AussieTheatre welcomes new columnist, Rachel Cole

AussieTheatre is thrilled to welcome Rachel Cole to the writing team as she launches a brand new regular advice column – Stage Door Shrink.

Currently appearing in the smash hit musical WICKED as a swing and understudy for Nessa Rose, Cole will be putting her Psychology degree from Sydney University to great use in this fortnightly column on life within the Arts industry.

“We had a rule in my family that you had to go to Uni and get a ‘real job’- so I went to Sydney Uni because the boy I liked ‘Gorgeous Will’ went there. Two years later I found myself dating Gorgeous Will for a blissful 5 weeks, I also ended up 4 years later with a degree in Psychology”, Cole said.

After working in her ‘real job’ for 2 years, Cole eventually resigned and studied performance full time at Ed5 International in Sydney. However, her connection to (and fascination with) Psychology remained strong. Dressing room chatter with the women of WICKED sparked a need for further discussion into the best way to stay sane in a notoriously crazy industry and Cole – in conjunction with the team at AussieTheatre – has created Stage Door Shrink specifically for that purpose.

“I realised that lots of performers learn on the job how to be ‘good’ at life (relationships, money, agents, tax, emotionally), later than they’d like. They wish someone had told them on their first contract how to save money or how to sustain a long term relationship. No one teaches you that stuff, and there is no body of knowledge other than experience to get you there. The problem is that learning from a bad experience is painful. I am of the opinion that if you can learn from someone else’s mistakes without having to make them yourself, you’re a step ahead,” she said.

Stage Door Shrink will feature interviews with members of the arts industry to gain an insight into each column’s designated topic.

Readers of the fresh new “How To” advice column will gain some practical tips and insights about how best to approach various aspects of their lives as performers. Cole and her interview guests will look to tackle a variety of issues faced by arts industry professionals. “How to maximise your tax return”, “How to have a family and tour”, “How to not die on your first Asian tour” and “How to select good audition material” are just some of the feature pieces in the pipeline!

“Talking about serious things in a funny way is the best strategy. There are plenty of people who know more than me about each topic I’ll discuss, so I’ll gain the insight of an industry professional who excels in that particular area”, Cole said.

Read the first article in this series:

How to deal with knock backs: Rachel Cole with Chloe Dallimore

To contact Rachel or to suggest a topic for Stage Door Shrink, shoot her an email via our contact page or reach our on twitter @RachelAnnaCole