Full Circle: South Australia's Newest Musical Theatre Company Brings Talent Home

South Australia's fledgling musical theatre scene is set to get a boost with the launch of its first-ever professional music theatre company, Full Circle. The company is determined to stem the tide of talented performers leaving the state to pursue their dreams on the east coast.

For years, aspiring musical theatre performers have been forced to relocate to cities like Melbourne to find work, a trend that has resulted in a significant brain drain for the state's arts community. However, with the formation of Full Circle, that trend may be about to reverse.

Jo Casson, a veteran of the arts, was instrumental in bringing Full Circle to life. She says the state has been crying out for a professional musical theatre company. "I just decided it's now or never, no-one's getting any younger," she said. "I discovered in the middle of last year that every other major city has a professional local theatre company and Adelaide didn't."

The company's choreographer, Zoe Komazec-Kermond, is a returning expat who has performed in hit shows like Cats, Matilda, and Mary Poppins. She believes that Full Circle will provide a much-needed platform for talented performers to stay and work in South Australia. "There is so much talent in South Australia, so much talent and we do sometimes feel like we have to go away in order to achieve what we want to achieve," she said.

Full Circle's debut production will be the musical Catch Me If You Can, which will premiere at the Futures Theatre in Paradise from November 5-7. The show has attracted a talented cast, including 21-year-old Joey Haenen, who landed the lead role of Frank Abagnale Jr despite not being able to attend auditions in person. "What I love is just being able to get little bits of Joey in each of the characters every time and that's such a great joy," Haenen said.

The company's plans are ambitious, with a goal to stage two musicals a year for the next two years, before increasing to three productions annually. While acknowledging the challenges facing the live theatre industry, Casson is confident that Full Circle can succeed. "Take a little show out into the regional areas if we can, but we won't be going beyond South Australia, it's designed to be a local professional theatre company," she said.

With the support of philanthropist Pamela Wall AO, Full Circle is seeking to make a lasting impact on the state's arts scene. As one of the company's ensemble members, Jazz Garcia, said: "The dance call was extremely strenuous, I'd say that was one of the longest kind of dance audition processes I've ever been in."

Komazec-Kermond added: "There's so much buzz in Adelaide at the moment around Full Circle, so it's really up to us to produce the very best version of this show that we can."