STAGES with Peter Eyers

Peter Cooke, AM PhD, is an internationally recognised performing arts educationalist, administrator, researcher and practitioner. Born in Brisbane, Australia and educated in Kuala Lumpur, Canberra, Southport and Sydney, Peter was the first graduate of the Theatre Design Course at Australia’s premiere theater school, the National Institute of Dramatic Art [NIDA] in Sydney, Australia. He earned his...

Bernadette Robinson’s acclaimed performances in multiple sell-out seasons of the one-woman musical plays Songs For Nobodies and Pennsylvania Avenue have confirmed her standing as one of Australia’s leading singer/actresses. Audiences and critics alike loved both shows: “The audience is on its feet with a standing ovation” (The Age), “Bernadette Robinson’s performance is theatrical alchemy” (Herald...

Lindy Hume, AM, is one of Australia’s leading directors, acknowledged internationally for fresh interpretations of a wide variety of repertoire, and for progressive artistic leadership of a number of Australian arts organisations, including Opera Queensland (2012-2017), Sydney Festival (2010-2012) and Perth International Arts Festival (2004-2007). She was also the first Artistic Director of West A...

Australian conductor Paul Fitzsimon has been Chorus Master at Opera Australia since 2019, and has worked as repetituer and conductor with the company since 2012, most recently conducting performances of La Boheme and Don Giovanni at the Sydney Opera House. He was Assistant Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2008/09 and has conducted most of the symphony orchestras in Australia, and i...

Hailed by the New York Times as a soprano of “gleaming sound, free and easy high notes, agile coloratura runs and lyrical grace,” Jessica Pratt is considered one of today’s foremost  interpreters of some of bel canto’s most challenging repertoire. She returns to Opera Australia to sing all the female leads in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. The production was in rehearsal in 2021 when it succum...

Kanen Breen is one of Australia’s most sought-after operatic tenors and a renowned concert and cabaret artist. He made his international debut, in 2003, in the role of Rodolfo, in Baz Luhrman’s Broadway production of  LA BOHEME in New York. He has been a principal artist for OPERA AUSTRALIA over many years singing an extensive range of roles including Camille in THE MERRY WIDOW , Nanki Poo in THE...

Anthony Costanzo's career as a performer spans more than 20 years. His theatre credits: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Mack & Mabel, The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber – Masterpiece, Pinocchio, Hair, The Witches Of Eastwick, CATS – World tour – Asian Tour, We Will Rock You, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Seriously – The Petshop Boys Reinterpreted, Wicked – Australian tour Stran...

With nearly 30 years’ experience and nominations for his work as both a performer and choreographer, Nathan is a driving force in the performance industry. After 14 successful years as a performer, Nathan began his transition into choreography and direction in 2006. He has since made a name for himself as a highly acclaimed and sought-after Artistic Director and Choreographer with an impressive po...

Stuart Green has been a fixture around theatre foyers for over 5 decades - as the genial bar manager who attends to your cocktail pre-show and at interval …. or sometimes even post-show if the theatre allows (a disappearing culture). Stuart commenced his career serving the clientele of Sydney Theatre in 1972 with his first shift being Opening Night of JCW’s A Little Night Music at Her Majesty’s Th...

Robyn Archer AO FAHA is a singer, writer, artistic director and public advocate for the arts. Winner of the Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer 2013 and named Cabaret Icon at the 2016 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, she currently performs highly acclaimed recitals of French (Que Reste-t’Il) , German (Dancing on the Volcano) and American (The Other Great American Songbook) song, wrote and directed...

Joel Fenton is a contemporary dance theatre artist. Born in Tasmania, he completed a Master of Dance at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2017 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) at Queensland University of Technology in 2010. His masters explored the process of creating and crafting contemporary dance theatre through his SITCOMS task based improvisation practice. Joel received a JUMP mentorshi...

It’s TONY time once again - the annual celebration of the Broadway community via their awards ceremony - The Tony’s - named after Antoinette Perry, an actress, producer and theatre director who was co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing The 2023 awards have been surrounded by some controversy as producers negotiated with the striking writers guild of America for cooperation to prese...

Peter Carroll’s distinguished career has spanned over 100 productions and 50 years. He continues to work in musical theatre, new Australian texts, and global classics. He has worked with the major theatre companies and commercial managements in Australia including, MTC, QTC, STC, STCSA, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, and Opera Australia.  Peter began his career as a teacher (English, History and Drama...

Peter Carroll’s distinguished career has spanned over 100 productions and 50 years. He continues to work in musical theatre, new Australian texts, and global classics. He has worked with the major theatre companies and commercial managements in Australia including, MTC, QTC, STC, STCSA, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, and Opera Australia.  Peter began his career as a teacher (English, History and Drama...

From an early age Tim Rice was a pop music fanatic. He began his professional life as a trainee solicitor. While still an apprenticed clerk Tim approached the head of Arlington Books, Desmond Elliot, with the idea of writing a book about pop history. The idea didn't impress Elliot, but the fact that Tim was also a budding song-writer did. Elliot knew someone in need of a collaborator: a young...

John Diedrich is one of the Australian theatre’s greatest and most versatile talents, having contributed to the industry across many platforms as actor, writer, director and producer.  John commenced his career at age 11 with J.C. Williamson’s, appearing in the classics Camelot and then Oliver!, playing the Artful Dodger. At the age of 19 John produced and directed his first musical, presenting Mi...

John Diedrich is one of the Australian theatre’s greatest and most versatile talents, having contributed to the industry across many platforms as actor, writer, director and producer.  John commenced his career at age 11 with J.C. Williamson’s, appearing in the classics Camelot and then Oliver!, playing the Artful Dodger. At the age of 19 John produced and directed his first musical, presenting Mi...

Welcome back to this companion episode of the STAGES podcast and our conversation with Natalie Mosco. In Part 1, Natalie shared anecdote from her vast career, particularly the period when she worked throughout Australia is many shows, garnering a significant profile. Natalie of course arrived in Australia via the Musical Hair, where she had been a member of the Broadway company. Subsequent stage s...

New York born, Natalie Mosco appeared on Australian stages over a three decade period in productions that included The Rocky Horror Show, Get Happy, The Conquest of Carmen Miranda, Company and Oscar’s Turn to Sing. Her earliest theatrical experiences were garnered as a dancer in a string of operas for the Metropolitan Opera House, as well as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty for Britain’s Royal Ballet...

Brett Weymark is one of Australia’s foremost choral conductors. Since 2003 Brett Weymark has conducted the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs throughout Australia and internationally. He has also conducted the Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Sydney Youth Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and produc...

A special episode of the STAGES podcast - a Mother’s Day focus with two of our favourite Mother/Daughter acting pairs - Belinda Giblin and Romy Bartz. Many women have followed their Mums into the precarious vocation that is the stage and screen. Whilst being witness to the challenge and triumph of such a career, it has not stopped them following in Mother’s footsteps - chasing the dream, telling s...

Born in Australia, Nicholas McRoberts studied piano, composition and conducting at the Melbourne Conservatory, the Victorian College of Arts, the CNSM in Paris and the Ecole Normale. He studied conducting with Robert Rosen, Jorma Panula and Dejan Savić. Today he is based in France. His works include operas, symphonies, ballets, voice, piano and chamber works. His Symphony No. 1 “From the Old World...

Katherine Wiles has been a full-time member of the Opera Australia Chorus since 2007. An essential and vital ensemble of players who contribute enormously to the world of the narrative being sung on stage. A stimulating position that sees the ensemble represent community in a breadth of operatic repertoire - as nuns, soldiers, townsfolk, mourners, socialites and sisters. But whether it’s dressing...

Danny Ball is a proud Italian-Australian actor, producer, educator and writer/director. He graduated from NIDA in 2016. Born in Melbourne; during high school he developed an interest in filmmaking and literature as well as being a committed martial artist competing at a national level. He studied a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne where he became involved in student theatre; perform...

In May, Emily Cascarino returns to the cast of MAMMA MIA! The Musical. She made her professional debut as a swing, and Sophie, Ali & Lisa understudy; in the 10th Anniversary Tour in 2009. Since then, Emily has played Nessarose in the Australasian tour of Wicked (Gordon Frost Organisation) and was dance captain and swing on Jersey Boys (Newtheatricals). More recently, Emily covered Emma Wiggle...