With a portfolio career spanning musical theatre, film and TV alongside her role with UNSW, Skye embraces hard work, creativity and adaptability.
Skye Beker joined UNSW as Events and Communications Assistant with the Centre for Ideas (CFI) before moving to the Music Performance Unit (MPU).
The team manages UNSW’s classical music ensembles, which include UNSW Orchestra, UNSW Wind Symphony, the 100-person Collegium Musicum Choir, the chamber choir Corde and the professional chamber ensemble Australia Ensemble UNSW.
Skye’s job, she says, is to help make it all run, with a focus on communications and events. It’s a role that’s proved perfect for the trained actor, whose background includes theatre, television and film.
Determination and adaptability on and off stage
Skye grew up in Wollongong before moving interstate to pursue training as an actor.
“It was always my goal to go to drama school. So, weeks after the HSC, I threw myself into auditioning for drama schools across the country and got into the one-year Musical Theatre Foundation course at VCA [Victorian College of the Arts].
“I was then accepted into the Bachelor of Arts Acting at WAAPA [Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts]. It was an intense three years, and it was exactly what I had hoped for,” she says.
“When I finished, I moved to Sydney and went into the grind of being an actor – auditions, day jobs, seeing shows, more auditions. I’ve done a lot of short films, spots on TV – you can see me on The Last Anniversary on Binge!”
Skye’s acting career has continued alongside her role with the MPU.
“I just shot a short film about people looking for connection, with a bit of magical realism thrown in. It’s wonderful. It’s an Australian production – Sunmax Productions – but part of the shoot was in Japan. We did three nights in Sydney and two nights in Japan, which was a dream come true.”
The film, Midnight Special, is currently in post-production and will be released to the festival circuit towards the end of the year.
Skye is also passionate about new Australian musical theatre.
“I’m involved in the development of a new musical written by Tomas Parrish and Ziggy Resnick, based around the French artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, who fought the Nazis with their art in Occupied Jersey during WWII. It’s such a profoundly beautiful show that I hope the Australian stage will get to see soon.”
Just before joining the CFI team, Skye performed in the musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.
“I was a swing in the Australian premiere at Darlinghurst Theatre Company, covering four characters. I’d get the call at 4pm. You can’t say no. I didn’t know I had the capability to do that, but it was the most fulfilling experience in my career to date.”
Skye brought that adaptability, determination and work ethic into her roles at UNSW.
“I think I’ve always been a bit of a workhorse, and that lends itself well to the theatre. I apply that everywhere.
“I love the culture at UNSW. Although working on events is very intense, there’s a really nice work-life balance that you don’t always get in the creative arts.
“I feel like I can make a contribution to the arts here at UNSW, which is really cool and exciting.”
Collaboration and connection in creativity
Skye says her favourite part of acting, whether it’s on stage, in musicals or on screen, is the collaborative nature of the work.
“That’s why I love theatre so much. Everyone’s working together to tell a story.”
Beyond her work as an actor and at UNSW, Skye enjoys cooking and knitting, a hobby she picked up at WAAPA.
“My maternal great grandmother taught me how to knit when I was eight, but the first garment I ever knitted was for a play at WAAPA. I was playing a character who lived on a farm, and I thought, ‘She'd knit her own jumper.’ So, I decided to knit my own cardigan, with a lot of help from my paternal grandmother.”
In the future Skye is interested in producing and is collaborating on potential future projects with her wife Shoshana – a teacher, writer and founder of a successful social media account offering a unique perspective on Jewish life. They’re currently developing a television show based around a Queer Jewish book club in Sydney.
“I really love women-focused media. I always have. I love romantic comedy, dramedy and coming-of-age stories.
“I grew up in the golden age of movies with young women at the forefront and that gave me so much confidence in myself and what I could do. I hope that we keep making things like that.”
What’s something about you that might surprise your colleagues?
We’re a close-knit team, so nothing comes to mind! I wish I could say it would surprise them that I’m messy, but my desk betrays me.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received?
To make sure I live my life as a person first and actor second. Acting is an all-consuming career, and you can easily lose yourself within it.
What makes you happy?
My wife. We’re still newlyweds, so I can’t believe I get to call her that!
What day in your life would you like to relive?
I had one swing on for Great Comet that I really felt I could have done better. I’d love to have another chance at that performance, to really do it justice.
What’s the best thing you've read in the last year?
The Safekeep by Yael van der Woden.
Main photo: Behind the scenes on Midnight Special | Sunmax Productions. Photographer: Hiromi Yoshioka.
- Log in to post comments