STAGES with Peter Eyers

Simon Burke dislikes waiting in the wings. His immense passion and energy would see him ideally leave the dressing room to arrive directly on stage and into the job of story-telling. It is a routine that can easily be applied to Simon off the stage. He moves with great enthusiasm towards each project and is eager to craft his own projects too; or provide support to colleagues and industry in advoc...

Simon Burke was recently cast as Hugo, the drag mentor to the title character in the musical Everybody's Talking About Jaimie. He has entered an age bracket that finds him playing a succession of paternal roles in The Sound of Music, Catch Me If You Can, La Cage Aux Folles and Tommy Murphy's Strangers in Between. And for two decades he worked alongside a couple of the most famous bears in the busi...

Michael Falzon is the real deal. He is charm personified and comes with an engaging sense of humour and an infinite industry wisdom born of extensive time as a performer and producer, in the business we call show. Upon any meeting with Falzon I best describe him as possessed of a gentle bonhomie. He is humble and modest but at the same time can be direct, frank and insightful. His early career saw...

For over 30 years Gill Minervini has produced some of Australia's most engaging and successful international events and festivals, creating unforgettable, immersive experiences for diverse audiences. She is one of Australia's creative leaders - from festival , event and theatre director to television and radio presenter, food curator and producer - Gill's experience means successful delivery of ou...

Lyn Collingwood is known to a legion of fans as Summer Bay busybody, 'Colleen Smart'; a role she played for 13 years in the iconic Australian soap-opera Home & Away. Playing a character for this length of time is an opportunity rarely afforded to actors. Series television provides ample necessity to guide, craft and inhabit such roles. In this episode, Lyn elaborates on the many rewards and challe...

Some 23 years after playing Christine Daee in the Australian production of The Phantom of the Opera, Maree Johnson is back with the show - on Broadway - this time playing the mysterious Madame Giry. It is a show that has great sentimental meaning for Johnson and the experience allows her two very different access points to a story that has thrilled audiences for several decades. The desire to act...

"The success of a theatre company comes down to providing good yarns that make audiences laugh and cry, and which take them on a journey" - Sandra Bates Sandra Bates retired as Artistic Director of The Ensemble Theatre in Sydney in 2015 after 30 years in the role. This innings makes her the longest serving Artistic Director in Australia. In fact the company has only had 3 A.D.s in its 62 year hist...

In Part 2 of the Stages' conversation with Producer John Frost, he describes the rise of the Gordon Frost Organisation and, after the tragic loss of his co-founder Ashley Gordon; the necessary task of taking the helm as C.E.O. of the company. G.F.O. launches onward and finds success with shows like Big River, South Pacific, Hello Dolly! and Smokey Joe's Cafe. Frost's production of The King And I,...

Known affectionately as Frosty the Showman; impresario John Frost has been at the pinnacle of Musical Theatre in Australia for several decades. The Gordon Frost Organisation contributes much of the commercial product that traverses stages around the country. His productions have garnered a swag of local awards as well as two Tony Awards for musicals on the Broadway stage. Frost grew up in Adelaide...

Roland Rocchiccioli is a man of the theatre. His, is a celebrated career of more than 50 years. Comedian Billy Connolly said of him: 'His name is like alphabet soup'. Rocchiccioli spent his childhood watching the unfolding dramas in Gwalia, a town on the north eastern goldfields of Western Australia. He was schooled by nuns and monks in New Norcia. It was a unique childhood recounted in his engagi...

John Clark was born in Tasmania and his first intention was to be an archeologist. However, it was the theatre that called and provided Clark with an illustrious career as a theatre-maker and teacher. His greatest triumph is an indelible turn as Director of the National Institute of Dramatic Art. For 40 years he guided and nurtured generations of practitioners who would become crucial contributors...

Equipped with a soaring voice, matinee idol looks and bundles of charm; a career on the stage seems to have been destined for Alex Rathgeber. Growing up in rural Victoria, a series of roles in community theatre and school production lead him to study at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and on to a succession of roles that have enthralled audiences. Deft character studies have engaged...

Robert Love is the Director of the City of Parramatta's Riverside Theatres; a role he relishes, overseeing one of the most highly attended venues in the country. In addition to his role in Administration, he might be changing a light-bulb or pitching in with any task essential in the efficient running of an Arts venue. The theatres host a variety of entertainments - drama, art-house cinema, multi-...

Jeffrey Jay Fowler is a playwright, dramaturg, director and actor. He wrote and acted in the award winning shows A History of Drinking and Elephants. He has performed in and co-created Fag/Stag, Bali, The Advisors; and with The Last Great Hunt Company presented All That Glitters and Le Nor (The Rain). His other plays include Minnie & Mona Play Dead, Price Tag, Improvement Club and Hope is the Sadd...

The Australian Musical is a peculiar beast - a hybrid of vaudeville, music hall and the influential Broadway form. It traverses authentic and genuine storytelling whilst continually experimenting with style, structure and content; and always with the presence of a larrikin essence. The history of the Australian Musical is vast, from early offerings such as The Bunyip, Chu Chin Chow and Collits' In...

Welcome to this companion episode celebrating the magnificent Nancye Hayes. In part 1 we learned of a determination through childhood to emulate the great stars of the MGM musicals who figured prominently in her early cinema attendance. And then onto a career developing her talents in a succession of J.C. Williamson musicals, before eventually landing the leading role of Charity Hope Valentine in...

Nancye Hayes started her professional career as a dancer in My Fair Lady. She then progressed through roles in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Hello Dolly! and The Boys from Syracuse. She scored tremendous personal success as Charity Hope Valentine in her break-out performance in Sweet Charity, establishing herself as a bright new star. The accolades came thick and fast, leading...

Meeting in 1953 in J. C. Williamson's Call Me Madam, Jill and Kevan married in 1959. Their two children Todd and Trudy also followed a career in showbusiness. The family 'business' continues with grand-children beginning to make their mark in performance. Between musicals, Jill appeared in a number of Phillip Street Theatre revues, establishing herself as a versatile talent. Musicals continued to...

Australia's First Lady of musical comedy, Jill Perryman made her stage debut at the tender age of two when her parents were touring in White Horse Inn. Her first big break came whilst she was in the chorus of Call Me Madam when as understudy to Evie Hayes she was called upon to play the leading role. Jill went from success to success appearing in J.C.Williamson's South Pacific, Paint Your Wagon, T...

Kevin Coxhead celebrates the memory of dynamic J.C. Williamson's Showmaker, Betty Pounder, in a facebook group titled 'Sparkle Darlings!'. The phrase, was a famous expression favoured by 'Pounder' to prompt the best from her trusted stable of dancers and leading performers. Betty Pounder died in 1990 but has left a legacy that we continue to benefit from today. She was a unique practitioner - entr...

Kate Fitzpatrick is one of our great actors. She was born in Perth but grew up in Adelaide. It was in this city that she developed her passion for art and cricket and classical music. Her potential as a visual artist was recognised by Jeffrey Smart, who awarded her a travelling art scholarship to Japan. Her love of cricket lead her to an appointment as the world's first female Cricket commentator....

Hayden Tee is the boy from New Zealand who developed a career in Australia and then proceeded to conquer theatres around the world, with star turns in musicals as diverse as Les Miserables and Matilda. Curiously, he gave us seductive and thrilling villains in both - Inspector Javert and Miss Trunchbull. Though he would call them Antagonists. He recently returned to Auckland to share his acclaimed...

If you've ever had the pleasure to meet Peter Keogh and Sacha Mahboub, you are immediately struck by the immense love they have for each other. They complete each other. Witty and caustic banter always ensues, finishing each other's sentences and stories, and all fuelled by an intrinsic adoration of showbiz and gossip. They recently tied the knot, having to wait until the marriage equality bill wa...

At the age of 14, after seeing the musical South Pacific, Peter Pinne decided to be a composer. He enjoyed some success with radio competitions and, while working in his father's butcher shop, wrote for revues. He met his writing partner, Don Battye, at the Arts Theatre in Melbourne in the late 1950s and together they collaborated on a succession of musicals. The writing team of Pinne and Battye h...

In a boutique space, below His Majesty's Theatre in Perth is a vast collection of arts heritage. It celebrates and recalls the immense cultural past of live performance through Western Australia. The Museum of Performing Arts was founded in 2001 by Perth's living treasure, Mr Ivan King. The seed germinated in the 70's when 'The Maj' closed for refurbishment and Ivan commenced collecting materials....