Stages With Peter Eyers

In this Vale episode of the STAGES podcast, we remember Arts Historian - Frank van Straten, who passed away in April. Frank was the inaugural archivist at the Performing Arts Museum (now Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne) and later its founding Director. Renowned as a theatre historian of supreme knowledge, Frank was the author of many publications which celebrated theatres, artists, practitioners and productions. His historical perspectives of plays and musicals were a regular feature of programs for commercial producers. Between 1986 and 2001, he researched and presented ABC Local Radio’s Nostalgia segment, broadcast on Melbourne’s 774 and the ABC Victorian Regional Network. He was the Historical Consultant for Graeme Murphy’s ‘dance musical’ Tivoli, performed by the Sydney Dance Company, and given his tremendous knowledge, he frequently accepted invitations to contribute information to considerable books, speeches, biographies, performance and exhibitions.  In recognition of hi