Becoming a career chameleon: what I learned from losing Cate Blanchett’s car keys
Kate Richardson argues becoming a career chameleon is now something to be proud of rather than embarrassed about, because in today’s ever-changing market, adaptability is the name of the game.
One of my first jobs was a junior marketing role at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre. If you don’t know Belvoir, it’s a remarkable company that occupies a little corner of the inner city, and has at one time or another been home to some of Australia’s finest creative talent.
Like most theatre companies, we ran on the smell of an oily rag and the energy of passionate, overly committed and occasionally crazy people.
When I wasn’t collating copy, or faxing weekly ads to the paper, I answered the company phone, took the mail, and stuffed invitations into envelopes. I often worked on the bar at night pouring red wine into lipstick stained glasses before ushering patrons to their seats. In the midst of rehearsals for The Seagull I could be found moving actors’ cars from one hour parking spots (unfortunately I lost Cate Blanchett’s only key to her vintage Morris Minor – luckily, she was very gracious about it). During The Alchemist, I raced up the road every day after work to get a grateful Geoffrey Rush’s nightly Vietnamese takeaway order.
