STAGES with Peter Eyers

W.C Fields famously advised “ Never work with animals or children”. His advice would fall on ‘deaf ears’ for the creatives working on a new production of Annie, premiering at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in March. One of the creatives contributing to the show, in a very unique way is Luke Hura. Renowned as one of Australia’s leading Animal Trainers, Luke has been working intently with the canine...

Anne-Louise Sarks is an international theatre director. Her work has premiered in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Mexico City, New York, Auckland, Warsaw, Mannheim, Perth, Mumbai, and Basel. In April 2021, she was appointed as the Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Melbourne Theatre Company and launched her first season as Artistic director in 2023, directing the double bill  Escaped Alone/What If, If Onl...

Easily lauded as one of Australia’s greatest entertainers, Debra Byrne commenced her career as a child star making her television debut on  Brian and the Juniors,  a children's variety and talent quest, in 1969.  In April 1971 she became an original cast member on  Young Talent Time.  Byrne proved to be a popular cast member: going on to win the Logie Award for Best Teenage Personality and the...

Easily lauded as one of Australia’s greatest entertainers, Debra Byrne commenced her career as a child star making her television debut on  Brian and the Juniors,  a children's variety and talent quest, in 1969.  In April 1971 she became an original cast member on  Young Talent Time.  Byrne proved to be a popular cast member: going on to win the Logie Award for Best Teenage Personality and the...

Encompassing three unique locations, Qtopia Sydney is the largest Centre for Queer history and culture in the world. Nestled in the heart of Darlinghurst, it is a home for preserving and celebrating a vivid line of stories. It is no surprise then that the venue boasts 2 unique performance spaces; the Substation and the Loading Dock Theatre. In the 10 months since their first season, nearly 400 art...

Australia’s best known character tenor, Graeme Ewer, was born in Melbourne and appeared in the Australian Premiere Season of  South Pacific  in the role of Jerome - at age twelve! He studied voice with a handful of teachers in Melbourne including Gertrude Johnston and Annie Portnoj – competing in various singing competitions where he was a finalist in the 1952 popular radio variety contest  Austra...

Australia’s best known character tenor, Graeme Ewer, was born in Melbourne and appeared in the Australian Premiere Season of  South Pacific  in the role of Jerome - at age twelve! He studied voice with a handful of teachers in Melbourne including Gertrude Johnston and Annie Portnoj – competing in various singing competitions where he was a finalist in the 1952 popular radio variety contest  Austra...

Luke Di Somma is one of New Zealand’s leading composers, writers and theatre educators, whose work spans musical theatre, opera and television. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia. A Fulbright scholar, Luke studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Programme. He completed his Bachelor of Musi...

Nick Eynaud graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2014 and upon graduating, wrote and performed his solo show  A Star is Bored  (RL Productions) as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Further acting credits include  Young Frankenstein  (Hayes Theatre Co.),  Sweeney Todd  (TEG Life Like Company)  Last Man Standing  (Melbourne Theatre Company), Miss Understanding in ...

John Gaden is one the theatre’s cherished elders, having contributed to the Australian stage over several decades as actor and director.  He commenced his career studying arts and law at the University of Sydney, but when he joined the Sydney University Players, he was bitten by the theatrical bug - chiefly through the works of William Shakespeare. All thoughts of the bar were abandoned for the ba...

In this Vale episode of the STAGES podcast, we replay a conversation with actor Nicholas Eadie (1958 - 22nd January 2025).  When STAGES spoke with Nick in 202, he was enjoying a stint as an Uber driver - a sobering reminder of just how precarious the life of an actor can be - even one of our finest. Nick’s resume boasts an impressive list of high-profile television production that we affectionatel...

Foundation Theatres is a wholly Australian owned theatre owner, operator and production investor. Their current venues are two of Sydney’s premier large commercial theatres, the Capitol Theatre and Sydney Lyric, as well as a new intimate theatre, Foundry Theatre.  Foundry Theatre at Sydney Lyric opened triumphantly in February with five sold out performances by Tim Minchin, with audiences blown aw...

After graduating from NIDA in 1976, Tom Burlinson’s early work in various productions for the Queensland Theatre Company, the Old Tote Theatre Company, and the State Theatre Company of South Australia included roles in  The Merchant of Venice, Da  and  The One Day of the Year . He co-starred in  Tribute  for Peter Williams Productions in Sydney and Brisbane and played continuing roles in the TV se...

A milestone passed in 2024 - one that STAGES had every intention of acknowledging… but time just got away. It was 40 years since we saw the Australian premiere of a dynamic new production of Gilbert & Sullivans -  The Pirates of Penzance .  A legendary production in the   repertoire of musical theatre on our stages, for it marked the first for many young performers - and also happened to be th...

STAGES returns Sunday March 2nd!  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

Haul out the holly it’s the time we adore, it’s STAGES season finale for 2024. Throughout Season Seven we featured 81 Episodes showcasing an exciting array of stellar guests covering the gamut from on stage and back stage, to behind the scenes and front-of-house. All captivating conversations with celebrated creatives about craft and career. In the 2024 finale episode we welcome back various STAGE...

Emma Matthews is currently head of Classical Voice and Opera Studies at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. She is Patron of the Wesfarmers Young Artist Program at West Australian Opera and is a highly acclaimed and awarded soprano.  She has performed with all the state opera companies and the major Australian symphony orchestras; and at the Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Hunti...

Pamela Rabe is one of Australia’s most highly regarded and awarded actors, recognised for her immense body of work on stage and screen. Canadian born, she is a graduate from the Playhouse Acting School, in Vancouver, and for the past several decades she has worked constantly in theatre across the country and around the world.  Her  work has encompassed State theatre companies and commercial theatr...

Guy Noble is an Australian musical composer, conductor, pianist and broadcaster. He studied piano in the early 1980s at the Sydney Conservatorium. On a scholarship from the Australia Council he travelled to London where he worked for four years, including a stint as presenter on BBC Radio 3.  In 1984, he was pianist in the Sydney Youth Orchestra and from 1984 to 1986 in the Australian Youth Orches...

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 afi...

Roger Hodgman is a freelance theatre and screen director. He was Artistic Director of the Vancouver Playhouse for four years and Melbourne Theatre Company for twelve.  He has worked in drama schools in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia – including five years as an acting teacher and director at the East 15 School in London, two years as Director of the Playhouse Acting School in Vancouver...

Melbourne-born, Suzanne Jones embarked on a career in main stage live entertainment after completing degrees in economics and music. She got her start in the entertainment industry as a sound engineer at Arts Centre Melbourne, which soon led to the role of Head of Sound for System Sound, touring large-scale music theatre productions around Australia and Asia. After a hiatus of several years to exp...

Australian audiences over the past two decades have been thrilled by the periodic performances directed by dynamic UK theatre visionary, Emma Rice. Productions of  Tristan & Yseult, The Red Shoes  and  Brief Encounter  have enthralled attendees at Sydney and Melbourne Festivals. She returns to our shores in January 2025 with her company Wise Children and an acclaimed production of  Wuthering H...

Stuart Maunder is Artistic Director of Victorian Opera. Beginning his career in stage management at the then Australian Opera, Maunder has a long history in opera, as a director and arts administrator.  He served in senior management roles at Opera Australia from 1999 to 2008 before being appointed General Director of New Zealand Opera in 2014. He was appointed Artistic Director of State Opera Sou...

Grant Piro began his career in the early 1980’s soap opera  Sons and Daughters  and has since appeared in more than 100 productions. His work has been recognised with several Green Room Award nominations and two wins ( The Merry Widow  and  The Producers ) as well as AACTA and Helpmann nominations. Best known to young television viewers of the 1990’s as the cult TV host of  Couch Potato , just a s...