Name: Jessie Rasmussen
Venue: SunPAC
Title: General Manager
Q: How long have you been at SunPAC?
A: I started at SunPAC as the Business Development Manager in June 2016 and was promoted to General Manager in December 2017 – and I have loved every second of it.
Q: How big is your team and venue?
A: SunPAC is a state-of-the-art theatre that was opened in October 2016. It seats 300 people in a theatre setting or 200 in a sit-down table setting. SunPAC also has undercover and secure outdoor car parking for more than 100 cars. We recently had our first wedding at the venue and we had 250 guests and the bride and groom were absolutely ecstatic with the service and location. We have five full-time staff and about three part-time staff.
Q: Why did you choose a career in the performing arts venue sector?
A: I grew up in Bundaberg – a regional Queensland town so going to the theatre for me was a really big deal because we only had a community-based theatre and I just loved the artistic side of it, the feeling and the experience and the magic of the whole thing. The theatre was really a big part of the community – and I decided at high school that I wanted a career behind the curtain and working on the creation and management of the shows.
Q: What makes Sunnybank special?
A: Without a doubt and in one word – multiculturalism. Sunnybank is an amazing little hot spot of mixed cultures and backgrounds. There is a very strong Asian community in Sunnybank but there are also lots of Indian and Korean people in the area, which is sensational because we are always theming, our theatre and foyer for varying cultural events and performances. For example in the past month we hosted Peking Duk for their rehearsals, an Asian pop concert, a
50-piece orchestra and a Maori Mormon’s wedding.
Q: What is your first performing arts memory?
A: I recall I was about 10 or 11-years-old going to the only theatre in Bundaberg, the Bundaberg Players and I saw a pantomime and was totally captivated by the whole experience.
Q: What was the last show you saw?
A: I went to an amazingly cool show called Beware Of Boys that was held in a big beautiful family home in Graceville and the show was spectacular. The audience was sat in the living room in a sunken lounge.
Q: What do you do when you aren’t working?
A: I go to a lot of external industry events outside of working hours but in my downtime I am with my two-year-old dog Eddie and fiancée Christian who works away in Sydney during the week so our weekends are spent going to breakfasts and taking Eddie for walks and to the dog park.
