Volunteer call to prop up show

By LOUISA CLEAVE

Three volunteers helping to prepare Aotea Square for Auckland New Year's Eve celebrations are hoping that their numbers will be bolstered in time to make it a night to remember.

The small but dedicated team is working alongside Warwick Broadhead to create props for Let it Out - Live it Up, a performance which is part of the 12-hour celebration First Night Auckland 2000, to be held at The Edge.

Broadhead, well-known for creating theatrical extravaganzas, has appealed for more helpers between now and the big day.

The team working behind the Aotea Centre is busy creating banners, costumes, a giant dragon/monster, a winged horse and a waterfall of cloth, which will spill from the centre's roof.

"We need help sewing costumes, glittering things and getting tassels on things," Broadhead said.

"The [monster] has its legs and the head is coming along, but it hasn't got a body yet.

"This is a community involvement event and at this stage we do need people in the community to come and help us."

The monster and winged horse are central characters in a symbolic ceremony which will see people rid themselves of the things they no longer want and make new wishes for the future.

People attending the carnival-style celebrations will be able to write down items they no longer want in their lives and burn the paper in an incinerator next to the monster.

Then their fresh wishes will be carried to the winged horse, "a figure of aspiration," which will stretch 5m across the front of the centre.

While the other council-financed event, This Is It, in the Auckland Domain, has a theatrical theme, First Night is the only free Auckland event which has a line-up of live rock bands to entertain revellers in an alcohol-free environment.

Henrietta Ford, who helped to select the band line-up, said that while the event was geared towards youth, the bands represented the Auckland music scene and were chosen to give an energetic show for all ages.

Many were emerging bands which had appeared in the Smokefree Rockquest, while other, more experienced artists such as Ma-V-Elle and Karen Hunter would also play.

"With the quality of bands we have I think it would be a shame if people over 25 felt it wasn't a place for them. It will be for all people," said Henrietta Ford, an entertainer who will also introduce the bands.

It is hoped First Night will mark the beginning of a regular New Year's Eve event at The Edge.