Who is Tom?
Tom Lambert knows theatre and the arts. He knows it is a vital part of our social fabric and knows that without it, we can not grow as a society.
Being brought up in an arts focused family in Geelong, he was exposed to the performing arts and fell in love with it. After training with Robin Lee and Peter Dickinson, Tom was accepted in to the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School, where he completed VCE and later completed a Bachelor of Dance at VCA. Once graduated, he became a member of the Australia/New Zealand touring cast of Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol. He then turned his head towards Arts Management. This has seen him in such roles as Assistant Company Manager/Administrator for The Production Company (2008-2012), Assistant Company Manager on Boy From Oz (2011), Volunteer Manager/Ticketing Manager and Administrator for Midsumma Festival (2008-2012), Assistant Stage Manager for Jubilation for Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (2012), and most recently Theatre Operations at Alex Theatre St Kilda.
His strong work ethic and positive attitude in the work place means people feel happy and at ease to do their job.
Four decades of VCA Dance artists and where they are now – Read More
It All Began When...
Tom just could not stop playing in the dress up box.
There were so many exciting costumes to try on and plays to be created that he would spend hours making up plays and characters. This happened so much that his Kinder teacher Ruth, a beautiful soul who would end up being in Tom’s life for many more years and watch his graduation dance season for his dance degree, banned him from the dress up box. While the memory of this is too faint now, this story reminds Tom that a career in the arts was always on the cards.
In Depth
In year 11, tom sustained an injury that caused him to stop full time dance training for 6 months. The head of dance at VCASS suggested Tom find another career, just in case he could never dance again and was offered the chance to be Assistant Stage Manager on the end of year dance season. Tom loved it and started to spend more time with the production staff where he learnt the various roles in the different departments that make up a theatrical piece and by the time he graduated from VCASS he was being employed by VCA to do production work on various seasons in the dance and drama schools. This continued throughout his undergraduate training and gave him a deeper understanding and respect of what it takes to put on a performance. Post university, he was employed as a member of the ensemble of Topol in Fiddler on the Roof (TML Enterprises). When the tour downsized and his character was cut (for one leg of the tour) he took up administrative work in the office where he learnt the basics of arts administration. Once the tour ended, Tom decided to think more seriously about a career in administration. Under the guidance of Adam Lowe (Adam Lowe Group), Tom was able to advance his skills and take on more and more different roles for various clients. From time to time he would work for TML Enterprises as well as Adam Lowe Group, and in 2013 was offered Deputy Company Manager of the Australian tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This tour lead to employment on the Australian tour of The King and I.
Once the tour of The King and I ended, Tom took a summer job as Swing ASM on Grease (GFO) and was delighted to be once again scurrying around backstage setting and resetting props.
An opportunity then presented itself that Tom could not refuse and became the man to oversee Theatre Operations of Alex Theatre St Kilda, a new theatre venue redeveloped from a cinema complex. Tom used his knowledge of the arts industry as well as all the skills he picked up on the way to help create one of Australia’s newest arts venues.
Upon leaving Alex Theatre St Kilda, Tom moved into events and worked on White Night in Victoria, coordinating operations for the various iterations including Melbourne, Regionals and the three-day White Night Reimagined. He also provided access and inclusion as well as operations support to Vivid Sydney with his role Access and Inclusion Coordinator, a department of one for a festival attended by over 2 million.