STAGES with Peter Eyers

One of Australia's most respected actors, Nadine Garner's career has spanned film, television and theatre for more than 30 years. Nadine recently performed on stage in the Melbourne Theatre Company's The Almighty Sometimes and Belvoir's production of Tell Me I'm Here to rave reviews. Her recent screen credits include the ABC crime drama series Savage River and Scott Major's debut feature film Darklands which premiered on Stan. Nadine's other television credits include the Network 10/Channel 5 (UK) series Lie With Me, the Stan original series Bloom, My Life Is Murder and Mr Black for Network 10, The Blake Mysteries: Ghost Stories Telemovie for the Seven Network, ABC's The Doctor Blake Mysteries, the Seven Network drama City Homicide, ABC comedy It's A Date, Blue Water High, The Henderson Kids, G.P, The Flying Doctors, Boys From The Bush, and RAW FM for which she was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama. Nadine's feature film credits include Ben Hackworth's debut feature Celeste which premiered at the 2018 Melbourne International Film Festival, Ana Kokkinos' The Book Of Revelation, Darren Ashton's Razzle Dazzle and Amanda Jane's The Wedding Party, which earned her a New York City International Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1988, Nadine received an AFI Award for Best Actress for her role in Mull and in 1995, she received a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actress and an AFI Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in Metal Skin. Nadine has worked for many of Australia's theatre companies performing both contemporary and classical pieces including The Lifespan of a Fact which earned her a Green Room Award Nomination for Outstanding Performance , Emerald City (co-production with QT), Photograph 51, Di and Viv and Rose, The Distance, The Weir, Private Lives, The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard for MTC; A Little Night Music for Watch This National Theatre; Zebra! and Life After George for STC; Miss Julie for Perth Theatre Company; Romeo & Juliet and Taming of the Shrew for The Australian Shakespeare Company. She starred in Sam Mendes' production of Cabaret and received a Helpmann Award and Green Room Award for her performance as Fraulein Kost. In 2011, Nadine wrote and directed the short film Afterglow which was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Screenplay. Nadine returns to the Musical stage in July for William Finn's Elegies, being presented at 45 Downstairs in Melbourne. In August she is in Sydney making her Opera House debut in a unique presentation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Warwick Fyfe is an Australian opera singer, considered to be one of Australia's leading exponents of the Wagnerian repertoire and is the recipient of Helpmann and Green Room awards.Warwick has performed throughout Australasia and internationally. Most recently, he has sung the rôles of Wotan / Wanderer (MO, OMM and Alberich, OA). Other Wagner rôles include Heerrufer (OA); Beckmesser (OA); Klingsor (OA); Hunding (WASO); Dutchman (OA), Daland (VO); Wolfram (OA); Fasolt (SOSA).Other major work encompasses Amonasro (Aida-FNO, OA); Pizarro (Fidelio-MO, OA,WASO); Athanaël (Thaïs-FNO); Peter (Hansel and Gretel- OA),OMM); Four Villains (Tales of Hoffmann-ETO); Falstaff (OA); Rigoletto (OA, NZO); Sancho Panza (Don Quichotte- OA); Paolo (Simon Boccanegra- OA); Leporello (NZO) (OA); Fra Melitone (Forza del Destino- OA); Scarpia (WAO, OA); Tonio (I Pagliacci- NZO); Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier- OA); Schaunard (La Boheme- OA); Dr Schon /Jack the Ripper (Lulu- OA); Germont (La Traviata- OA); Mandryka (Arabella-OA). Warwick has delighted audiences in comedic rôles, such as Bottom (Midsummer Night's Dream, Adelaide Festival); Barone di Trombonok (Viaggio a Rheims - OA); Geronio (Il Turco in Italia- OA); Dr Bartolo (Barber of Seville- WAO) (VOC); Pooh Bah (OA); Taddeo (Italian Girl in Algiers- NZO); Papageno (OA).Concert work includes: Gurrelieder, (SSO); Carmina Burana (MSO, QSO, Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus); Beethoven 9 (MSO), (Orchestra Wellington); The Bells, WASO; Stabat Mater (Rossini, SSO); Viva Verdi (TYO); St Matthew Passion, St John Passion (Melbourne Bach Choir); Bluebeard's Castle (Monash Academy Orchestra); Mahler 8 (OMM); Stabat Mater (Szymanowski), (Melbourne Bach Choir); Ein Deutsches Requiem (OA), (Melbourne Bach Choir); Messiah (State Symphony Orchestras).Warwick performs the role of Scarpia in Puccini's TOSCA from July 31st to August 16th, for Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Edward Dick trained as a theatre director with Cheek by Jowl, and has directed acclaimed theatre and opera productions across the UK and abroad. Edward's first short film, An Act of Love, starring Stephen Mangan and Gina McKee, premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2010 and has played at festivals around the world. His second short That Woman was also successful on the festival circuit and led to his first project for television, A Little Cracker for Hillbilly / Sky 1. In 2016 he was invited to take part in the BBC's continuing drama training scheme, which has seen him direct multiple episodes of BBC One dramas Holby City and Doctors, receiving an RTS nomination for outstanding new talent for his work on the latter.  He is a member of BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew 2021 and was recently named by the BBC as one of its ‘broadcasting stars of the future.'In 2020 he took part in the Directors UK High End Drama training programme on Silent Witness, directing 2nd Unit and working across all aspects of the production on multiple blocks and on the development of the 25th anniversary series. He is presently in Australia directing an acclaimed production of Giacomo Puccini's TOSCA. The production recently played the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne and soon takes to the stage in the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House.In this acclaimed, five-star production from Opera North, director Edward Dick writes the tension large upon the stage.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

The annual TONY Awards ceremony celebrates the best and brightest of the Broadway season. And I'm delighted that one of our favourite performers, who has graced the great white way, is the STAGES guest for our TONY episode.Caroline O'Connor is one of the foremost interpreters of musical theatre in the world. Projects have taken her from Sydney to Paris to London and the bright lights of Broadway in a vast array of leading roles, that are coveted by musical theatre performers at their peak.At 17 she won a scholarship to the prestigious Royal Ballet School in London. The discipline and routine of such classes instilled in her a fierce work ethic that allows her characterisations to be delivered with boundless energy, masterful timing, consummate skill and infinite joy.Her career continues to reward her with great stories, mesmerising performances and a loyal audience. She commenced the year returning to Jerry Herman's Mack & Mabel, this time in the role of Lotte, in a fully staged concert season in Los Angeles. In May she played with the State Theatre Company and State Opera of South Australia in Leonard Bernstein's Candide and in November joins the Lido 2 Company in Paris for a 60th anniversary production of Hello, Dolly! In the eponymous role of Dolly Levi.These performances indicate a versatility that demands an appreciation of style and technical dexterity. Confirming she's one of the best!Caroline returns to the STAGES podcast for a long overdue catch-up and to shed light onto her forays on the Broadway stage, in this annual STAGES celebration of the TONY Awards.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Neil Armfield AO is a leading Australian director of theatre, opera and film. Alongside Rachel Healy, Neil was Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival between 2017 and 2022. Prior to that, Neil was the inaugural Artistic Director of Belvoir St Theatre, which he also co-founded, for 17 years.   As Artistic Director of Belvoir, and for other companies, Neil has directed well over 100 productions, with a focus on new and Indigenous writing, Shakespeare, David Hare and Patrick White.  Some highlights include; The Tempest, Hamlet, Up the Road, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Keating!, Toy Symphony, Dallas Winmar's Aliwa, Angels in America, A Cheery Soul, Signal Driver, The Blind Giant is Dancing and Things I KnowTo Be True. Neil's production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman opened in late 2023 to glowing reviews. Produced by GWB Entertainment and Red Line Productions at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, it starred Anthony LaPaglia and Alison Whyte. After the success of the Melbourne season, the play will be presented at the Theatre Royal Sydney in May/June 2024.   In 2022, Neil directed the world premiere of the oratorio Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan by Joseph Twist at the Adelaide Festival, and Glyndebourne Festival's production of Brett Dean's Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Neil directed the same production of Hamlet at Munich's Bayerische Staatsoper in July 2023. For the 2021 Adelaide Festival, Neil directed the Australian premiere of A German Life by Christopher Hampton, starring Robyn Nevin, as well as Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Festival Theatre. Later that year he directed an acclaimed production of Rameau's comic masterpiece Platée for Pinchgut Opera. In addition to his extensive work in Australia, many of Neil's productions have played internationally. These include Cloudstreet (toured to London, Dublin, Zurich, New York), The Diary of a Madman (with Geoffrey Rush, toured to Moscow, St Petersburg, New York), Exit The King (Broadway), The Book of Everything (toured to New York), The Judas Kiss (toured Australia with Bille Brown, London, New York and Toronto with Rupert Everett), The Secret River (adapted by Andrew Bovell, toured to Edinburgh Festival and London) and the world premiere of David Hare's I'm Not Running for National Theatre in London. Neil frequently collaborates with major opera companies, having directed productions at The Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera, Zurich Opera, Bregenz Festival, Washington National Opera, Opera Australia, Pinchgut, Canadian Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. In addition to classics by Mozart, Britten and Wagner, Neil directed the premieres of Frankie and The Eighth Wonder by Alan John, Whitsunday by Brian Howard, Love Burns by Graeme Koehne and Bliss and Hamlet by Brett Dean. For screen, Neil directed and co-wrote the feature film Candy, starring Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish, which screened at over twenty international films festivals including In Competition at the Berlinale. Neil was awarded Best Adapted Screenplay at the AFI Awards and an AWGIE for Best Screenplay. Neil's second feature film Holding the Man premiered at Sydney Film Festival in 2015. For television, Neil directed miniseries Edens Lost for ABC (AFI Award Best Director and Best Mini-Series), The Fisherman's Wake (by Andrew Bovell), which won an ATOM Award for Best Original TV Production, and Coral Island (by Nick Enright). Over his distinguished career, Neil has received 2 AFI Awards, 12 Helpmann Awards and several Sydney Theatre, Victorian Green Room and Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Awards. He holds Honorary Doctorates from Adelaide, Sydney and NSW Universities, and in 2007 was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts.

Genevieve Lemon has appeared in many premiere Australian productions in a 40-plus year career including Steaming, Steel Magnolias, Seventeen, Miracle City, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Billy Elliot, which she also played in London's West End.Other performances include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Death of a Salesman, Summer Rain, The Venetian Twins, Summer of the 17th Doll and North by Northwest. Screen performances include Sweetie, The Piano, Top of the Lake and The Power of the Dog (among others with Jane Campion); Ticket to Paradise, Colin from Accounts, Prisoner, Here Out West, The Dressmaker, Suburban Mayhem, Rake, The Tourist, Acute Misfortune, Population 11 and the upcoming feature film Runt. Awards include Helpmann, Green Room and Sydney Theatre Critics awards for Best Actress in a Musical for Billy Elliot and Best Actress in a Feature Film from the Sydney Film Critics' Circle for Sweetie.Genevieve Lemon returns to the musical theatre stage as the Mother Superior in Sister Act which opens at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in August and the Regent Theatre Melbourne in November.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Genevieve Lemon has appeared in many premiere Australian productions in a 40-plus year career including Steaming, Steel Magnolias, Seventeen, Miracle City, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Billy Elliot, which she also played in London's West End.Other performances include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Death of a Salesman, Summer Rain, The Venetian Twins, Summer of the 17th Doll and North by Northwest. Screen performances include Sweetie, The Piano, Top of the Lake and The Power of the Dog (among others with Jane Campion); Ticket to Paradise, Colin from Accounts, Prisoner, Here Out West, The Dressmaker, Suburban Mayhem, Rake, The Tourist, Acute Misfortune, Population 11 and the upcoming feature film Runt. Awards include Helpmann, Green Room and Sydney Theatre Critics awards for Best Actress in a Musical for Billy Elliot and Best Actress in a Feature Film from the Sydney Film Critics' Circle for Sweetie.Genevieve Lemon returns to the musical theatre stage as the Mother Superior in Sister Act which opens at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in August and the Regent Theatre Melbourne in November.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Dillie Keane is one-third of iconic Cabaret trio Fascinating Aida. She is presently in Australia for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, where alongside her partners in song, Liza Pulman and Adèle Anderson, Fascinating Aida will present a 40th anniversary show. Since their first performance together in 1983, the trio have racked-up millions of internet followers, performed in the world's most prestigious venues and have been showered with awards and plaudits galore. Proving they're still in their glorious prime, these mistresses of their craft ring in this four-decade milestone with their trademark diamond-sharp satire, lyrical wit and belligerent sass.  The bare bones of Dillie's life are these. Born Portsmouth 1952. Father a GP. Three much older, very nice siblings who have done nothing but grace the name of Keane and distinguish themselves in every way. Family despaired of Dillie ever conforming.  Educated at Portsmouth High School (very happy) and then at successive Convents of the Sacred Heart (first Hove, where she was miserable but learned remedial curtseying and sang all the time, then Woldingham where she was utterly and completely miserable and still sang all the time). “She'll come to no good, that girl!” opined one of the nuns as her parents took her away after she was expelled.  Safely at university, she drank and shagged and partied like a girl released from a convent and became a leading light of the drama society and ended her first year being elected Miss Elegance, hahaha! After three years of this divinely crazed existence, her mortal frame nearly gave out. A spell in hospital exposed her complete unfitness for the life of a musicologist. As her parents took her away – she was too ill to take her Part 2 and couldn't face doing 5 years of a 4 year degree – her Professor suggested that a career in Stage Management might suit.  Finally, she took control of her life. A spell as secretary to the Deputy MD of a leading advertising firm in London gave her financial independence, and she secretly auditioned for LAMDA. The day she got her acceptance letter was the best day of her life. Having flunked out of university, her parents were reluctant to fork out for 3 more years of further education, so she wrote to anyone she could think of who might help. Eventually, the fabled Jim Slater of Slater Walker stepped in with a scholarship and paid her tuition fees. Her defeated parents agreed to give her £100 per term towards living costs, and she was able to accept her place on the course.  Those three years were a thrilling ride. LAMDA was everything she hoped for and more, though trying to keep body and soul together was wonderfully crazy. She had a stall in the Portobello Road every Saturday, where she and a friend sold handmade shopping bags, aprons and second-hand clothes they'd collected from friends and strangers. She temped in the evenings and throughout the holidays, became an artist's model, did bar work, biked everywhere in London and hitched everywhere else. She also played piano in various hotels, nightclubs and restaurants, and looking back she thinks she must have cut an odd figure with her homemade clothes and Cole Porter songs. Two summer months in Sweden playing piano in a Stockholm nightclub hardened her for the life to come.  Acting jobs followed. Then the songs started popping out. And with the acting jobs, new friends who also sang and were willing to sing her songs. And with all that came the gigs and the birth of Fascinating Aïda.  The Adelaide Festival Centre presents FASCINATING AÏDA - THE 40th ANNIVERSARY SHOW! Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Friday June 7th, Saturday June 8th and Sunday June 9th. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Extensive experience throughout Australia in theatre, film, radio and television, over several decades, established Robert van Mackelenberg as one of our leading actors.Studying in New Zealand, Robert's journey through the theatre was as a stage manager first but he soon found his true place was in assuming the great roles in classical and contemporary theatre.He has worked with many companies throughout Australia and New Zealand in over 150 productions, including leading roles in such modern classics as The Elephant Man, Amadeus, Equus, Chinchilla, Long Day's Journey into Night, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, and Break of Noon.His formidable list of leading roles in the great classics of world theatre include Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, The Country Wife, The Recruiting Officer, and Romeo and Juliet.Modern Australian classics include Emerald City, Sons of Cain, Away, and The Man from Muckinupin. The list of musicals to his credit include Hello Dolly, Pal Joey, Company, Cole, and Happy End.Television and film work includes Carson's Law, Cop Shop and Haydaze.It is a career that has gifted much anecdote and wisdom. These are elements that will enthral in this compelling episode of the STAGES podcast.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

The STAGES podcast is now in its Seventh year. Over that time we've garnered a vast number of insightful and glorious conversations with a broad range of artists.Some of these have recorded fascinating histories with the elders from various disciplines - theatre, dance, opera, musical theatre, television - the list goes on.We've also been able to record reflection and story from various younger talents, commencing careers in an industry that can often be precarious.One of the delightful opportunities in entering our seventh season is catching up again with some of those emerging creatives and performers …. A re-cord record STAGES intends to pursue in coming seasons.This could be considered STAGES ‘7-up' series of discussions. A unique chance to check in with young artists at 5 -year intervals perhaps?In 2019, STAGES recorded with Lighting Designer and Director, Alexander Berlage. He was in rehearsal for the musical - AMERICAN PSYCHO. We also spoke to Music Theatre performer Todd Jacobsson, who was about to commence a tour of West Side Story, playing the iconic role of Tony.And of course, in 2019, we had no idea that a pandemic was looming - set to strangle the Globe.So how have these artists navigated the past 5 years? What was the impact of Covid for THEM? Has anything changed. Where have the respective careers of Alex and Todd taken them? What are they doing now?It was my great privilege to catch up with these artists again, and record a new instalment of their creative journey. Enjoy this ‘5-UP' episode of the STAGES podcast! The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages). www.stagespodcast.com.au

As one of our finest actors, Keith Robinson carved a career on stages around the country. As a  wit and treasured talisman, he kept us informed and in stitches with his regular postings on social media.Keith's repertoire of characters included the great clowns of Shakespeare. He was admired for his tremendous physicality in realising these endearing fools and jesters …. and for his dependability in affecting an audience.As a member of the ensemble at Belvoir Theatre, he contributed to the success of milestone productions such as Hamlet, The Tempest, The Alchemist, Night On Bald Mountain and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Keith's extensive theatre credits also included the Dickensian epic Nicholas Nickleby with the Sydney Theatre Company ……  and ventures into musical theatre with the premiere Australian production of Les Miserables. As performer and playwright -  Keith co-authored (with Tony Taylor) the silly, comic romp The Popular Mechanicals - a fond valentine to the determined amateur acting troupe of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2006 his life upon the boards looked like being snatched away when he was diagnosed with a neurological condition, called Guillain-Barre syndrome. His personal expression as an actor became compromised with limited mobility and the necessity of a wheelchair. But Keith was a determined thespian …. and in 2016 he returned to the Belvoir stage as a wise and moving Feste …. in a production of Twelfth Night. As well as a phenomenal talent, Keith was immensely entertaining and terrific company. Passionate, funny and tremendously informed, Keith traversed an eventful life on and off the stage. His legacy of compelling screen performances are fortunately preserved in television productions such as the anthology series Summer Love, season 2 of The Twelve and in a much discussed TVC for Australia post, where we may still be able to find him at various point of sale.This conversation, recorded for the STAGES podcast, took place in May 2021 when Keith was preparing to play Leonid Gayev in The Cherry Orchard at the Belvoir street theatre. It was to be the final time we would see Keith light up a stage. I hope this return episode brings you some comfort - and joy - relishing in Keith's wonderful anecdote, insightful wisdom - and that enormous laugh that instantly embraced it's listener.Vale Keith Robinson - you will be greatly missed. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Entertainer Doug Lucas has been delighting audiences around the country for several decades as a comic, a creative and much loved drag performer. Chiefly his performance stage has been found in various Melbourne venues. Doug is a pioneer of these establishments, commencing Melbourne's first gay disco in 1975 and the legendary show evening, Pokeys, in 1977. “It was only going to be a little Sunday night show but it grew and grew”, Lucas recalls. “We started without any sets or props, then started doing little simple sets”. As its popularity grew, those simple sets became increasingly elaborate, as did the costumes and staging. “We used to do a massive, massive show. They were the biggest drag shows Melbourne has seen.” Doug has been performing and running events ever since. Most recently with the very popular Broadside entertainments.He is a legend of the Melbourne scene and a most charismatic fellow. You'll quickly discover in this terrific conversation with the fabulous Doug Lucas.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Iain Sinclair is one of Australia's finest, award winning theatre directors specialising in new writing and contemporary international work. Iain established the critically acclaimed theatre company Elbow Theatre in Canberra, where he received four Critics Circle Awards. He received a Sydney Theatre Award for his production of The Seed by Kate Mulvaney and is also an AWGIE Award nominated director. He has directed a number of highly praised main stage productions in Sydney including Our Town  by Thornton Wilder for The Sydney Theatre Company, which was described as “a triumph”. His production of Arthur Miller's, All my Sons was described as “A rock solid production of a play that makes you shake your head in wonderment”.  Iain has also directed for The Melbourne Theatre Company, The Ensemble, The Queensland Theatre Company, Belvoir and Sport for Jove with celebrated productions of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? By Edward Albee, The Caretaker by Harold Pinter, A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller, Mojo by Jez Butterworth, Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca (translation by Sinclair), The Beast by Eddie Perfect, A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare and Berlin by Joanna Murray Smith. Iain graduated with distinction from the RADA Masters Program and Kings College, London. He is the associate artist and resident dramaturge for Playwriting Australia and has been assistant director to Cate Blanchett and Max Stafford Clark. Iain was invited by Max Stafford Clark to tour the UK as a member of his company “Out of Joint” teaching principles of new play making and Max Stafford Clark's legendary process based on actioning. Iain continues his work as a dramaturge and has worked with the following companies; ASK Los Angeles, New Dramatists New York, The Traverse Scotland, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Court and The National Theatre England.Iain Sinclair is presently the Head of Acting at 16th Street Actors Studio in Melbourne, where he nurtures a new generation of actors and continues to practice and refine his magnificent craft.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Tim Draxl is an actor and singer with a career spanning more than two decades.Most recently he was seen in the SBS anthology television series Erotic Stories, for which he has received an AACTA Nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama series, and the lead role in ABC's four-part musical drama In Our Blood, for which he has received both an AACTA Nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series and TV WEEK Logie Award Nomination for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.On stage, Tim was most recently seen in Belvoir's Into The Woods as ‘Cinderella's Prince/ Wolf' and in the role of ‘Steve Healy' for the first overseas tour of Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill produced by GWB. Other theatre credits include critically acclaimed Only Heaven Knows, Catch Me If You Can and Evie May (all for Hayes Theatre), Torch Song Trilogy (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Lip Service, Mothers and Sons (Ensemble Theatre), Freeway – The Chet Baker Journey (Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Festival, Brisbane Festival), Nailed (Griffin Theatre Company), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Belvoir), The Sound Of Music (GFO) and She Loves Me (The Production Company).Other television credits include anthology series Summer Love and critically acclaimed The Newsreader both for the ABC, hit series A Place to Call Home as series regular Henry Fox (FOXTEL), the Molly Meldrum telemovie Molly, the critically acclaimed series Serangoon Road, Reef Break, Mrs Biggs, Home & Away, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Crownies, Day One, Tangle, Headland, Supernova, Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure and The Shark Net.Tim's film work includes action film Blacklight alongside Liam Neeson, Guardians of the Tomb, directed by Kimble Rendall, A Few Best Men, Undocumented, Ivory, In My Sleep, Red Canyon, Right Here Right Now, Travelling Light, Swimming Upstream, and Dirty Deeds.He received his first TV WEEK Logie Award Nomination for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 2005 for The Shark Net and an ASTRA Award Nomination (later renamed The AACTA Awards) for Most Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy for Supernova (2006). His one man show Tim Draxl in Concert was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Live Music Presentation in 2002 and has received several Sydney Theatre Award nominations for his cabaret and theatre shows winning the award for best cabaret production with Back For Seconds in 2006.He has released four solo albums. ‘Ordinary Miracles' and ‘Insongniac' for Sony Music Australia under the Columbia label, the independently released ‘Tim Draxl Live at the Supper Club' and ‘My Funny Valentine' released through Ambition Entertainment/EMI which reached number 1 on the iTunes jazz charts.Tim can currently be seen on Australian stages playing the role of Jodie Gillis opposite Sarah Brightman's Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard. This will be the musical theatre event of the year. Don't miss this strictly limited season at Melbourne's Princess Theatre from May, and at the Sydney Opera House from August, 2024.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Happy Anniversary to the original Australian company of The Rocky Horror Show - the production opened at the New Art Cinema, Glebe on April 19th, 1974. This outrageous musical has a book, musical and lyrics by Richard O'Brien, and is a  tribute to the B-grade Science Fiction and Horror films of the 1930s to early 60s. It's premiere production was produced and directed by the brilliant Australian creative Jim Sharman, upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre on 19th June, 1973.The iconic Australian production was produced by the legendary impresario Harry M. Miller and directed by the brilliant Jim Sharman.A veritable who's who of actors filled the roles throughout its first Australian productions. The musical continued to host extraordinary talents in the flamboyant roles through the decades since, and the show has morphed through different production approaches to realise the camp tale of Dr Frank N. Furter and the disturbed, disruptive and decadent inhabitants of his isolated castle.The show awakens a sexuality and excitement in each new generation that witnesses the stage production, or the iconic film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: also directed by Jim Sharman and designed by celebrated Australian designer, Brian Thomson.The STAGES podcast featured Brian Thomson in a thrilling double episode. We've also been honoured to traverse the careers of many of the original Australian production's sensational cast, which include Maureen Elkner, Reg Livermore, Sal Sharah, and Kate Fitzpatrick.In this very special episode of the STAGES podcast, we recall the experiences of those artists in that very first Rocky Horror Show, and salute a musical that has become an intrinsic part of that theatrical form.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Vivid Sydney is an annual celebration of creativity, innovation and technology, which transforms Sydney for 23 days and nights.  In 2024, for its 14th year, Vivid Sydney will fuse art, innovation and technology in collaboration with some of the most boundary-pushing artists, musicians, thinkers and culinary experts of our time. Mark the dates 24 May – 15 June 2024 in your calendar and explore the program of Light, Music, Ideas and Food, united by this year's artistic direction, "Vivid Sydney, Humanity”. Vivid Sydney 2024 explores what makes us human and how we can make a better world, together. Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW Government's tourism and major events agency. At the helm of this creative fusion and imagination is Artistic Director, Gill Minervini.For over 35 years Gill has produced some of Australia's most engaging and successful international events and festivals, creating unforgettable, immersive experiences for diverse audiences. In her time at VIVID, the annual festival has celebrated International recognition and relished record-breaking audience numbers.A mantra which she shares with her production teams is that they are ‘in the business of creating memories'.  We can all recall the first time we shared in the palpable experience of a creative event or festival. Such experiences are an immersion with community, art, humanity and the theatre of life. Essential experiences that feed into the human condition.Gill Minervini is passionate about her job and communicating stories. It's obvious in this conversation. She provides insight, reflection and passion for the craft of making big art, telling stories with a broad palette, and what it takes to curate a magical experience like VIVID Sydney.This episode of the STAGES podcast is dedicated to the inaugural Creative Director of VIVID Sydney; Ignatius Jones (1957-2024)The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

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 his services to the performing arts in Australia, Frank van Straten was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1999. Frank's passion for our performing heritage was palpable. With an ability to talk at length on any subject to do with the performing arts in Australia he was the perfect guest for the podcast.I'm so grateful he agreed to a conversation for the STAGES podcast. He was a gentleman of the theatre who I much admired. We recorded this conversation for Series One of the podcast in 2018.Like everyone, I am deeply saddened by the passing of dear Frank. What a cultural institution he became as a custodian of our history, his endless anecdote, and his tireless support of creatives and artists.Born in London in 1936, today (May 14th) would have been Frank's 88th birthday.Vale Frank van Straten - A champion of the Performing Arts in Australia.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

John-Michael Howson worked as a journalist, starting in Mildura, Victoria, before moving to print and radio in Melbourne where he began writing comedy sketches and songs for revue clubs, theatres and television. After several years working in the UK and Europe he returned to Australia and created, wrote and performed in two of Australia's most beloved children's shows the multi-award winning The Magic Circle Club and Adventure Island. He also adapted the international stage hits Irene, No, No, Nanette and Norman Is That You? for Australian productions.  John-Michael also wrote the hit 1970's musical Razza Ma Tazz at a time when it was difficult to get locally written musicals produced. He has also written several successful children's theatre productions including adapting Disney's Pinnochio.  For many years he wrote for, and appeared on, a score of variety shows which led to becoming a popular team member of one of Australia's legendary shows The Mike Walsh Show where he first met and worked with producer David Mitchell (a co-writer of SHOUT! and Dusty). John-Michael travelled the world covering international stories from The Academy Awards, Emmys, Tonys, world premieres and royal weddings. In 1989 he moved to Los Angeles to report on the entertainment industry for Australian print, radio and TV including Midday with Ray Martin and GMA with Bert Newton. He also appeared on a number of US television and radio shows. John-Michael was a regular on The Joan Rivers Show and The Gordon Elliott Show, appeared on LA based talk shows and also had small parts in comedy shows like The Tracey Ullmann Show. He also filed news reports for SKY UK and other international news programs. He wrote the best selling mystery novellas Once Upon a Nightmare and Deadly Dreams. After seventeen years he returned to live in Melbourne where he was heard on radio shows around the country and starred on the top rating political commentary show Sunday Morning on 3AW.  John-Michael has co-written SHOUT! and Dusty – the Original Pop Diva (with David Mitchell and Mel Morrow), Pyjamas in Paradise (with Peter Pinne), Dream Lover -The Bobby Darin Story (with Frank Howson) and More Sex Please, We're Seniors. In 2025, his new musical based on the lives of the Andrews Sisters will open in the U.S.A. John-Michael was awarded an OAM in 2009 for services to writing and children's television. He is proudly a patron of a number of organisations involved in the arts and charity. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Stephanie Beacham is without a doubt one of Britain's most talented, beautiful and well-known actresses. Despite becoming world famous and an icon of the 1980s due to her role as Sable Colby in the American soap operas Dynasty and The Colbys and going on to have starring roles in shows such as Sister Kate, Seaquest DSV, Beverly Hills 90210, and Bad Girls, Stephanie Beacham had already carved a solid acting career back in her home country. Born in Hertfordshire in southern England, one of the four children of an insurance executive and a housewife, Beacham began an interest in acting at a young age and studied mime at the respected and renowned school of Étienne Decroux in Paris before completing her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Guest roles on British television followed in the late 1960s such as The Saint and UFO, however Beacham's breakthrough was her starring role opposite Marlon Brando in the cult horror film The Nightcomers that brought her critical acclaim and widespread attention. She became a regular staple in British horror films for the remainder of the 1970s and early 1980s such as Dracula A.D. 1972, House of Mortal Sin, Schizo and Inseminoid, however she was still a commonly seen face on television, such as being given her own soap opera in Marked Personal as well as regular modelling work. It was in the 1980s however that Beacham's career became supercharged. She had starring roles in the acclaimed television series Tenko and Connie, the latter gaining particular interest in the US.Beacham moved to Hollywood in the mid-1980s and was given the role of Sable Colby in the ABC soap opera The Colbys, and then joined it's parent show Dynasty where she remained until the show's cancellation. Both shows made Beacham a household name on both sides of the Atlantic as the glamour-puss wife of Charlton Heston's character Jason and cousin of Joan Collins' Alexis, with the two regularly involved in a 'battle of the bitches' scenario. Following the cancellation of Dynasty, Beacham headlined the sitcom Sister Kate for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, before going on to have main roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 as Iris McKay, Steven Spielberg's Seaquest DSV as Dr. Kristen Westphalen and Countess Bartholomew in Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as film roles opposite Christopher Plummer in Secrets and Anthony Hopkins in To Be The Best. Beacham maintained a regular presence on television and in theatre both in the US and the UK for the remainder of the 1990s until she played Phyllida Oswyn in the prison series Bad Girls, a role she would play until the show's end in 2006. She would later have parts in films such as Love and Other Disasters, Moving Target and Wild Oats and played Martha Fraser in Coronation Street.Her theatre credits are extensive and include roles in the West End and on Broadway. Most recently she completed UK tours as Judith Bliss in Hay Fever and Maria Callas in Masterclass. It is the role of Mrs Cheveley in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband in 1998 that brought her to Australia and it is this production which reunites us both after a couple of decades to reminisce and catch up.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Since graduating from WAAPA in 2006, Lucy Maunder has cemented her reputation as one of Australia's musical theatre leading ladies performing in a huge range of roles over the last 17 years.Most recently she appeared as Winifred Banks in the critically acclaimed Cameron Mackintosh/Michael Cassel Group/Disney revival of Mary Poppins. Prior to this Lucy starred in Victorian Opera's production of Kurt Weill's anti-capitalist musical Happy End as Lillian Holiday. The start of 2022 also saw her play the protagonist Alison Bechdel in the acclaimed MTC/STC Australian premiere production of Fun Home (Green Room and Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Performer in a Leading Role in a musical). In between seasons of Fun Home, Lucy reprised her role of Mrs Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Crossroads Live) for which she received a Helpmann Award nomination.Following the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic to the Arts, Lucy was lucky enough to appear in the first main stage commercial musical to return after the shutdown of all theatre as Catherine in Pippin for Crossroads Live. Her other recent career highlights include Cynthia in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Michael Cassel Group, Green Room Award nomination), Miss Honey in Matilda: The Musical (Louise Withers/RSC, Helpmann Award nomination), The Spirit of Christmas (QPAC), There's Something About Music (The Little Red Company), Heather Chandler in Heathers (ShowWork Productions), Patty in Tim Finn's Ladies in Black (QTC/MTC), Rizzo in Grease (GFO, Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award nominations), Cinderella in Into the Woods (Victorian Opera, Helpmann and Green Room Award nominations), Georgia Hendricks in Curtains (The Production Company), Gertrude Lawrence in Noël and Gertie (CDP Theatre Producers, Glug Award for Best Actress in a Musical), Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera (STC/Malthouse/Victorian Opera), Janet in The Rocky Horror Show (TML Enterprises), Emma in Jekyll & Hyde (TML Enterprises) and Anne in A Little Night Music (Opera Australia). Lucy also created the role of Lara in the world première of Doctor Zhivago opposite Anthony Warlow (GFO, Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award nominations).Lucy's film credits include The Eternity Man (Channel 4 UK/ABC) and the lead role in the short film Identical, amongst other commercial and television appearances including the National Anthem at the State of Origin, The Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols (Channel 9) and appearances on The Morning Show (Channel 7) and Today Extra (Channel 9).Lucy's one-woman show Irving Berlin: Songs in the Key of Black toured Australia to rave reviews at venues such as the prestigious Spiegeltent, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, His Majesty's Theatre Perth and La Salon at Claire's Kitchen. Her album featuring arrangements and musical direction by Daniel Edmonds is available across all streaming platforms.Lucy is over the moon to be starring as Roxie in Chicago, a true bucket list moment.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Lucy Durack is one of Australia's most well-known leading ladies with major roles to her credit including Glinda in Wicked, Sophie in The Letdown (Netflix/ABC), Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical, Roxy in Sisters (Netflix), Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (for which she won a Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award), Audra in A Perfect Pairing (Netflix), Chantelle “Tugger” Waugh in Doctor Doctor (Nine) and most recently Mrs Lilicroft/Mrs Madrina in the World Premiere of Midnight the Musical.Further highlights include playing Katie Halloway in Now Add Honey (Gristmill/Netflix), Michelle in Upper Middle Bogan (ABC/Netflix), Rose Walker on Neighbours (Ten Peach), Sarah in Touching the Void (MTC), Glinda in The Wizard of Oz (GFO), Sybil Chase in Private Lives (MTC), as The Cactus on The Masked Singer (Ten), a judge on Australia's Got Talent (Seven) and as the voice of Daisy Quokka's Mum in animated feature film Daisy Quokka: World's Scariest Animal.Lucy won the Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for Legally Blonde; Best Screen Play Asia Web Award for Lift; and the AACTA Award for Best Online Drama or Comedy Series for Love In Lockdown. She is currently developing television series with Gristmill and Jungle, and is the proud co-founder and co-director of evidence-based health and wellness tech company and CSIRO tested app Hey Lemonade, for which she is a finalist in this year's Australian Women's Small Business Champion Awards.Through May and June she will be playing the role of Cecily Pigeon in Neil Simon's classic comedy - The Odd Couple.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Robyn Arthur is one of Australia's leading theatre performers who soon celebrates 50 years working in the Industry. Robyn toured with Jonathan Church's Singin' in the Rain and Jonathan Biggins' Australia Day for Hit Productions and Mother & Son with Noeline Brown for McLaren House. In 2013, she toured Australia in Elizabeth Coleman's play It's My Party (And I'll Die If I Want To!) with Henri Szeps for Hit Productions and appeared in the Production Company's Singin' in the Rain directed by Gary Young at the State Theatre. In 2011, she starred again alongside Todd McKenney in the hit revival of The Boy From Oz having also appeared in the original cast. Robyn played Mrs Potts in the Aria Award winning Australian premiere season of Beauty and the Beast with Hugh Jackman and will be long remembered for her performance as Madame Thenardier (Victorian Green Room Award) in the original cast of Les Miserables directed in Australia by Trevor Nunn. Robyn clocked up almost 1,300 performances in the role. In 2007, she was nominated for a Helpmann Award for her performance in the Australian premiere of Sideshow Alley (Keelan/Young) for QPAC. Robyn's other theatre highlights include Stuart Maunder's production of My Fair Lady (Opera Australia); Minefield's and Miniskirts by Terence O'Connell (Malthouse), Gale Edwards' production of Sweeney Todd (Opera Queensland); Stephen Sondheim's Company directed by the late Richard Wherrett and Michael Gow's classic Away for the Sydney Theatre Company. Television credits include The Newsreader, Rosehaven, Five Bedrooms, Sisters, Woodley, Twentysomething, Laid 2, The Librarians, City Homicide, Very Small Business, Kath and Kim, Blue Heelers, MDA, Neighbours, and the US production, Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Robyn also appeared in Charlotte's Web with Dakota Fanning for Paramount Pictures and the Tropfest short film Hoarder Control directed by Nichola Colla. Robyn's been a proud member of Actors Equity since 1975 and serves on the Victorian Actors Benevolent Trust (VABT).The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Amy Lehpamer is currently starring in the hit pop musical & Juliet as Anne Hathaway.Amy earned nation-wide critical acclaim playing Maria in The Sound of Music, receiving the 2015 Sydney Theatre Award for best Actress in a Musical, as well as Helpmann and Glug award nominations. She was Helpmann nominated in 2017 for her portrayal of pop and soul icon Dusty Springfield in the Australian hit musical Dusty for The Production Company. Amy played lyricist and hit-maker Cynthia Weil in the Australian premiere cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and was awarded the 2018 Helpmann for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for the role.From 2018-2020, Amy toured Australia, NZ and China as Rosalie Mullins, the uptight school Principal with a Rock 'n Roll soul in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of School of Rock.  She played Mrs Webb in Queensland Theatre's revival of the pulitzer prize winning classic, Our Town and Mrs Walker in the Australian Premiere of The Who's Tommy for the Victorian Opera. Her skill as a violinist and performer were highlighted in her role of Reza in Once for the Gordon Frost Organisation and Melbourne Theatre Company.  This, and her big haired, starry eyed Sherrie in Rock of Ages saw her receive Helpmann nominations. She has twice played Christine Colgate in the musical adaptation of the hit comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in her first ever leading role for Melbourne's The Production Company.Other notable roles for Amy include Tracy Lord in High Society for the Hayes Theatre, the iconic Janet Weiss in Rocky Horror for GFO/ATG. Amy created the title role of Margaret Fulton in the new Australian musical Margaret Fulton: Queen of the Dessert (Theatreworks) and was part of the original cast of Eddie Perfect's Shane Warne - The Musical, as well as the 2014 production for Adelaide Cabaret Festival and Hamer Hall, featuring on the cast recording.Additional theatre credits include: The Threepenny Opera (Malthouse and Victorian Opera); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Songs for a New World (Doorstep Ensemble); Young Phyllis in Follies (The Production Company).Amy is the co-creator and star of the musical comedy webseries Donnatelegrams, produced by the ABC and Screen Australia, and now viewable on YouTube. On screen, Amy also holds credits in prime time television shows: Get Krack!n', Utopia. The Time of Our Lives, Winners and Losers, House Husbands, and the HBO mini-series The Pacific.  She has performed disco classics alongside Kate Ceberano and Paulini with the Adelaide and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. And she's sung The Best of Rodgers and Hammerstein alongside Simon Gleeson with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.  The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Damien Ryan is managing director and artistic director of Sport for Jove Theatre Company, now in its twelfth year, where he has directed more than 30 productions, written and developed three new works and adapted over a dozen plays.  The company has a comprehensive education program developed by Damien, and works with tens of thousands of Australian students annually at secondary and tertiary levels. Damien has worked extensively with Shakespeare, performing in or directing over 70 productions in Australia and overseas, and has worked as actor, director and writer across Australia's major companies including STC, MTC, Bell Shakespeare, Belvoir, Sydney Festival, Canberra Theatre Centre, Brisbane Festival and Queensland Theatre, and in the independent sector in Sydney.  Recent directing credits include, Venus & Adonis (a feature film), Romeo & Juliet, The Crucible, The Father, Hamlet, Henry V, Henry IV Parts 1&2, Romeo & Juliet, Rose Riot, Merchant of Venice, Antigone, Antony and Cleopatra, The River at the End of the Road, Cyrano de Bergerac, No End of Blame, Othello, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Away, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Loves Labour's Lost, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Crucible, A Midsummer Night's Dream, All's Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, The Libertine, Look Back in Anger. Acting credits include Venus & Adonis, Othello, Romeo & Juliet, Life of Galileo, Twelfth Night, Nora; As You Like It, Antony and Cleopatra, Richard 3, Comedy of Errors, Hamlet; Crime and Punishment, Under Milk Wood; Mother Courage, Isolde and Tristan, Hamlet and King Lear.  Damien has two award-winning play adaptations (Antigone and Cyrano de Bergerac) published with Currency Press. From May 1st to June 1st, Sport for Jove's production of ISOLDE and TRISTAN plays the Old Fitz theatre in Sydney - and it is directed by today's featured guest - Damien Ryan. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

One of Australia's most highly regarded leading actors, Daniel MacPherson has most recently been seen starring as Sam Levine in Russell Crowe's feature Poker Face and as fan favourite Hugo Krast in Apple TV+'s sci-fi behemoth Foundation opposite Jared Harris. Daniel will next be seen in the anticipated US action feature Land of Bad, reuniting with Russell Crowe and alongside Liam Hemsworth. In 2023 he starred in the theatre production 2:22 A Ghost Story, receiving critical acclaim in the role of Ben.Daniel's other feature film credits include Disney's A Wrinkle in Time directed by Ava DuVernay, Shane Abbess' Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child and INFINI, the lead in the US independent feature Generational Sins and Simon Wincer's The Cup. Recently starring as Sgt Samuel Wyatt in the latest seasons of the HBO/Cinemax action series Strike Back, Daniel's other international credits include the Fox hi-tech crime series APB, the MTV fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles and ITV/UKTV's The Bill. Closer to home Daniel has starred in Wild Boys, Bad Mothers, City Homicide and Neighbours. On stage, Daniel alternated the roles of Jesus and Judas in the musical Godspell directed by Scott Schwartz, which played in London and the UK, and starred opposite Edward Woodward in The Mysteries at London's Canterbury Cathedral. In 2013, Daniel was part of the all-star Australian cast of 8 The Play.One of Australia's most experienced live television presenters, Daniel has hosted seven series of Dancing With The Stars as well as the first season of X-Factor Australia, and in 2017 Daniel hosted the International AACTA Awards in Los Angeles for Foxtel. Recipient of the TV Week Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent in 1999, Daniel has since twice been nominated for the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor, as well as Best Newcomer at the British National Television Awards. In 2008, GQ Magazine named Daniel as Australia's Most Popular Television Personality.Daniel's other passions include horses, music and fitness. He is a six-time Ironman Triathlon finisher and has represented Australia at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. He has run multiple endurance events to raise money and awareness for charities such as World Vision, Reclink, Charity: Water, and The Indigenous Marathon Project, for which he is an Ambassador.Daniel soon embarks, with John Waters, on a National tour of the stage thriller and tale of terror, The Woman in Black. The season kicks off in Toowoomba, opening on April 27th.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Jodie Gillies commenced her dynamic career in 1983, following her graduation from the Nepean College in Sydney. In the same year she was cast as one of Major Stanley's daughters in the iconic Victorian State Opera's production and consequent tour of The Pirates of Penzance. She then appeared in Camelot with Richard Harris; followed by the role of Marta in Stephen Sondheim's Company and Vikki Fowler in King of Country, both for the Sydney Theatre Company. In October 1985 Jodie won the inaugural Australian Contemporary Singing Competition at the Sydney Opera House. Jodie starred in Australia Day Live, the Network Ten Bicentennial extravaganza. Jodie then went on to begin the first of three musical engagements at the Theatre Royal in Sydney, all of which would include the honour of creating her roles in the Premiere Australian seasons, these being Les Miserables, Chess and Aspects of Love.  Firstly she played Eponine in the amazing original Australian production of Les Miserables and her performance as the waifish Eponine won her wide acclaim as did her ensuing role as Aldonza in The Man of La Mancha. Jodie has also appeared in cabaret at Kinsela's in It's One for the Money and Two for the Show displaying her comedy and mimicry. Jodie then went on to play the lead role of Florence Vassy in the musical Chess to standing ovations and then toured to Queensland as Jess in Lipstick Dreams. Jodie was also awarded the prestigious Musical Theatre Performer of the Year by the Variety Club in 1991. Jodie has also toured with her own production The Other Woman which marked her debut as a writer and director. This show also took her to New York in 1992, where it was very well received. From there Jodie went on to play the role of Giulietta Trapani in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Aspects of Love in both Sydney and Melbourne. Jodie also joined the cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, taking over the starring role of the Narrator from Tina Arena at Sydney's Her Majesty's Theatre. Jodie also performed in Love Lemmings at the Tilbury Hotel in Sydney.  In late 1995, Jodie performed her second self written show called A Soldier's Song which tells the story of her Grandfather during the war years. She based the show on some diaries that her Grandfather had left behind from the war plus some of the classic tunes from around that time. Jodie's television credits include The Ray Martin Show, A Country Practice, Home and Away, The Money or the Gun, Live n' Sweaty, Hey Hey It's Saturday, the Steve Vizard Show and Once in a Blue Moon, a celebration of Australian Musicals. Jodie has also released a self titled solo album featuring songs from Les Miserables, Aspects of Love, Chess, Miss Saigon and more. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Andrew Sharp began his professional career playing The Artful Dodger in J.C.Williamson's 1966 revival of Oliver! He went on to work steadily in theatre and on television in the 1970s, in shows such as Peter Kenna's A Hard God and Peter Handke's Kaspar at the Nimrod Street Theatre, The Season at Sarsaparilla and Julius Caesar for The Old Tote Theatre Company, The Rocky Horror Show at The New Art Cinema in Glebe, as well as playing a regular role in The Young Doctors and guest roles in other Grundy's productions. At the age of 25 he moved to London where he played leading roles in three long-running West End productions: Beyond the Rainbow, Stage Struck and Deathtrap. Returning to Australia in the 1980s he worked mostly in film and television, notably in movies such as Buddies and Undercover, mini-series such as Glass Babies and Sword of Honour and the 13 episode Taurus Rising - amongst other work. Throughout his career he dabbled in directing, producing shows with friends in unusual locations such as garages, living rooms and church halls. He graduated from the post-graduate diploma course in film directing at Melbourne's Swinburne Institute of Technology in 1986. In the 1990s he went on to work as an assistant director on several operas at The Australian Opera (as the company was then known), before returning to the UK in the 1990s, where he directed opera students at the Royal College of Music and the Birmingham Conservatoire and - for the Covent Garden Opera Festival - directed Handel's Saul and his own translation of Mozart's The Impresario. In 2002, searching for “home”, he moved to the small northwestern NSW town of Barraba, where he created The Playhouse Hotel, a 9 bedroom boutique hotel housing an 80 seat theatre. There he has presented dozens of touring theatre performances, bands, musicians and comedians… though he admits he misses his real hometown of Sydney, and plans to return soon. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Stephen Flaherty is a composer who writes for theatre, film and the concert hall. With longtime collaborator Lynn Ahrens, he won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for the Broadway musical Ragtime and was nominated for two Academy awards and two Golden Globes for the animated feature film Anastasia, which they also adapted for Broadway. Additional Broadway credits include Once on This Island (Tony Award, Best Revival), Seussical, Rocky, My Favourite Year, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life (original songs), and Neil Simon's Proposals (incidental music).  Off-Broadway and Regional credits include The Glorious Ones, Dessa Rose, A Man of No Importance (all three at Lincoln Centre Theatre), Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (About Face), Little Dancer (Kennedy Centre and Seattle 5th Avenue), In Your Arms (Old Globe) and Lucky Stiff (Playwrights Horizons). Future productions include Little Dancer and Knoxville. Stephen Flaherty's work in film includes the animated feature Anastasia, the original score for the documentary After the Storm, Lucky Stiff and Nasrin. His concert commissions include American River Suite and With Voices Raised. Additional awards include London's Olivier (Best Musical), Chicago's Joseph Jefferson (Best Musical) and four Grammy nominations. He serves on Council for the Dramatists Guild of America and co-founded the DGF Fellows Program for Emerging Writers with Lynn Ahrens. In 2014 Ahrens and Flaherty received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame. For more information please visit AhrensAndFlaherty.com. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Australian musical theatre performer Daniel Assetta is currently based in New York City, where he recently made his Broadway debut in the hot-ticket show, & Juliet. This follows an Off-Broadway debut with The Light in the Piazza for NY City Center Encores! Most recently, Daniel appeared in the Original Australian company of Hamilton as Samuel Seabury and performed Tony in the Opera Australia production of West Side Story across Australia, New Zealand and Germany. His theatre credits include; Al Deluca in the Darlinghurst Theatre Company's A Chorus Line; Elder Young in the original Australian company of The Book of Mormon; The Rum Tum Tugger in the Australian/New Zealand tour of CATS; the 10th Anniversary Australasian tour of Wicked; The Ziegfeld Tenor in Funny Girl; Luke in the world premiere of The Gathering; Follies in Concert ; and Curtains. Daniel is also the proud recipient of the prestigious Rob Guest Endowment Award in Australia. Notable stage appearances include ABC News Breakfast, Carols in The Domain, The ARIA Awards and Michael Mott & Friends concerts.  Over the last couple of years, Daniel produced, co-wrote, choreographed and performed alongside his sister, Chiara, in Siblingship which played to sold-out audiences across Australia and was awarded the winner of 'Best Cabaret' in BroadwayWorld Australia Awards 2020.  As a Choreographer, Daniel has worked extensively with highlights including Squabbalogic's production of NINE the musical, Twisted Broadway at Melbourne's Regent Theatre, the opening of the Sydney Latin Festival and concept pieces for the leading performing arts companies, Ettingshausens Pro & ED5International. Visit www.danielassetta.com and follow @dassetta on Instagram. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Kim Carpenter AM is an Australian visual artist, theatre director, designer and devisor. For thirty years he was artistic director of his company, Kim Carpenter's Theatre of Image. During the 1970s, Carpenter designed for the Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney's Nimrod Theatre Company. He was, for a short period, co-Artistic Director of Nimrod in the early 1980s. In 1988, Kim established Theatre of Image as Sydney's first visual theatre company. Theatre of Image developed into a leading Australian theatre company for children and families, with its productions having a distinctive visual style. In September 2019 he announced the closure of the company. His work includes The Book of Everything which he created with Neil Armfield for Theatre of Image and Belvoir. The production toured Australia and played a season in New York at the New Victory Theatre. In 2019 he adapted and designed The Happy Prince as a ballet for The Australian Ballet. It premiered at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Kim Carpenter was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2013 for significant service to the performing arts. He has devised, directed or designed over 100 productions for theatre, opera, dance, physical theatre, ballet and puppetry. A prolific visual artist also, Kim Carpenter has been represented in Australian and International exhibitions. His next exhibition is a series inspired by William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This show of works will be exhibited at Maunsell Wickes Gallery Paddington, from April 6th to 21st. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages). www.stagespodcast.com.au

Diana McLean has had a long career in TV, Film and Theatre and is best known by the public for her role of  Vivienne Jeffries in the iconic TV Soap,  The Young Doctors.On her return to Australia, after 16 years in UK and France, she appeared in many TV shows including, Water Rats, Murder Call, All Saints, Backberner, Number 96, Wonderland, and is still remembered for playing Bess O'Brien in Neighbours. Her miniseries credits include Ben Hall, The Norman Lindsay Series, Winner Takes All, and A Model Daughter. Theatre work has included; The Cold Child for Anthony Skuse at Griffin, Colder for Lachlan Philpot at Griffin, Love & Money at The Old Fitz, Three Sisters for Kate Retz, & Cry Havoc at ATYP, Julius Caesar for Anthony Skuse at The New, Other Desert Cities at The Ensemble Theatre (2015) and a national tour playing Florence Foster Jenkins in the play Glorious.Diana reprised her role of  Vera in 4000 miles, twice in 2014 for which she was nominated as Best Leading Actress at the Sydney Theatre Awards. Most recently Diana has appeared in the World Premiere of Joanna Erskine's new Australian play, Air (Old 505) and was part of the ensemble cast of The Humans at the Old Fitz.She joins STAGES for a long over-due catch up, and to reflect on a life-time telling stories.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

The Arts are widely recognised as a unique tool for human expression and offer a valuable contribution to society. They define our humanity.For anyone working in the Arts, it is a wonderful and fulfilling profession. But a creative or performance career will present considerable emotional challenge. Navigating an industry with precarious employment opportunities means that artists (on and off the stage), may experience mental health concerns, anxiety or stress. Artists are required to manage a role that brings huge expectations from colleagues, self and potential employers. Work is not guaranteed, and this can place huge demands on day to day survival. Resilience, belief, and confidence are sought in creative industries, contrasted alongside a need for vulnerability, which provides a window to access the emotional states that support creativity and authentic performance. The Arts are a very human expression.Sophie Carter is a qualified counsellor and coach, who supports those who work within all sectors of the arts. She discovered a passion for music and performing at a young age. Finding her calling in theatre as a teenager, she never looked back and went on to enjoy a nearly 20-year career as a professional actor, singer, and dancer. Sophie has also had roles behind the scenes as a stage manager, an assistant director, an assistant producer, and a vocal coach. She continues to perform regularly in the contemporary live music scene and has ridden the turmoil of the Covid and post-Covid era alongside her fellow performers in an ever-shifting landscape. With two decades experience working in the professional theatre, music and film/tv industries, Sophie brings her lived experience with the arts to the counselling experience to help her clients navigate this wonderful but challenging industry. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Barry Creyton began his career at the age of 17 in theatre and in radio in Australia and by age 20, was playing leads on stage, and in national radio productions.  He also hosted his own weekly radio program devoted to theatre news and interviews. At 21, he made his Australian television debut as Lorenzo in a national television production of The Merchant of Venice.   For three seasons, he starred in the TV series The Mavis Bramston Show.  This ground  breaking show, the highest rated in the history of Australian television, dealt with topical and political satire.Creyton relocated to England for twelve years playing comedy and dramatic roles in London's West End - including Don's Party (Royal Court), Roger's Last Stand (Duke of York's), Ten Years Hard (Mayfair), Urban Guerilla  (Soho Poly), a revival of the musical Salad Days, and Liz, a musical based on Aristophanes' Lysistrata as well as several revues and the National Tour of Abelard and Heloise.On his return to Australia, Creyton starred in many theatre productions - Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce, Season's Greetings and Absurd Person Singular, Frayn's Noises Off, and in Pack Of Lies, Side By Side By Sondheim, The Owl And The Pussycat, Suddenly At Home, The Philanthropist, and played twins in the comedy-thriller Corpse.He guest starred on many popular TV episodics. These roles were generally amorous cads or big-business villains - characters at odds with the comedies he played on the stage.  They included The Restless Years, The Young Doctors, Skyways, Cop Shop, The Sullivans, I Married a Bachelor, Cuckoo in the Nest, as well as guest star roles in TV movies, Image of Death, All at Sea, the Michael Powell feature, They're a Weird Mob and the BBC's Robert Louis Stevenson in Australia. He turned to directing, with the musical Nunsense which broke box office records all over Australia, and employed two companies playing simultaneously. A motorcycle accident during the run of Corpse resulted in a badly broken leg.  The long recuperation period enabled him to write a stage comedy, Double Act.  Since 1990, Creyton has worked almost exclusively in the United States, principally as writer and director. He relocated from New York to Los Angeles when commissioned to write a movie of the week for Hearst Television, while his off Broadway revue Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know ran for two and a half years in New York. His critically acclaimed adaptation of Noël Coward's Peace in Our Time for the Antaeus Theatre Company in L.A. received the Ovation Award and the L.A. Weekly Annual Theatre Award; the L. A. Times voted the production among the best world theatre of the year.He has appeared on stage at the Antaeus Theatre in Balzac's Cousin Bette, Shaw's The Doctors Dilemma and Moliere's School For Wives  and as Apollo in The Curse of Oedipus.Creyton returns to Australia periodically for theatre engagements, starring in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit, directing and starring in his own plays, Later Than Spring and Valentine's Day (since produced in several languages and, along with his Double Act, in constant repertoire in Europe), and in 2007 he returned to Sydney's Ensemble Theatre to star in Peter Quilter's play Glorious, and again in 2010 in Quilter's Duets, in which he played four diverse characters.His young adult novels, The Dogs of Pompeii and Nero Goes to Rome, co-authored with American writer Vaughan Edwards, are published by Random House, and his novel Murder is Fatal, an affectionate parody of noir movies, was published in 2017.His novel The View from Olympus Mons, was published in 2022 by NineStar Press.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Luke Joslin is a graduate of The University of Western Sydney and The Actors College of Theatre and Television, Luke has forged a successful career in both musical theatre and straight drama, as well as being highly sort after as a director.Luke worked as an Actor for 15 years. His extensive credits include the national tour of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Play That Goes Wrong, both for Lunchbox and Jon Nicholls, Brigadoon for Production Company, Machu Picchu for State Theatre Company of South Australia, Pinnochio for Windmill and Sydney Theatre Company, Threepenny Opera for Malthouse and Sydney Theatre Company, 25th Anniversary production of Les Miserables for Michael Cassel and Cameron McIntosh, Annie and Dr Zhivago both for GFO, Avenue Q for Arts Asia, Assassins for Neil Gooding, Dirty Dancing for Jacobsens, Titanic for Seabiscuit and Guys and Dolls for Dennis Smith.In 2009 he won the Helpmann and Greenroom Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Nicky/Trekky in Avenue Q. Luke was also Nominated for a Greenroom Award for Best Male in a Supporting Role in 2018 for Brigadoon.Directorial credits include Annie for Riverside Theatre, Educating Rita for Seymour Centre, Thank You For Being a Friend for Neil Gooding and Matt Henderson, Songs for a New World (Melbourne and Sydney) for Blue Saint and Hayes Theatre, Giggle and Hoot Live show for ABC and Live Nation, In the Heights (Hayes and Sydney Opera House) for Blue Saint and Sydney Opera House in which he was nominated for a Helpmann Award and Sydney Theatre Award for Best Director, Resident Director for Shrek the Musical for GFO, Les Miserables for Packemin Productions and Riverside Theatre, Revival Director – Otello with Opera Australia, Resident Director – Cinderella The Musical for John Frost at XRoads and Opera Australia and Bells are Ringing with Neglected Musicals. Luke also spearheaded the Riverside Theatre Digital Concert series where he conceptualised and directed six shows back to back. Luke most recently was show director for both Jimmy Rees's Not that Kinda Viral Tour and the Swag on the Beat Live Show.He presently helms the exciting new production of Grease which has made its way to Sydney following a triumphant season in Melbourne. And the next stop is Perth. Luke Joslin joined STAGES to reflect on his journey from actor to director; and why Grease is still the word!The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Francesca Zambello is an internationally recognised director of opera and theatre. She is the Artistic Director of The Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center; a role she has occupied since 2012.  In 2022 she retired from a celebrated role as the General Director of The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, N.Y., having been appointed in 2010. Francesca has also served as the Artistic Advisor to the San Francisco Opera from 2005–2011 and as the Artistic Director of the Skylight Theatre from 1987–1992. She has since staged new productions at major theatres, festivals and opera houses in Asia, Australia, South America, Europe and the USA. Collaborating with outstanding artists and designers and promoting emerging talent, she takes a special interest in new music theatre works, innovative productions, and in producing theatre and opera for wider audiences. Francesca Zambello has been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contribution to French culture and the Russian Federation's medal for Service to Culture. Other honours for her work include three Olivier Awards from the London Society of Theatres and two Evening Standard Awards. The French Grand Prix des Critiques was awarded to her twice for her work at the Paris Opera. She has received the Medallion Society Award from the San Francisco Opera recognizing 30 years of work for the company. For Opera Australia, Francesca Zambello directed the 2012 Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour production of La Traviata, as well as The Love for Three Oranges in 2016, and West Side Story on Sydney Harbour in 2019, for which she received the Helpmann Award for best direction of a musical. Ms. Zambello has also served as an adjunct professor at Yale University. An American who grew up in Europe, she speaks French, Italian, German, and Russian. She began her career as an Assistant Director to the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Francesca Zambello lives in New York with her wife, Faith Gay, a founding partner of Selendy & Gay and son, Jackson. www.francescazambello.com The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Michael Lavine is a Broadway Performance Coach and Sheet Music Expert. He has also worked as a musical director, pianist, vocal coach and singer all over the world. He is very much; a Music Man!Michael gives master classes on auditioning in New York, Los Angeles, Australia and Martha's Vineyard. He has worked several times at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Accompanying many artists, he has worked regularly with Heather MacRae on her show about her father, Gordon and has accompanied Broadway and television star Bryan Batt in New Orleans, at 54 Below, Feinstein's and the Metropolitan Room. He musically directed Bryan's show Batt on a Hot Tin Roof at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in Australia, touring subsequently to Melbourne and Sydney. Michael regularly plays for the Outer Critics Circle Awards and musically directed the Broadway Cares Teddy Bear Auction for its entire 15-year run. Michael has conducted orchestras in Wichita, Kansas, Traverse City, Michigan, and Beverly, Mass., among other cities. He co-produced and musically directed the American premiere recording of HONK! at the York Theatre. Michael served as musical director for the Comden & Green musical Billion Dollar Baby starring Kristin Chenoweth, Marc Kudisch and Debbie Gravitte and the Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner musical Carmelina. He has shared the stage with Mimi Hines and Peter Howard (his mentor) at the Kennedy Center in a Rodgers & Hart revue, This Funny World. Michael is known for owning one of the largest privately held sheet music collections in the world, and is frequently called upon for his extensive knowledge, and is celebrated for preserving and archiving the musical theatre and American songbook.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Eddie Grey was born and raised in Sydney. An accomplished musician and talented performer, he graduated from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and quickly garnered an impressive list of credits in productions of Spring Awakening (for the Sydney Theatre Company), and commercial productions of Legally Blonde, Wicked (as Boq) and The Book of Mormon.Whilst at WAAPA he started writing his own material. His first work was Frau Fangus' Revenge, a musical about a masochistic Weimar-era piano teacher who falls in love with her student and makes the student murder her husband. Y'know.  Standard musical comedy fodder!Following his successful forays on the Australian stage, he took the plunge and moved to New York, where he has performed in the National tour of The Book of Mormon - a show in which he also made his Broadway debut. Eddie recently completed a stint in the Broadway run of the musical Harmony, written by Barry Manilow. Both gigs came about under fascinating circumstances. It wasn't until the pandemic hit that Eddie really started writing again, completing a postgraduate course in screenwriting for television at UCLA. The first short film he wrote and produced, titled Weather or Not, was based on a story by David Sedaris that Eddie optioned from the author himself. It went on to a successful festival run and distribution and also paved the way for his second short, The Singing Telegram which had its LA premiere at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Currently, he has a television project under development with Aurora Pictures in Sydney and another with Kilo Pictures in London.STAGES caught up with Eddie on a recent visit to New York where we learned so much more about his talent to amuse, and craft engaging theatre and film.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Judith Hoddinott has made considerable impact as an educator and a theatre designer across all disciplines. Training at the University of New England and the National Institute of Dramatic Arts, her design work has been seen complementing a myriad of stages with companies as diverse as the Sydney Theatre Company, GFO, CDP, Jacobsen Entertainment, Playbox, Opera Australia, Performing Lines, Theatre of the Deaf, New Moon, Hunter Valley, STC, Marian Street, & Ensemble theatre companies, and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus.Judith has taught Theatre Design at East Sydney Technical College, University of Western Sydney, University of Technology, Sydney and NIDA. She currently teaches at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts.Theatrical fare that has soared with costume and/or set designs by Judith include Phedre, Away, Oleanna, Antony and Cleopatra, A Delicate Balance, The Merchant of Venice, Gary's House, After Dinner, The Killing of Sister George, A Hard God, Macbeth, Sight Unseen, Emerald City, Death of a Salesman, The Sunshine Boys, Wit, I Ought to Be In Pictures, Aunty and Me, I'm Not Rappaport, The Heartbreak Kid, and Arms and the Man. Musical Theatre includes Guys and Dolls, A Chair in the Landscape, Shout!, Footloose, Il Trovatore, A Broad With Two Men, Working, Only Heaven Knows, The Man from Mukinupin and South Pacific.Judith offers abundant knowledge on the processes of design, and teaching, in this illuminating episode of the STAGES podcast.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

On January 14th we learned of the passing of Theatre Impresario, Martin McCallum. He was a featured guest on the STAGES podcast in January 2019. The podcast was only a year old, but Martin with his enthusiasm and vigour for supporting new ventures was keen at my first suggestion. I am so honoured that we were able to record some of his story in this episode.Martin resided in Australia for the past 20 years. He was brought here originally when overseeing the transfer of global hit musicals such as Evita, to Australian shores; working alongside the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust.The relationships he established in Australia would enable him to successfully bring Cameron Mackintosh's four juggernaut musicals to our theatres in the 80s and 90s; Cats, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon.Martin guided Mackintosh's overseas production ventures and managed Australian and New York offices. He worked closely with Mackintosh on restoring The Prince Edward and Prince of Wales theatres in London's West End.He commenced his life in the theatre as a stage manager and bit-part actor in regional repertory theatre in the UK, working his way up the ranks to joining Laurence Olivier and the National Theatre at the Old Vic in 1971.Adept at all technical elements of the theatre, and proving himself as an accomplished manager, Martin oversaw the practical and technical transfer of the National to the South Bank building in 1976.He was indeed a giant and gentleman of the theatre. And a lovely bloke and treasured friend to many of us.Vale Martin McCallum (April 6, 1950 - January 14, 2024)The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Groundhog Day The Musical made its Australian Premiere at Melbourne's Princess Theatre on Thursday February 1st - (incidentally February 2nd is the actual Groundhog Day). Direct from its record-breaking return season at London's Old Vic, the Australian production will play a 13-week season in Melbourne.  Groundhog Day the Musical is a gloriously joyful and heart-warming production from the award-winning minds of Australia's one and only Tim Minchin AM, the writer of the iconic 1993 film Danny Rubin and director Matthew Warchus.  Broadway Veteran Andy Karl returns to Groundhog Day after his critically-acclaimed reprisal at London's Old Vic as ‘Phil Connors,' the role he originated on Broadway which won him an Olivier Award and a Tony Nomination; the third of his Tony nominations.He was previously seen in the Broadway revival of Into The Woods as both ‘Rapunzel's Prince' and ‘Cinderella's Prince/The Wolf,' and leading the Broadway musical Pretty Woman as ‘Edward Lewis.'Other notable theatre credits include the Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century, the title role in Rocky, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 9 to 5, Legally Blonde, Wicked, The Wedding Singer, and Saturday Night Fever.On television he appeared in Season 17 of Law & Order: SVU as “Sergeant Mike Dodds.”,  and also The Good Fight and Blue Bloods. The production also features Elise McCann, who is most well-known for originating the role of Miss Honey in the Australian production of Matilda for which she won the 2016 Helpmann Award.Her breadth of musical theatre experience is extensive with celebrated credits that include Lucille Ball in Everybody Loves Lucy, Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along and most recently for her performance as Donna in the 2023 20th Anniversary Tour of MAMMA MIA! the Musical.  Further theatre credits include The Last Five Years, The Wedding Singer; Oklahoma, Brigadoon, South Pacific, Doctor Zhivago, Fiddler on the Roof, Falsettos, Into The Woods, Little Women and My Fair Lady. Andy and Elise were recently in Sydney where we caught up to discuss the extraordinary show they're currently navigating and the many joys and challenges of a career in musical theatre.Groundhog Day - The Musical plays the Princess Theatre in Melbourne until April 20th.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

The STAGES podcast returns in 2024 for it's 7th Season - conversations with creatives about craft and career! Season 7 launches on March 7th.

We've arrived at the end of season 6 of the STAGES podcast and we celebrate with our annual Christmas episode.It's been a huge year for the podcast - delivering 99 episodes! Every one a super conversation with artists and creatives and support staff across all disciplines.Old friends return to spread the Christmas cheer. STAGES catches up with Trevor Ashley, Rhonda Burchmore, Mark Humphries and Geraldine Turner - and of course, the episode wouldn't be complete without the wonderful Kate Fitzpatrick.A perfect episode to finish the year, to say thank you for listening, and to wish you a very Merry Christmas!We'll be back in March 2024!The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

It's the time of year where folk are jetting off on holidays - a key destination for many theatre fans is to head to the West End of London or the bright lights of Broadway - theatre precincts which guarantee excitement and awe.Two gentlemen who make their own annual pilgrimage to the Great White Way or the West End -  are ‘Man in Chair' Simon Parris, and Publicist Ian Phipps. The two theatre afficionados joined the podcast last year to offer a round-up of the shows they'd seen on recent trips to New York and London. Many listeners reported that they enjoyed the abundant tips offered in the conversation regarding what to see and how to secure tickets … so, we've invited them back again - almost to the year when they joined us last.No London round-up this time - but a delicious appraisal of what is on, and what has been celebrated, in the theatre mecca of Broadway.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Award winning vocalist Emma Pask, has firmly established herself as one of Australia's favourite voices in Jazz. Her effortless, honest stage presence combined with her powerful vocal ability, leaves audiences spellbound and inspired whenever she takes to the stage. While Emma's voice and style are unique, and individually her own, her performances are reminiscent of the classic era of jazz, when swing was top of the charts. Her talent was first spotted by internationally renowned Jazz great James Morrison, when she was just 16 years old. She joined his band as the lead vocalist and went on to spend a solid 20 years touring the world with Morrison. On request Emma performed the Bridal Waltz for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban at their wedding. More recently she played support to Legendary Guitarist/Vocalist George Benson when he toured Australia. Emma opened for Grammy Award winning American vocalist Kurt Elling, on his 2018 Australian Tour. Emma is a “Mo' award winner for Jazz Vocalist of the year, and has received two ARIA award nominations for Best Jazz Album of the Year in 2014 and 2016. Emma has had the honour to sing for VIP audiences including the late Diana Princess of Wales and Princess Mary of Denmark. She has sung in London at The Queen Elizabeth Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Emma has performed in China with The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Auckland with the NZ Philharmonic, and with the WA Symphony Orchestra in Perth.  In 2019 the Emma Pask Band headlined at the Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba. Emma has toured her band throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. She has received rave reviews for her performances in Uruguay, South America, and is a regular at the prestigious Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland.  Despite her achievements and the international recognition of her talent, Emma retains her natural, refreshing and unpretentious, positive approach to life.  Jazz virtuoso James Morrison says of Emma, “Whilst it's fashionable to be a jazz singer these days, she is the real thing!” In 2020 amidst the Covid 19 lockdown, Emma was chosen by The Sydney Opera House to launch the first of their concerts live streamed from the stage of the hallowed Joan Sutherland Theatre. This performance won the offical Time Out (in) award for favourite Arts livestream. In 2021 The Emma Pask Big Band brought Sydney's music scene back to life after lockdown, as they featured with a sold out performance at Sunset Piazza.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Mark Kilmurry is a writer, director and actor for theatre, film, television and radio. His writing credits for theatre include Mercy Thieves, Happy as Larry and Viv, The Light Comes Up, Bruised, The Mime Artist's Wife and Arthur and Amy. Aside from his own work, he has directed Retreat from Moscow (Ensemble Theatre); The Lover (Belvoir Street Theatre); and Hammerklavier (Stables Theatre) and as an actor he has appeared in The Dumb Waiter (Studio Company); Japes, Aunty & Me, The Yalta Game, Afterplay and Art (Ensemble Theatre); What a Piece of Work (Stables Theatre); One Shot, John Wayne Never Slept Here, Neville's Island and Tartuffe (Santa Fe Stages Theatre Festival); and Cyrano de Bergerac (Sydney Theatre Company).He co-founded the Snarling Beasties Theatre Company in the UK with Debbie Isitt. Mark first came to Australia in 1991 with The Snarling Beasties, and moved permanently in 1996. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Ensemble Theatre in Kirribilli after first working there as an actor in 2002, then becoming associate director, co-artistic director and from 2015 sole artistic director. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Jo Litson has been one of the Nation's treasured Arts Journalists for some 37 years. She is the Print Editor of Limelight; the magazine that celebrates music, arts and culture. Jo originally joined Limelight magazine as Deputy Editor in August 2016 after more than 25 years working as a freelance arts writer for publications including The Australian, Limelight magazine, The Bulletin, the Qantas magazine, POL Oxygen, the Sydney Theatre Company's Backstage magazine, and the Sunday Telegraph where she had been the arts writer/theatre reviewer since 2006. Fascinated by the magic of theatre from a young age, she sought and navigated a career in the performing arts in a range of roles. In tertiary study, Jo completed a BA (Hons) in English/Drama from Birmingham University in the UK. And so the adventure begun. After working front of house in several West End theatres, and as an Assistant Organiser in the Theatre Department at British Actors' Equity, she moved to Australia in 1982. Initially based in Melbourne, she worked as an Assistant Publicist and Front of House Manager for Melbourne's Playbox Theatre Company, and as an usher and then Box Office Manager at Her Majesty's Theatre. She was also a dresser on several musicals including La Cage Aux Folles and Guys and Dolls. In 1986, she moved to Sydney and managed the Halftix Booth before embarking on a career in arts journalism. Jo was Arts Editor of Vogue Australia in the late 1980s and an on-screen reporter for the ABC-TV arts magazine programme Review. From 1998 – 2000, she edited the Australia Council magazine Artforce. Jo has written the extended labels for the Archibald Prize for the Art Gallery of NSW for over 20 years and wrote the programmes and media kits for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 15th Asian Games in Doha in 2006.Her appreciation of all arts is extensive, informed by a life-time working in and around stages. How fortunate we are to have Jo celebrating performance, investigating craft and shining the light.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Anthony Yangoyan was born in Sydney, where he grew up in Sydney's inner west. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from The Victorian College of the Arts.  In 2019, Anthony co-wrote and performed in a new work titled ‘Tiger Cage' at The Victorian College of the Arts student run Discord 879 Festival. Anthony aims to create work that promotes both inclusion and diversity amongst the acting industry and is passionate about working with fellow creatives to communicate meaningful and intricate stories. Over the course of his career, Anthony has played a part in multiple productions including: for Griffin: Dogged (for which he was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award) and an acclaimed performance in Jailbaby; for Sydney Theatre Company/STCSA: The Dictionary of Lost Words; for ATYP: A Clockwork Orange; for Red Line Productions/Critical Stages: King of Pigs. Anthony has also featured in Play in a Day for Bell Shakespeare. Other stage credits include: for Company Clan: The Shape of Things; and for VCA: A View from the Bridge, The Cherry Orchard, The Comedy of Errors, Doctor Faustus, Mad Forest. Anthony also worked on the original web series Frank's Patch where he played the lead role of Frank. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

As we draw towards the end of our 6th Season and chalk up 450+ episodes, it's time we reach into the archive to feature conversations and creatives previously featured on STAGES. We spotlight such episodes, in case you missed them first time ‘round - or so you can simply savour a second listen. The STAGES podcast opens an essential doorway to access precious oral histories from the people who were, and are, on and around our stages. Conversations with Creatives about Craft and Career!John Waters is one of Australia's most recognised and favourite actors. His theatre credits span productions in Australia and the United Kingdom. Demonstrating terrific versatility, John has taken lead roles in an array of plays, musicals, television and film.  He was featured on the STAGES podcast in October, 2020.He made is debut as Claude in Harry M. Millar's production of Hair. Subsequent performances include Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, They're Playing Our Song, An Ideal Husband, The Woman in Black, A Little Night Music, Talk, The Sound of Music, The Graduate, Oliver!, Rocky Horror Picture Show, My Fair Lady and The Addams Family. As well as his 20-year involvement with the iconic Australian children's show Play School, his other television credits include City Homicide, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, The Man from Snowy River, Singapore Sling, All The Rivers Run, Rush, All Saints, Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Offspring, Mystery Road and Division 4 for which he was awarded the TV Week Silver Logie for Best New Talent in 1975. His impressive list of feature film credits includes Stealth, The Sugar Factory, High Country, Breaker Morant, Eliza Frazer and Pino Amenta's Boulevard of Broken Dreams for which he received the AFI (AACTA) Best Actor Award.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Joanna Murray-Smith's plays have been produced and translated all over the world, in over two dozen languages, including on Broadway, the West End and at the Royal National Theatre in London. Joanna has worked across many forms, from plays to novels, journalism, opera libretti and screenplays.  Her plays include Three Little Words, Switzerland, Pennsylvania Avenue, True Minds, Songs for Nobodies, The Gift, Rockabye, The Female of the Species, Ninety, Bombshells, Berlin and Flame (Melbourne Theatre Company); L'Appartement (Queensland Theatre); American Song (Milwaukee Repertory); Day One-A-Hotel-Evening (Red Stitch); Fury (Sydney Theatre Company); Rapture, Nightfall, Redemption, Love Child and Honour (Malthouse Theatre).  Both Honour and Rapture won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Best Play.   Joanna has also adapted Hedda Gabler (for the State Theatre Company of South Australia) and Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage for Sir Trevor Nunn (Coventry/London).  Her adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya will be seen at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney next year; as will Switzerland. While a tour of her extraordinary examination of our female Prime. Minister, Julia will play in Melbourne, Adelaide and a return Sydney season. The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

As we draw towards the end of our 6th Season and chalk up 450+ episodes, it's time we reach into the archive to feature conversations and creatives previously featured on STAGES. We spotlight such episodes, in case you missed them first time ‘round - or so you can simply savour a second listen. The STAGES podcast opens an essential doorway to access precious oral histories from the people who were, and are, on and around our stages. Conversations with Creatives about Craft and Career!In this return episode, we spotlight a conversation with Maureen Elkner. Maureen joined the podcast in our very first year - in fact, hers was episode no:18.Maureen has been singing since the sixties. Carving out a career as a rock/pop vocalist she began her professional career in a trio called The Chiffons. Singing back-up for John Farnham and providing some of the vocals on Russell Morris's classic The Real Thing, Maureen found her great success with the chart climber ‘Rak Off Normie' – the follow up single to Bob Hudson's novelty hit ‘The Newcastle Song'.Maureen released 7 singles and two albums through the 70s and also found success as an actress and comedienne in the original Australian productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show.A short-lived season (only two performances!) of the musical Oh Calcutta! saw her arrested along with the rest of the cast.Maureen also entertained the troops during the Vietnam war, venturing into enemy territory to relieve our soldiers from the horrors they were navigating.It's a fascinating story and STAGES was delighted to sit down with the inspiring Maureen Elkner.  This conversation was recorded in October, 2018.The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Mozart's The Magic Flute will be presented by Opera Australia during their Summer season in early 2024. At the helm of the production is Director Kate Gaul. An artist of tremendous invention and imagination. The production she conjures will thrill and seduce, as this opera favourite is brought to vivid life. Assisting Kate as Movement Director is frequent collaborator, Andy Dexterity. His eclectic style and command of the physical always delights and sheds enlightening perspective. Both were guests in early seasons of the STAGES podcast. It was a treat to catch up with them once again to hear what's been happening in their worlds and what we can look forward to in the world of The Magic Flute. Kate has been directing full-time since completing the NIDA Director's course in 1996 and has established herself as a distinctive and inventive director, with productions for such companies as Pinchgut Opera, Belvoir St Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Griffin Theatre and Melbourne Theatre Company. Kate's productions include The End of Winter, Camp!, Good With Maps, The Trouble with Harry, The Ham Funeral, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten), Misterman, Invisible Circus, Il Matrimonio Segreto (Conservatorium of Music), Castor et Pollux (Pinchgut Opera), The New Electric Ballroom and Carmen (OzOpera). Andy Dexterity is a Green Room Award-nominated performance maker primarily recognised for his unique brand of movement, fusing dance, physical theatre and physical languages. Andy is fascinated by the way we communicate and interact as a species and Andy creates playful work with the intention to empower, connect and transcend linguistic boundaries. The Magic Flute plays the Sydney Opera House February 1st to March 16th, 2024The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au