Creative schoolboy destined to shine in entertainment world
I think I was always aware of being creative at school in Sydney because that manifested itself in my being in school productions from a very young age.
I remember as a youngster being the baby bear in Goldilocks and the Three Bears, only we had Smarties to eat instead of porridge. By the time I'd reached the age of 12, I'd opened in the chorus of Oklahoma! and it went on from there.
Ironically, though, school at that time in Australia wasn't really geared to the likes of me.
In those days, children were encouraged to be involved in sport although I think it's fair to say a lot of that has since changed.
My family had emigrated to Australia from the UK in 1970, when I was about five. Dad was a civil engineer and heading for a country which was on the cusp of what was to become a big building boom.
It was, naturally, a massive step for my parents. They had three kids aged under five and a fourth on the way but they had decided to try out a new life and in fact it was 18 years before they ever returned to the UK again.
We left the UK as immigrants on GBP20 (HK$220) tickets, sailing on an ocean liner that hit a cyclone.
One minute you saw the sky, the next the sea.
On ship, we went to school where we were introduced to the Australian way of life by singing Waltzing Matilda.
It was in primary school that a teacher noticed I had a voice and I went on Singing and Listening, a radio programme produced by the education department of what's now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
My music teacher was Mrs Day. I've bumped into her since and she was thrilled that I'd pursued my dream in the entertainment world.
Overall, I'd say I was an average student who felt stifled by school and I'd try to get out of doing sports by doing rehearsals.
I was also a goody two shoes and probably a late bloomer - I didn't have my first kiss until I was about 16.
It was also in my teens that I took private singing classes and then went on to turn my parents' garage into a theatre.
I'd commandeered some old drapes of my mother's for the stage curtains and some lights from our swimming pool for the stage lighting.
Then I roped in the neighbourhood kids for rehearsals and it was a great deal of fun.
I think it was then that I knew I was destined to be a producer and an organiser.
Initially, I thought I wanted to go into television production and I did go along to a TV station at the age of 16 on work experience.
It was only when I arrived there that I found I was bored out of my tree sitting in a studio one day and then on another perched in front of a bank of screens monitoring the television signal.
So I ended up setting up a theatre and education company in studios at the bottom of Mum and Dad's garden.
In fact, running my own company is something I've done for more than 20 years since leaving school.
It's an exciting job in that I get to go out and visit toy stores and see what kind of things kids are into.
I also test out, for example, productions in the Middle East.
The 75-minute Easter show we have lined up for Hong Kong is The Little Big Club Live in Concert.
It's a new meeting place for some of children's favourite characters such as Barney, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina and Pingu.
It's the world premiere in Hong Kong and a lot of the songs they're singing are well known.
There's also the Little Big Club band which features four young rock stars ready to get the audience on their feet dancing.
As a result, I think the secret to the show is that it combines being educational with a broad range of characters that'll appeal to most kids.
Nick Larkin is the founder, executive producer and chief dreamer of Millennium Entertainment International. The Little Big Club Live In Concert runs at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium from April 10-13. He was talking to David Phair.
