INSIDE AUCKLAND LIVE 

Find out more about life inside Auckland Live with regular nuggets of information and fun facts about our people, venues, shows, and live arts and entertainment.

My Auckland Live happy place

For Auckland Live and Auckland Conventions, Venues & Events director, Robbie Macrae, the stage door at the Aotea Centre is a place that brings together all that excites him about the arts and perfectly captures the essence and spirit of the organisation.

“Auckland Live is all about connecting artists and audiences, and to me, the stage door is that connection point,” says Robbie.

“It’s a portal through which artists walk in off the street and enter a new realm, emerging on stages on the other side, transformed.

 “I’ve seen some big names go through this door – Sir Ian McKellen, Kiri Te Kanawa and Sylvie Guillem to name a few - and every time something magical has happened. They’ve entered as a person, then reappeared on the stage on the other side, a star.

“Sometimes they’ll come to the stage door after a performance to chat with fans and sign autographs; other times they’ll simply exit the door and disappear into the night.

 “That’s the beauty and mystery of the performing arts; equal parts dreams, reality and magic.”