Ararat’s Jacob Gibson works behind the scenes of Billy Elliot

An Ararat school became the birthplace of a career in musical theatre for Jacob Gibson, who is now working on one of Melbourne’s biggest shows.

BILLY Elliot – the musical and movie – is about an 11-year-old boy in a country village who discovers a love of dance and defies his background to become a ballet star.

There’s probably a Billy Elliot in every rural town; that kid who goes against the odds, avoids the conventional path, and through sheer determination fulfils their aspirations.

In Ararat, in western Victoria, Jacob Gibson had a touch of the Billy Elliots.

For Jacob, it wasn’t dance but the theatre that saw him farewell the town of his boyhood to go on to acclaim.

He now works behind the scenes of Billy Elliot the Musical in Melbourne, as deputy company manager.

“It’s rare for someone in country Victoria to consider theatre, for sure,” Jacob says.

“I was the dark horse of the family because they weren’t theatrical, but sport-oriented. Like some kids growing up I felt like I didn’t fit in because I didn’t play sport and wasn’t in the cool crowd.

“I tried Auskick and then basketball but when the coach said I had to run laps of the oval, I moved on from that.”

Country start: Jacob Gibson is deputy company manager of Billy Elliot in Melbourne. Picture: Jim Lee Photo

Jacob says it was only thanks to his school, Marian College, offering drama as a subject that he even considered it as a job. As a 16-year-old, he became stage manager in the college’s performance of West Side Story and then Jekyll and Hyde.

“It was my drama teacher who suggested I should think about stage management as a career,” said Jacob, who left school in 2010.

“I’ve always been grateful for that. If it wasn’t for my teacher saying this is something I could do, I wouldn’t be where I am.

“I was never going to be an actor, I didn’t have the talent for it, but because I’m an organised person, I was attracted to the nature of backstage management.”

And that’s precisely what Jacob did, going on to study it at the Victorian College of the Arts.

He says it was through “hard work, sheer persistence and nagging people” that he was able to get a foot in the door in a very tough industry, writing endless emails to producers for internships.

He hit the jackpot when he gained an internship in the musical King Kong and since then has had a stellar career.

Jacob has toured China with Phantom of the Opera, worked with Tina Arena in Evita, Bert Newton in The Rocky Horror Show and even been cast co-ordinator on the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

“It was such a massive scale, co-ordinating 2000 volunteers, but my skills managing people were easily transferable, just on a larger scale,” he said.

“This kind of job can be feast and famine — when a production ends and you don’t have another job it can be stressful.

“But something else always comes up.”

As deputy company manager of Billy Elliot the Musical since last year – when the show opened in Sydney – Jacob’s role includes day-to-day management of the company, especially helping manage the child cast, all 21 of them, aged eight to 13.

The children have a manager of their own, Erin Brooks, but Jacob helps oversee their tough routines.

Little stars: Billy Elliot the Musical cast members Jamie Rogers, River Mardesic, Omar Abiad, Wade Neilsen.

“That cliche of not working with children or animals is completely untrue. The children in this show are incredible. The character of Billy barely leaves the stage and has so many songs, dances and dialogue to remember.

“Outside performance he then has ballet classes, acrobat lessons and all the children attend school. A teacher tours with us and there’s a classroom inside the theatre.”

The musical’s score is written by Elton John and Jacob admits to being “a little” starstruck when he met the great performer in Sydney last year.

He admits one of the downsides of the job is not having a home base, living out of a suitcase all the time.

Now based in Melbourne – until April 9 when the show finishes – he gets back to Ararat as often as possible.

“It’s a cliche, but I just love the clean country air, away from the city, just to escape, it’s so beautiful there.”

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Jacob was drawn to theatre for its magic, and he says that is yet to fade. He still gets goosebumps when a production begins, on opening night and “even just seeing the audience’s reaction”.

“When you lose that sense of magic, it’s time to move on.

“I still think oh wow, how lucky am I to have this job.”

● billyelliotthemusical.com.au