When Jarrad West got off the bus to start his new job, the Canberra Theatre Centre largely looked like it does today.

“It was the same but different – there was still construction bollards and tape and fences all around what we now know as The Link,” he says.

“It was kind of just being finished and the bar and everything was being installed and everyone was saying how wonderful it was. And then, of course, we had a massive hailstorm and the place flooded and everyone was like, well, that construction didn’t work.”

That was 2006. The construction material will be returning to the centre soon as the ACT Government starts a major revamp that it’s hoped will attract the big shows we currently miss out on.

There’ll be a new 2000-seat lyric theatre, an expansion of the studio theatre and more hospitality offerings.

But when today’s building opened for the first time on 24 June, 1965, it was ahead of its time. The Canberra Theatre Centre was Australia’s very first dedicated performing arts centre.

Hundreds of guests turned out to watch the Australian Ballet mark the occasion with an inaugural gala performance in the then-new 1200-seat theatre.

Over the years since, more than 10 million people have visited the centre and its three venues of the Canberra Theatre, The Playhouse and The Courtyard Studio.

Last week, artists, staff and others were invited for a 60th birthday party – complete with a cake cutting – and the Australian Ballet returned for a performance of George Bizet’s Carmen opera.

Among the guests was one of their oldest staff members.

“I didn’t realise I would become one of the oldest staff members – it just sort of creeps up on you,” Jarrad says.

Cultural Facilities Corporation CEO Gordon Ramsay, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Canberra Theatre Centre director Alex Budd and dancers. Photo: Canberra Theatre Centre.

Jarrad grew up in Perth, where he had worked as a performing artist and director for a local theatre company. He came to Canberra in 2006 to “try something new” and never looked back.

He started in the programming team, managing venue bookings and then worked his way up to front-of-house manager, looking after ushers and is now a regular member of the Box Office team.

“When I started in front of house, there were staff members who had been ushers at the theatre since they were 18 years old, and now they’re 50 or 60 or nearing retirement age,” he says.

“Canberra is such a transient town. I think that’s the thing I noticed – people always change.”

Jarrad West working at the Box Office at the Canberra Theatre Centre. Photo: Canberra Theatre Centre.

Jarrad has worked under at least three theatre centre directors in his time and many more program directors. What’s kept him there so long?

“A lack of ambition,” he laughs.

The real reason, he adds, is his own theatre company Everyman Theatre, founded in 2008 and which has put on shows in the The Courtyard Studio many times over the years.

“The theatre centre was also an easy job for me because of the flexibility of working casually for the public service and with people who are involved in the arts, it means I’ve been able to easily continue my arts practice outside of work.”

Jarrad West started working at the Canberra Theatre Centre in 2006. Photo: ACT Hub.

Of the millions of performances and events held in Jarrad’s time, the one that stands out to him the most was when Carrie Fisher (yes, of Princess Leia fame) toured her show in Canberra.

“It’s such a random one because no-one came to see it, even when it was Carrie Fisher,” he says.

“Now in the age of social media and with all the reverence we give raconteurs and that sort of thing, it would be a hit, but at the time, I remember that they struggled to get sales for it.”

The audiences have certainly continued growing in size, which Jarrad agrees a new and bigger theatre will only help.

“The biggest struggle we’ve always had was the size of the theatre,” he says.

“We’re starting to get this burgeoning bigger shows coming through and they’re too big for us but too small for the AIS, so where is the middle ground? So I think the new theatre is a good thing – and any additional venues in this place is always helpful for the local community.”

Will Jarrad be there to see it?

“I’m still here until someone tells me otherwise, yeah.”