Macau’s live performance venues may be largely empty right now, but if Tomos Griffiths has his way they will soon be filled with world-class talent developed right on their very doorstep.
Tomos, until recently Executive Creative Director for Sands China, and wife Emma run Macau Glee Club – a company established in 2010 to provide high-level training and to prepare talent to work in the performing arts, not just in Macau but globally.
“Ultimately, the idea is that we train kids up and they’re able to move onto professional work either here in Macau or overseas,” explains Tomos, who since leaving Sands China in early July has been dedicating his time to Macau Glee Club via singing and acting classes. The school also offers a variety of dance and performance classes from some of the very best in the business.
“There will be jobs at Sands and places like The House of Dancing Water who have been told to diversify and hire locally, so we’ve discovered a bit of a gap in the market and certainly when it comes to training for performing arts in Macau.
“There are 60 live venues here in Macau and right now they are all empty but at some point we’ll hopefully be able to fill them back up with some home-grown local talent.”
Originally from Sydney, Australia, Tomos brings a wealth of experience to the stage, having worked with the Australian Opera, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Chinese National Symphony Orchestra, and appearing on London’s famed West End in the musical Chess. He was also understudy in none other than Phantom of the Opera.
In 2007, he and Emma – herself a highly-acclaimed director, producer and choreographer who has worked with some of the world’s biggest names in music and theatre – recognized Macau’s upward trajectory in the IR entertainment space and made the move.
“We just wanted to be a part of it, so we moved the family over here, set up our own company and a few months into that got a phone call from Venetian saying ‘We need someone to come in and bring together all of our departments’,” Tomos recalls.
“They wanted to set up an internal production company where we could make all of our costumes, produce all of our own content, so I did that for Venetian – set up the Creative Development Department that is still running today.”
Now, with his focus firmly fixed on Macau Glee Club, Tomos and Emma see an opportunity to transform Macau into a global center for the development of performance talent in the same way it leads the way for gaming and hospitality.
“It’s a great time for Macau artists – all of the associations are screaming out for artists to do events and gigs,” Tomos explains. They’re being asked to provide content for events because Macau hasn’t really stopped, it’s just that no one is allowed in. It’s a great time to develop new content, get some ideas together and train up.
“At the moment we’re really just trying to expand, get more students in. We’re really trying to get the local kids in so I’m talking to a lot of local entertainment companies and doing some collaborations with them.
“The idea is that we can elevate them from Glee Club into professional work either in Macau or around the world, and we’re doing that already. There are kids who have been in Glee for the past 10 years that are now making that move, including a guy who is performing in an event for us in China right now.
“So that’s the idea, to develop people and give them a path through into the performing arts.”
Macau Glee Club’s first term of the 2021 season begins with classes starting next week. Visit www.macaugleeclub.com for more information.
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