the first business unit within Geelong Performing Arts Centre that had a computer. We were using a computer for sales, so I became responsible for IT, " Rettke explains.
“We grew from a very small arts organisation into this massive arts organisation that we have today,”
Tina Rettke“The customers have always been really important and we needed to meet that demand. Geelong is growing so we needed to grow to keep up with it. All of the shows that we have and the programs on offer - there’s really something for everyone.” After a whopping 44 years, Tina Rettke has officially bid farewell to Geelong Arts Centre in her employment capacity and is stepping into her next big role; retirement as a new grandmother.
“My daughter will be having her first child soon - a little girl and my first grandchild! I’m so excited and will very much be involved and there to support her. I’ve promised to be the gas whisperer,” she laughs.
The step away from the Geelong Arts Centre does not, however, mean a step away from the arts industry that she continues to be passionate about.
“I’ve been involved in Geelong Repertory Theatre Company for about 40 years as well. I’m a life member there and I’m on the committee but I used to do a lot of acting. I’ll most certainly be involved in my retirement.”
Her extensive stage CV spans more than four decades, beginning with Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (1982) at GPAC and moving through leading and ensemble roles across Geelong Repertory and Musical Comedy Company productions. Highlights include Christine Vole in Witness for the Prosecution, Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, Doris in Same Time Next Year, and Katherine in Taming of the Shrew, among others. Rettke won the Victorian Drama League Best Supporting Actress award in 2009 for her portrayal of Robin Starveling in The Popular Mechanicals and also Best Actress in a Drama for Maggie in Jake’s Women at the 2018 Geelong Theatre Awards.
She will also be returning to the Little Malop Street arts organisation and into the theatres, but this time she will be a ticketholder, able to enjoy the shows as a patron.
“I cannot wait to attend shows without the thought of work. I love attending shows now but it’s hard to leave work after a long day only to return again that evening. This will allow me to have the full visitor experience that we have prided ourselves on. With the incredible upcoming programming for the year, there are multiple shows that are on my radar.”
Her exit whilst both daunting and exciting has been cushioned ever so slightly by the Centre’s facelift and futureproofing, knowing that the centre is in great hands. In a sense her journey with the Geelong Arts Centre was mourned when the initial building, the one that she stepped foot in at 19 years of age, was reconstructed.
“It does feel surreal but it also feels like this organisation has gone on a journey as well. It’s a very different building to what it was and I worked in that building for so long and it’s really sad because when COVID hit and we walked out of that building, we didn’t realise we would never walk back into it again. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to the building or anything. In a way that has made it easier.”
As she prepares for that next stage, she reflects on her time at Geelong Arts Centre. It’s one that brings a massive smile to her face, joy radiating from her eyes and smile. “I’m so lucky - I’ve had a job that I love for 44 years that has never really felt like a job. It has felt like fun, and now I’m getting to play at Geelong Rep and play with grandchildren. I’m such a lucky person.”
