PROJECT
First Serve
CLIENT
Tennis Australia
ROLE
Creative Direction
Environmental Graphics
Script + Content
Set + Stage Design
Video + Motion
Every year, Tennis Australia invites their partners and VIP guests to the exclusive ‘First Serve’ event, for a preview at what’s to come at the Australian Open. We wanted to create an unforgettable experience that was so much more than just Powerpoints and pulled pork sliders.
In two short weeks, we transformed the Glasshouse in Melbourne’s Olympic Park into a multi-path journey—with environmental graphics, stage and set design, lighting and screen content, and a cast of actors and ambassadors—to create a unique show for guests and amp up anticipation for the AO.
We showcased the best of the Australian Open’s hospitality offering, festival precinct and entertainment lineup with an immersive, 360° live theatre experience — which I scripted, designed and directed — putting the audience right at the centre of the show.
We guided guests through balloon tunnels — and back in time to when they were kids — into a candy-coloured wonderland and inflatable zoo, before launching the AO Kids Ballpark concept for them in an immersive underwater cinema.
Finally, a few special guests performed a show-stopping musical number, setting the stage for an incredible 2019 Australian Open. Our client said we ‘aced it’.
This experience was created with the incredible team at Neonormal