At first glance, the parallels between producing a musical and developing a mine seem tenuous.
At first glance, the parallels between producing a musical and developing a mine seem tenuous.
But the journey taken by Perth accountant and business consultant, Bernie Eastman, to promote his theatrical productions would be familiar to many in the resources sector.
From pulling together the raw materials, finding backers to keep the project alive, and then seeking joint venture partners to make it all come true, the general lines of this story could have been written by dozens of mining entrepreneurs.
Even the dreams of a huge pay-off at the end, with the possibility of a decades-long royalty stream if the result is a hit, seems like a tale being told in a West Perth boardroom.
Mr Eastman has become quite well known among the Perth business community for his development of Nostradamus, in theatre musical and stage concert versions.
Like his mining brethren, he’s held on to a dream and been glad of any opportunity to promote his venture.
Lately, Mr Eastman has followed a trail well worn by mining promoters, to London, also home to the West End, an icon in the theatre world.
And he’s confident his work is starting to pay off.
Mr Eastman said visiting the theatre capital had resulted in some discussions with producers in the hope of securing co-production with a theatre heavyweight.
“We met a whole lot of industry leaders,” he said.
“We strutted our stuff.”
Mr Eastman has been pushing the theatre company for more than five years but said the recent flurry activity came with prompting from investor Alan Nelson, the former commercial director of South Spur Rail Services, which sold to Coote Industrial Ltd in March last year.
Nostradamus is one of three musicals owned by Mr Eastman’s Eastman Group Ltd, which has about 40 investors on its register and spent around $750,000 developing and promoting its wares.
While Mr Eastman is keen for a West End debut for Nostradamus, one of the company’s other productions, The Last Maharajah, has found a co-producer and will start in a theatre off the West End in June.
Mr Eastman said this had provided the company with more credibility when it was in London late last year promoting Nostradamus, a story about the 16th century seer whose most successful work Les Propheties is one of the world’s greatest selling books.
Mr Eastman believes that long-term publishing success makes Nostradamus a household word and will help him create a business that does have one big difference from mining, citing the 150-year life of works by Gilbert & Sullivan as support.
“Your mine will run out before your musical will,” he said
