STAGES with Peter Eyers

Evelyn Krape has over five decades of diverse acting experience in theatre, film and television, beginning as a stalwart at Carlton’s Pram Factory. A Melbourne-based actor and director, Evelyn is currently the Artistic Director of the Kadimah Yiddish Theatre. She joined the Australian Performing Group in 1970 when it moved into the Pram Factory, performing in such classic Australian works as  Dimb...

Musical theatre Leading Lady Ashleigh Rubenach was born and raised on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and is a graduate of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Most recently Ashleigh played Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard for Opera Australia and Nancy in the hit musical Groundhog Day at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne for GWB Productions. Ashleigh starred as Johanna in Sweeney Todd at th...

After 25 years at the Wharf, the Seymour Centre, and many suburban, regional and interstate venues, The Wharf Revue is calling it a day after a final show -  The End of the Wharf as we Know it!!! To acknowledge this milestone and celebrate the team who have gifted its with so much joy and laughter, the STAGES podcast revisits conversations with Jonathan Biggins, Amanda Bishop, Drew Forsyth and Phi...

Growing up Bert LaBonté had eyes on an AFL career. A chance meeting with legendary actor Terry Norris gave him the confidence to pursue a life on the stage and he was soon studying the craft at Ballarat University. Several decades later and Bert is an established favourite on screen and stages; dramatic and musical, around Australia. Bert is presently in rehearsal for  August: Osage County  at Bel...

Emma Powell’s first performance was at the age of three when she appeared on US television with Ronald McDonald. As a grown-up, she toured Australia in  The Pirates of Penzance  with Jon English and Simon Gallaher.  She then joined  Les Miserables  which toured to Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Cape Town. She went on to perform in  Mamma Mia  as ensemble in the original production then took over...

STAGES welcomes back passionate theatre historian Stuart Greene in an episode which details the life of some of the Sydney’s iconic  theatre venues. It’s difficult to contemplate that the Sydney CBD once was home to approximately 28 theatres and movie houses - sacred temples in which audiences experienced an escape of the imagination through entertainments as diverse as vaudeville, musical theatre...

Arax Mansourian is one of the superstars of the Armenian Opera and classical music. She started her career in her native Armenia and continued in Australia with Opera Australia. Her beautiful voice and unique timbre, as well as her iconic beauty and regal stage presence, are unforgettable. Arax was born in Beirut, Lebanon in a family of survivors of the Armenian genocide. Her family moved to Armen...

Wendy-Lee Purdy’s performing career has been varied and exciting. After completing a Bachelor of Music Education degree at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, Australia in piano and voice, she then studied acting at the Australian Academy of Dramatic Arts. She is presently based in London. Wendy's launch into professional theatre commenced with  Chess  at the Theatre Royal in Sydney, directed b...

Bruce Spence is a cherished elder and pioneer of Australian theatre and cinema. He remains a vital presence on these platforms and was recently seen in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Angus Cerini’s  Into the Shimmering World . The year also saw Bruce acknowledged as the recipient of the 2024 Equity Lifetime Achievement award. Bruce began his acting career in Melbourne in the late 1960s...

Bruce Spence is a cherished elder and pioneer of Australian theatre and cinema. He remains a vital presence on these platforms and was recently seen in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Angus Cerini’s  Into the Shimmering World . The year also saw Bruce acknowledged as the recipient of the 2024 Equity Lifetime Achievement award. Bruce began his acting career in Melbourne in the late 1960s...

Julian Louis is a theatre maker and has been the Artistic Director of NORPA (Northern Rivers Performing Arts) based in Lismore, NSW since 2007. The company has developed a national profile as one of Australia’s most exciting regionally based theatre organisations. The company presents a contemporary theatre program, made up of original productions, national and international touring works and arti...

Natalie Gamsu is a singer, actor and cabaret artist whose performances have been acclaimed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Sydney and Johannesburg. Born in Namibia, Natalie studied Drama at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She established a strong following with her own solo cabaret shows, musical theatre, and the television series,  The Big Time , for which...

Old Friends Mark Trevorrow, Rupert Noffs and Bev Kennedy have much in common; great musicianship and their love of Stephen Sondheim’s extraordinary songbook. They have crafted an intimate evening of cabaret celebrating the late, great composer/lyricist’s vast cannon. OLD FRIENDS! features solos, duets, mashups and medleys, with light hearted banter and stories in between. It is a classy, superbly...

Gregg Arthur is an original voice who has learned from and performed with music industry giants all over the world. His warm baritone and huge range allows him to embrace an audience with a tender ballad and thrill with outstanding vocal acuity, but most of all it’s his emphasis on rhythm and phrasing that has brought him admiration from legends and critics everywhere. Gregg started singing and pl...

Two of STAGES favourite Arts workers have recently returned from pilgrimages to London ….  and have inhaled the smorgasbord of musical and play offerings playing on West End stages.  Publicist Ian Phipps and ‘Man-in-Chair’; Simon Parris, return to the STAGES podcast to share what they saw .. what they liked, what they didn’t …. and perhaps even to boast a little. They provide first-hand insight of...

Silvie Paladino has established herself as one of Australia’s most versatile and talented entertainers. Her first theatrical role was Eponine in the Australasian tour of  Les Misérables . She was then invited to perform the same role on the West End in the London production. In 1997, Silvie returned to London and performed the role of Fantine in  Les Misérables  for a successful two-year season. S...

After originally studying double degrees in Law and Arts (Politics and Economics) at Monash University, Anton Berezin found success as an Actor, Producer, Writer and Director. He established his first Production Company in 1994. He is known for his roles in commercial musical theatre productions for over 30 years, in celebrated productions such as  The Phantom of the Opera, The Bridges of Madison...

Originally from Melbourne Australia, Benjamin Osborne made his stage debut in the original production of  The Boy from Oz . This was followed by appearing in  Shout - The Legend of the Wild One   and the original Australian company of  Mamma Mia!  During his time there, he assumed the role of Dance Captain for the Australian and Asian tours. Benjamin then took on the role of Dance Captain for the...

Ewan Campbell, Australia's No. 1 television warm-up artist, is the creator and founder of Stentorian Communications. He is an actor, director and presentation coach; a talented and multi-faceted performer, with vast experience in corporate training and facilitation, voice-overs, and MC roles.  Ewan has successfully written produced and facilitated presentations for a who's who of corporate...

Rodney Fisher is a stage director who has worked in most major theatres in Australia and for all Australian theatre companies as well as Opera Australia, VSO, Bavarian State Opera, Royal Ballet London and Legs on the Wall. He has directed in England, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong and at the Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina. He has worked in dance, film, video and written several theatre...

Rodney Fisher is a stage director who has worked in most major theatres in Australia and for all Australian theatre companies as well as Opera Australia, VSO, Bavarian State Opera, Royal Ballet London and Legs on the Wall. He has directed in England, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong and at the Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina. He has worked in dance, film, video and written several theatre...

In July we lost one of the pioneers of entertainment in Australia - Mr John Newman. We featured John in an episode recorded in March 2022. John Newman is the savvy entrepreneur who pioneered the glory of theatre restaurant in Australia, with the establishment of the iconic  Tikki & John’s  in Melbourne. The venue fast became an institution in the city and a haven for a stellar cast of performe...

John Bell has been named by the National Trust of Australia as one of ‘Australia’s Living Treasures.’ Born in Maitland, NSW, in 1940, he is a theatre polymath whose work has shaped the evolution of a distinct Australian theatre. Educated at University of Sydney, Bell acted in university theatre and made his professional debut in 1963 in the Old Tote Theatre Company’s inaugural production,  The Che...

Angela Punch McGregor graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1974. Her early roles were in a renaissance period of Australian cinema, with lauded performances that garnered her a slew of AFI Awards, for the films  The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Newsfront,  and  Annie’s Coming Out. Her career continued   in numerous television production and stage roles, working for most of the co...

James Elazzi is an award winning playwright, screenwriter and director.  His plays have been nominated in the NSW Premier's Literary Award three years consecutively, shortlisted twice in the Rodney Seaborn Award, four time award winner in the Sydney Theatre Awards and is a three time Silver Gull Playwriting Award Nominee.  James' sold out theatre stage plays include  Son of Byblos  (Belvoi...