On Saturday 13th September the Victorian State Schools Spectacular (VSSS) will celebrate its 30th birthday with two performances at John Cain Arena. Simon K Patterson is the Creative Producer of the Victorian State Schools Spectacular. While Saturday will be a day of excitement, nerves and no doubt considerable tension for many of those involved, for Patterson it’s a surprisingly calm day.
Simon K Patterson first became involved with the VSSS not long after graduating from Event Management. Patterson had enrolled into the course in his mid twenties without any clear plan of where he wanted to work. On the first day of his Event Management course the class were asked what their dream event was and why were they doing this course. Patterson’s fellow classmates had goals of managing everything from music festivals to weddings. Patterson’s response was, “I’m just pretty open-minded. I’ll give anything a go.”
Patterson was invited to work on the VSSS and was given the task of looking after the mass choir and mass dance schools. In terms of logistics, it’s a very hectic part of the program.
“But it’s also, without doubt, one of the most rewarding parts of the project,” Patterson added.
The VSSS brings in students from all over the state, some of whom are just excited to be in Melbourne for the first time, let alone performing in the John Cain Arena.
On Saturday, Simon K Patterson will look down at the John Cain Arena and know that more than 12 months of preparation has come together for another truly spectacular event, involving nearly 3000 students across the cast and crew. It’s the huge scale of the event that he particularly enjoys. Patterson compares the process to working on a major musical. What a major musical would achieve with their rehearsals in four weeks, the VSSS stretches out over the course of six months, with cast members only rehearsing on Saturdays.
Patterson has been involved with the VSSS since 2008, the last ten years as the Creative Producer. It was during his second or third VSSS, when he was the Production Manager, that he came to a realisation, “My job, really, is to do myself out of a job on the show.”
Patterson was working with a group of year 10 students who would be working backstage on the day. In establishing their roles he explained that they need to be so well trained and organised that if he were to call them via their two way radio and ask them to bring him a chair, but they had something important to do in the show at that moment, they’d know to simply reply with, “No, Simon, I’m actually busy.”
The apparent calmness on the actual day is followed by a surprisingly hectic period for Patterson. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no time for a break once the VSSS has taken place.
“Ironically, October is really one of the busiest periods for me because that’s when I am frantically trying to get all of our team re-contracted and get our schedule all organized. It’s in November that we start having creative meetings and Neil Gladwin, our Creative Director, would be giving the draft of next year’s show to all the team.”
Preparation for the 2025 VSSS started in August last year and Patterson is already working on the VSSS for 2026! August is the start of the production planning process for the following year’s VSSS. A debrief is held following the event, then rehearsal schedules need to be written for the following year.
Every year thousands of Victorian state school students participate in the VSSS, but the core production team who work on the project year round is only six people. Various other people join the production team throughout the year as required to assist with auditions and callbacks, and in roles such as orchestral tutors, répétiteurs and music associates.
The theme for this year’s VSSS is ‘On Air’. There’s considerable brainstorming that goes into deciding the theme each year amongst the production team. It starts with a call out for song suggestions in June the previous year with cast members invited to propose songs. Song suggestions vary from pop to classical. Patterson says this keeps the song selection quite diverse each year. Creative Director Neil Gladwin proposes a theme for the production based on the students’ suggestions. Further discussions and brainstorming narrows down all the ideas to a theme of just two or three words. This year: On Air.
“I think this year is such a lovely play on words,” said Patterson, who explained people have interpreted the theme as being on tv or radio, while others consider it to be about flying through clouds and being in the wind.
Being involved with the VSSS for so many years, I asked Simon K Patterson how he comes up with fresh new ideas. While he said it’s important to always be pushing the creative boundaries of each year’s show, much of the strength comes from working with the students themselves. The creative team also stay involved with other projects throughout the year, as well as going to see other shows and events.
“You never know where that creative inspiration is going to come from!” he laughed.
On Saturday, the ideas for next year will already be starting amongst the team including Creative Director Neill Gladwin, Musical Director Chong Lim AM, Dance Director Yvette Lee, Creative Producer Simon K Patterson, Costume Designer Isaac Lummis, and Lighting Designer Paul Jackson: Conversations around particular songs or artists that have been suggested by students for next year, or the ability to source more than 1,200 certain costume items!
“We go into audition in mid-November. We do callbacks in February as soon as school goes back, and then we start rehearsals at the beginning of March. So it all gets rolling and is happening much earlier than people expect!”
2500 students will participate as Principal Vocalists, Principal Dancers, Backing Vocalists, Victorian State Schools Choir, a 75-piece orchestra, 1200 mass dance students and 1100 in the mass choir. Students will also be working backstage, with around 90 students involved in areas such as stage management, audio, lighting and video. There are further students working in hair and make up, costuming and other behind-the-scenes roles. Other students have been involved in the technical aspects of the show throughout the year, working with some of the industry’s best.
The numbers are quite staggering. Watching the VSSS on television, it seems like a slick production. Sitting in John Cain Arena and watching it live, without any editing, is even more amazing. Huge numbers of students move on and off the stage effortlessly. The whole production flows like a well-oiled machine. It truly is a spectacular event.
Even after all these years working with the VSSS, Simon K Patterson continues to be amazed by the incredible talent of the students. Some of those talented performers are coming from state schools that don’t even have an arts program – kids that have travelled hours on a bus from country Victoria that morning.
“I was never really an on-stage person, so, I’m just so jealous of people who can sing and dance and, you know, just put themselves together so flawlessly to put on this incredible show!”
What Simon K Patterson really loves are the lightbulb moments of realisation, which he says happens both on and off the stage, when these young people realise they’re found a place where they belong, they’re in the right place and they’ve found their people. These moments happen throughout the year and it’s that energy and enthusiasm that the students bring that also keep the creative team energised year after year.
“It’s such a rewarding process in that sense.”
VICTORIAN STATE SCHOOLS SPECTACULAR
CELEBRATING IT’S INCREDIBLE 30TH ANNIVERSARY!
‘ON AIR’
SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER – JOHN CAIN ARENA
1PM & 6.30PM PERFORMANCES
