STAGES with Peter Eyers

Helen Dallimore is an actor, singer, director and writer who has enjoyed a successful career in theatre, musical theatre, film and television both in Australia and in the UK. Her most celebrated stage performances include  Wicked  (London’s West End),  Girl From The North Country  (Tour),  End of the Rainbow  (STCSA),  Blood Brothers  (Enda Markey Presents) and L egally Blonde  (Ambassador/GFO), f...

Acclaimed Australian pianist/composer and singer/songwriter Monique diMattina has recorded and performed extensively since the early 2000’s, working in various genres and settings.  Monique has released three solo piano albums in filmic and neo-classical styles, and three jazz/pop albums as singer/songwriter, including the critically acclaimed ‘Nola’s Ark’, recorded in New Orleans with producer Ma...

Faith Martin is an Australian casting director for film and television, recognised for her pivotal role in identifying and launching Australian and International talent into global careers. With extensive experience across Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Europe, she has built a reputation for instinct-driven casting on high-profile television series and feature f...

Glenn Elston OAM has directed over 250 seasons Shakespeare, Classic Works, Musicals and Family Theatre. A prominent figure in Australian theatre, he is particularly known for pioneering outdoor picnic theatre in Australia and creating immersive, family-friendly experiences that have become beloved traditions. Elston began his journey in 1987, forming a small performance collective that has since g...

Deborah Kennedy is one of Australia’s most recognisable and enduring character actresses, with a career spanning stage, screen and some of the nation’s most iconic popular culture moments. She is also known to audiences for her unforgettable delivery of a celebrated catchphrase in a Yellow Pages television commercial—now firmly embedded in the Australian vernacular. Deborah Kennedy began her caree...

Jay Laga’aia is a New Zealand–born Australian actor, musician, and presenter whose career spans film, television, stage, and music. International audiences know him best for his portrayal of Captain Typho in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. In Australia and New Zealand, he has built a celebrated career across drama, children’s entertainment, live...

Debra Lawrance graduated from NIDA in 1977 and has since built a distinguished career across theatre, film and television. On television, she first came to prominence playing Maggie, Ned Kelly’s sister, in Channel Seven’s  The Last Outlaw . She went on to star as Pat in the ABC comedy series  The Fast Lane , portrayed Daphne in  Prisoner , and became a household name as the beloved foster mother P...

Best known as one of Australia's "Phantoms" in "The Phantom of the Opera", Donald is one of Australia's leading musical performers, with a career encompassing music theatre, concerts, cabaret, opera, Lieder and recording. His most recent music theatre highlights have been the challenging role of "Judge Turpin" in the Opera Queensland production of "Sweeney Todd" (October 2003), the lead role of "F...

Therèsa Borg is a director, writer and performer.  She is a graduate of University of Melbourne (B.Ed. Sec (Music)) and twice of The Victorian College of the Arts (Opera Studio, Masters: Writing for Performance). Her directing credits include Titanic starring Anthony Warlow at Melbourne Town Hall, Sweeney Todd, starring Anthony Warlow and Gina Riley at Her Majesty’s Melbourne, The Light in the Pia...

Ken Billington is an international lighting designer working in theatre, television and architecture. Over 100 Broadway designs include the original production of  Sweeney Todd  and the current  Chicago , which is the longest running American musical in history.  Chicago  has been seen in over 20 countries all with the original lighting. Other Broadway productions include  Waitress, Act One, Hugh...

Hayden Tonazzi is an award-winning director and creative producer who in 2025 was appointed the Artistic Director & CEO of the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP).  A graduate of the 2019 NIDA MFA Directing Program, for over eight years’ they have worked across new writing in theatre and musical theatre, most notably  Saplings  by Hannah Belanszky for the 2024 Sydney Festival (Winner of...

Dr Jacqui Hall Cuny is a passionate pedagogue, musical theatre performer, stage and vocal director, and researcher with over 40 years of professional experience. In 2022, she completed her PhD in Musical Theatre at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Her doctoral studies examined the elements that create musical theatre performance synergy, or the &#...

John Lonie is a screenwriter, playwright, script editor and book author. John co-wrote the feature film  Kokoda , directed by Alister Grierson. John wrote the television program  Frankie's House,  three episodes of the AFI Award winning mini-series  The Paper Man  and he script doctored the AFI award winning mini-series  True Believers .   Other screenwriting credits include  A Country Practic...

Paula Arundell has worked extensively across screen and theatre both nationally and internationally. Her theatre credits include  The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man  (Malthouse Theatre);  The Servant of Two Masters ,  Hippolytus ,  Antony and Cleopatra ,  Henry V ,  The Tempest ,  Much Ado About Nothing  (Bell Shakespeare);  The Master & Margarita ,  Sami In Paradise ,  Atlantis...

Richard Martin joined Global Creatures as Technical Director in February 2012 and was appointed Head of Technical Production in March 2024. Richard’s technical theatre career commenced in 1979 where he spent 11 years with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House. Richard subsequently joined Cameron Mackintosh as Technical Manager touring throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and South Africa ov...

Tony Award®-winning writer and lyricist Lynn Ahrens is a native New Yorker. She began her musical career fresh out of college when she became one of the principal songwriters and singers for the renowned American television series, “Schoolhouse Rock.” Since then, she has written extensively for theatre, film and television, winning theatre’s triple crown – the 1998 Tony Award®, Drama Desk and Oute...

Sam Strong is an award-winning theatre director and one of Australia’s leading cultural figures, known for combining artistic ambition with transformative leadership. He has served as Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company, Associate Artistic Director of Melbourne Theatre Company, Chair of Circa, and Executive Director of Creative Industries at Creative Victoria. In 20...

Gavan Swift is a multi award-winning Lighting Designer. He graduated from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).  His musical lighting designs include  Mamma Mia!, Heathers the Musical, Mack & Mabel, The Mikado, The Pirates Of Penzance, Hot Shoe Shuffle, Little Shop of Horrors, Sweet Charity, Fiddler on the Roof, Jolson, Buddy, Oh What A Night, Footloose, Hair, Xanadu, Chess, C...

Morry Morgan is co‑founder and teacher at the Hard Knock Knocks Comedy School, a Melbourne‑based training ground that has helped more than 900 students — keynote speakers, first‑time comedians and bucket‑list performers — take the stage with confidence.  A comedic entrepreneur and media commentator, Morry created the Gigme app, produced the comedy‑drama series Is This Thing On?, and ran The Rubber...

A graduate of the Drama Studio Sydney, Anthony Skuse is a director, dramaturge and teacher.  Anthony’s directing credits include: Bradford Elmore’s  Gravity  (Qtopia); James Elazzi’s  Saints of Damour  (Qtopia); Ibsen’s  Hedda Gabler  (KXT, Secret House); Gary Owen’s  Cherry Orchard: after Chekhov,  (Old Fitz, Secret House); Ibsen’s  Doll’s  House (The Actors Company, ACA); Simon Longman’s  Gundog...

Deborah Jones is one of Australia’s most respected arts journalists, with a career spanning more than 25 years as a writer, critic and editor at The Australian. She served as Arts Editor for a decade and also edited the paper’s influential  Review  section, later becoming Executive Editor for five years. Joining the Sydney bureau in 1987 as a sub-editor, Deborah rose through the ranks to become a...

Gaye MacFarlane is an acclaimed Australian mezzo-soprano whose career has spanned more than four decades across opera, musical theatre, concert performance, television and radio. A born performer, she began singing professionally as a teenager on Australian television before completing a Diploma in Operatic Arts at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Her early operatic career saw principal roles w...

Zindzi Okenyo is a dynamic African Australian actor, director and singer.  After graduating from NIDA in 2006, Zindzi was a member of Cate Blanchett’s Residents Company at Sydney Theatre Company for three years. In 2012 Zindzi toured Europe and the USA with  A History of Everything  and began as a much-loved presenter on ABC’s iconic children’s program  Play School .  Her kids project  Zindzi &amp...

From Brighton Beach in Melbourne to a garret overlooking Notre Dame in Paris, Amanda Pelman’s life has unfolded at the intersection of music, theatre and bold reinvention. She began as a radio journalist while studying at RMIT, before heading to London in 1981 to work with Dire Straits. Recruited home by Michael Gudinski to Mushroom Records, Amanda spent eleven years as publicist, label manager an...

A graduate of National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1980, Garry Scale has built a rich and varied career across theatre, cabaret, film and television. Born and educated in Geelong, Victoria, he first trained as a teacher before moving to Sydney to pursue acting — a foundation that would later bring his journey full circle. Garry became a beloved figure on Sydney’s cabaret scene through his long as...