STAGES with Peter Eyers

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 Heights, playing an exclusive and limited Sydney season prior to a South East Asian tour. Anyone who has ever seen an Emma Rice production knows that we are to be treated by another glorious experience of consummate story-telling.  Emma Rice is the proud Artistic Director of her company, Wise Children, and an internationally respected theatre-maker and director.  For Wise Children, Emma has adapted and directed the productions The Buddha of Suburbia, Blue Beard, The Little Matchgirl and Happier Tales, Wuthering Heights, Bagdad Cafe, Romantics Anonymous, Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers and Angela Carter’s Wise Children. As Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe: Romantics Anonymous, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Little Matchgirl (and Other Happier Tales). As joint Artistic Director of Kneehigh: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Tristan & Yseult, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, The Wild Bride, The Red Shoes, The Wooden Frock, The Bacchae, Cymbeline (in association with RSC), A Matter of Life and Death (in association with National Theatre), Rapunzel (in association with Battersea Arts Centre); Brief Encounter (in association with David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers Productions); Don John (in association with the RSC and Bristol Old Vic); Wah! Wah! Girls (in association with Sadler’s Wells and Theatre Royal Stratford East for World Stages); Steptoe and Son and the West End production of Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Emma received the Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre award at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards and in 2022 was named one of Sky Arts’ ‘50 most influential British artists of the last 50 years’. 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

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 South Australia in 2018. In his time at State Opera, Maunder proved himself a passionate advocate for finding a distinctive Australian voice, championing Australian repertoire, developing the next generation of Australian artists while still pursuing a balanced repertoire designed to reach the widest possible audience. His work as a director is highly revered and has ensured Stuart Maunder has remained a consistent presence on Australian stages for over three decades. A frequent collaborator with Victorian Opera, Maunder has directed several popular productions including four musicals by Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Little Night Music), Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen and a co-production of Richard Meale’s Voss with State Opera South Australia. Maunder’s production of Sweeney Todd was co-produced with New Zealand Opera and toured New Zealand and Australia following its debut in 2015.Victorian Opera recently announced their exciting season for 2025. Stuart Maunder joins STAGES to elaborate on this exciting season and to share great insight into a celebrated career.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

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 small sample of Grant’s multiple television credits include; Janus, Correlli, GP, Wildside, Seachange, City Homicide, Blue Healers, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, SeaPatrol, Jack Irish, HalifaxFP, The Librarians, Good Guys Bad Guys, CrashBurn, Newton’s Law, How To Stay Married, Wanted, Ex PM 2, and My Life is Murder. He also featured in the biopics for Olivia Newton John, INXS, Hoges, and Warnie. More recently in ABCTV’s flagship comedy UTOPIA and its flagship drama The Newsreader3. A few of Grant’s feature film appearances include Rolf deHeer’s horror classic Bad Boy Bubby, Darkness Falls, The Outsider, The Condemned, Crime and Punishment, Mr Accident, The Lighthorsemen, Crocodile Dundee in LA, Mormon Yankees: The Spirit of the Game, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, Predestination, and alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Escape From Pretoria. As a performer Grant’s one true love has always been the theatre. Highlights have included the world premiere of Realism, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The 39 Steps, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, His Girl Friday, and The Odd Couple all for the Melbourne Theatre Company. As well as Moby Dick, The Merry Widow, Taking Steps, The Producers, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Under Milk Wood, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hand to God, Oklahoma, Death Of A Salesman, A Christmas Carol, and credits his ultimate highlights as being Connor McPherson and Bob Dylan’s Girl From The North Country for GWB, and performing opposite his wife Marina Prior AM in Hello Dolly! Grant is back on stage in GWB’s annual festive delight - A Christmas Carol, as Mr Nigel Fezziwig. The Old Vic’s big-hearted, smash-hit production of A Christmas Carol returns to the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne for a third triumphant season from 22nd November! 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

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 Dimboola and Don's Party. She has performed with Victoria’s major companies, from the Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox and the Victorian Opera to La Mama and Eleventh Hour. Notable performances include A Floating World, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, Endgame, A Toast to Melba, Ginger, The Scoundrel That You Need, and recent seasons of Bloom and A Very Jewish Christmas Carol.  Evelyn has toured extensively with a number of one-woman shows including Emma Celabrazione!, Ironing Out The Wrinkles and Female Parts.  Evelyn has played several major roles with Glenn Elston’s ‘Shakespeare in the Gardens’ series, including Bottom, Titania and Verges. Her film appearances include Quigley Down Under, Babe 1 & 2, and The Sound of One Hand Clapping, and television work includes Australia You’re Standing In It, Flying Doctors, Blue Heelers and Homicide. Evelyn has received multiple prestigious awards, such as Best Actress for her role as Nellie Melba in A Toast to Melba and the Green Room Award for Best Actress in Ginger at the Playbox. She also shared the Best Actress Award at Tropfest 2019. Evelyn Krape is presently on stage at the Sydney Opera House until November 17th, in Kadimah Yiddish Theatre’s production of YENTL. She gives a visceral and finely detailed performance as The Figure. In 2025, Evelyn will be seen in Victoria Opera’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s FOLLIES and the Sydney season of the musical BLOOM at Sydney Theatre Company. 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

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 the Sydney Opera House (Victorian Opera), toured Australia as Milo Davenport in the Broadway-hit musical An American In Paris (GWB/Australian Ballet) and was much-lauded for her performance as Billie Bendix in the classic Gershwin musical Nice Work If You Can Get It (Hayes Theatre Company). One of her most notable accomplishments came with the role of Allison in Cry Baby (Hayes Theatre Company) with her exceptional performance earning her the Best Female Actor award at the Sydney Theatre Awards. Other theatre credits include Muriel’s Wedding (Global Creatures), Anything Goes and My Fair Lady (GFO/Opera Australia), Funny Girl (Sydney Symphony Orchestra) and The Sound of Music (GFO); in which she not only performed but also understudied the role of Maria. She made her screen debut as Lisa in Seven Network’s Home and Away. Ashleigh next appears with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in Showstoppers - a celebration of the legendary Broadway show makers, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.  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

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 Philip Scott. After twenty-five years in the harsh and unforgiving spotlight of politics, The Wharf Revue has decided to step away from public life. “It’s an opportunity to spend more time with family,” said a spokesperson. “At the end of the day, this is about the need for renewal. We’ll serve one last term to max out the super and then try to pick up some kind of consultancy work or do a series of “Survivor” - look, it’s too early to say but it has been an honour to serve the Australian people.” Many public figures who’ve appeared in the show regularly over the years are lining up for a place in the final hurrah: Keating, Howard, Downer, Costello, Gillard, Abbott, Carr and other throwbacks too numerous to mention. Those who bear the torch of democracy today: Lambie, Hanson, Bandt, Dutton and Albo - a veritable “Who’s that?” of Australian politics. So join the team for a joyous yet bitter-sweet send-off to one of the great national theatrical institutions. The End of the Wharf as we Know it!!! opens in Sydney at The Seymour Centre and runs from November 11th to December 23rd. An extensive tour follows, concluding in Nunawading next April. Check out the producers website softtread.com.au for all tour dates and booking information. 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

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 Belvoir Theatre in Sydney. He recently captivated audiences as Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. A long list of  musical theatre credits include: The Book of Mormon, An Officer and a Gentleman,Chess and Grey Gardens.  His Melbourne Theatre Company credits include: The Truth, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lungs, Rupert, Birdland, The Mountaintop, Elling and others. For Sydney Theatre Company, he has performed in Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, All My Sons, The Grenade and Spelling Bee, and his Malthouse Theatre credits include: Cloudstreet, I am A Miracle, Time Share.  Screen credits include Colin From Accounts, Erotic Stories, Five Bedrooms, Pieces of Her, Lie With Me, FISK, The Newsreader, Surviving Summer, More Than This, Jack Irish, Wentworth, Playing for Keeps, Upper Middle Bogan, Tomorrow When The War Began, Lowdown, Wilfred, The Let Down, and Squinters. Film credits including Animal Kingdom and The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee.   Bert has just made is Directorial debut with Melbourne Theatre Company’s Topdog Underdog, and in 2025 plays Maxim in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca with the company. 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

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 the role of ‘Rosie’ for the Australasian tour. She played ‘Hattie’ in Kiss Me Kate and ‘Fruma Sarah” in Fiddler on the Roof.   Emma took a break from mainstage musicals to create her own work; A self-devised comedy – Busting Out! which ran for five years touring Australia, New Zealand, the UK (including the Edinburgh Festival). Emma also created another female driven stage comedy – Dumped! The Musical We’ve All Been Through. An original Australian musical comedy Dumped! had three seasons in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne. The last decade has seen a return to major musicals for Emma, touring Australia in Kinky Boots as ‘Trish’ and in Priscilla – Queen of the Desert as ‘Shirley’. Last year Emma completed a four-year Australia-wide run as an original cast member, playing ‘Beulah & Others’ in Come From Away, before joining the regional Australian tour of Menopause The Musical as ‘Housewife’. Emma is presently on stage in the musical Sister Act playing the role of Sister Mary Theresa. Sister Act commences a run at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre on November 3rd. 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

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, burlesque, opera, cinema, circus, silver screen and legitimate plays.  Disappointingly, many of these cherished venues have been demolished, making way for urban development and consequently losing much of a vibrant arts heritage. Sydney saw its first theatre in 1796. Only a handful stand today, all housing commercial fare. These theatres include The Capitol Theatre in Haymarket, The Theatre Royal on King street, The Enmore Theatre in Enmore, The State Theatre on Market street and our newest addition, The Lyric Theatre at Star City. Optimistic news arrives occasionally, with the recent acquisition and (hopefully) salvation of the Metro (Minerva) Theatre in Kings Cross, purchased by arts patron Gretel Packer. It’s a frustrating tale, but also one of fascination. Sacred arts spaces where the memory of them hovers like the theatrical ghosts that no doubt resided in them. Stuart is a font of knowledge, identify where and when these theatres stood. We must not ignore this history and ensure we retain all of the great theatres that presently stand proud on Sydney streets, 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

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 Armenia when Arax was still an infant. Growing up in Armenia, music was a very important part of her life and she knew early on that she wanted to sing.  Arax studied at the Romanos Meliqyan College of Music and later graduated from the Yerevan State Komitas Conservatory, where she was the only performer of modern classical atonal music by young composers. During her studies she participated in festivals throughout Russia and The Soviet Union. After graduation, she started to sing at the Yerevan State Opera and became one of its biggest stars. Her repertoire encompasses more than 30 roles which include Verdi's- Aida, Leonora in La Forza del Destino, Desdemona in Othello, Elizabeth Valois in Don Carlos, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Leonora in Il Trovatore, Amelia in Un Ballo Di Maschera , Liu in Puccini's Turandot, Mimi in La Boheme, Tosca in Tosca , Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Elizabeth in Tannhäuser, Kundri in Parsifal, Katya in Janacek's Katya Kabanova, Kostelnichka in Janacek's Jenufa, Fata Morgana in Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges, Anoush in Tigranian's Anoush and Shoushan in Tigranian's David Bek. Arax’s recordings of medieval Armenian chants are an important part of the treasure vault of Armenian music. In the1990's, during a liturgical festival, she toured 14 cities in France with an all male Armenian choir. She has had recitals throughout the world singing the music of European Masters, such as Schubert, Schuman, Mahler, Mozart, Fauré, Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rachmaninoff while always including Armenian classics by Komitas, Kanachian, Berberian and her brother, composer Tigran Mansurian, in her repertoire. Arax is the first performer to sing many never before performed songs by Komitas, as well as his unfinished opera Anoush.  After moving to Australia in the mid-nineties, she started her work with Opera Australia. Her first role with OA was of Liu in Turandot, followed by Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana in Melbourne (OA), Sydney Opera House (OA) and Brisbane for Opera Queensland. She also performed Tosca in Tosca (Opera Queensland), Desdemona in Othello (Opera Australia), Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos, Katya in Katya Kabanova (OA Sydney), and Fata Morgana in Love for Three Oranges (OA Sydney). Arax Mansourian has appeared in concerts with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" at the Sydney Opera Concert Hall, Verdi "Requiem", Britten's "War Requiem", a series of concerts singing Hildegard von Bingen music, ABC "Swoon Concert" with Sydney Symphony Orchestra, John Haddock's "See My Children Fly" which the author wrote with Arax Mansourian in mind. As well as singing in Australia , Arax Mansourian has performed concerts in the USA, China, Egypt, Lebanon , Armenia and Japan.  In 2015 she was awarded with the First Degree Medal of Armenia. In 2010 Arax was Awarded with the Medal of Komitas by the Ministry Of the Diaspora. 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

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 by Jim Sharman. She next performed with the Australian Opera encompassing 19 productions including Der Rosenkavalier, Adriana Lecouvreur, Le Nozze Di Figaro, Mer De Glace, Fiddler On The Roof, L’Italiana In Algeri, Peter Grimes, Romeo and Juliet, Maria Stuarda, Fidelio, Verdi’s Requiem Mass, Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg and Turandot. Further theatre credits include: Sister Mary Theresa and Understudy Mary Lazarus in Sister Act (UK Tour), Mama Morton - Chicago (Japan & International); Mother Abbess/Frau Schmidt - The Sound of Music (UK Tour & Gordon Craig); Fiddler on the Roof (Savoy Theatre, London – Fruma Sarah and Shaindel, understudy Golde, Yente and Grandma, assistant dance captain); Mamma Mia! (international tour – ensemble understudy Rosie, Tanya and Donna); Oliver! (Australia and Singapore – Mrs Sowerberry and understudy Widow Corney, Old Sally and Mrs Bedwin); The Wizard of Oz (GFO), The Phantom of the Opera (Australia and New Zealand – Confidante, understudy Carlotta, Wardrobe Mistress and Mme Firman); Turandot (Sydney Football Stadium) and Cats (Australia and South East Asian tour – understudy Jellylorum/ Griddlebone, Jennyanydots/Gumbie.) Recent appearances in Australia saw Wendy perform at The Hayes Theatre in productions of Half Time as Fran and Aspects of Love as Elizabeth. Wendy has recorded six CDs, including cast recordings of The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof and nursery rhymes for the Department of Education. She has appeared in various television commercials, films and voiceovers. Wendy has just completed a season in the West End theatre district of London alongside Imelda Staunton in Jerry Herman’s Hello Dolly! 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

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 as an inaugural member of the revolutionary Australian Performing Group while studying painting and printmaking at the National Gallery Art School.  The APG developed an Australian voice for the stage, allowing audiences to see their culture presented in vivid stories for the theatre. The group inhabited iconic venues such as The Pram Factory and La Mama, with Bruce contributing to seminal works such as David Williamson’s The Removalists and The Coming of Stork, Jack Hibberd’s Dimboola and Barry Oakley’s The Feet of Daniel Mannix. His first MainStage production was The Alchemist, with the South Australian Theatre Company. A long and distinguished stage career includes numerous credits with the South Australian Theatre Company, the Melbourne Theatre Company, Griffin and Sydney Theatre Company in repertoire as diverse as Les Miserables, As You Like It, The White Devil, Under Milkwood, Cyrano de Bergerac and The Importance of Being Earnest. Bruce made his film debut in the title role of Stork in1971, for which he won the AFI Award for Best Actor. Since then he has amassed over 100 film and television credits including The Cars That Ate Paris, Eliza Fraser, Mad Max 2, Dimboola, Narnia 3: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Peter Pan, The Year My Voice Broke, Cloudstreet, Finding Nemo, Newsfront, The Dry, The Drovers Wife, Mad Dog Morgan,  and Ten Pound Poms. Bruce is the only actor to have appeared in each of the Matrix, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings series of films.  Bruce has been a proud Equity member since 1971, served as NSW State President, Federal Vice President and chaired the Actors Benevolent Fund of NSW from 2019 to 2023.  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

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 as an inaugural member of the revolutionary Australian Performing Group while studying painting and printmaking at the National Gallery Art School.  The APG developed an Australian voice for the stage, allowing audiences to see their culture presented in vivid stories for the theatre. The group inhabited iconic venues such as The Pram Factory and La Mama, with Bruce contributing to seminal works such as David Williamson’s The Removalists and The Coming of Stork, Jack Hibberd’s Dimboola and Barry Oakley’s The Feet of Daniel Mannix. His first MainStage production was The Alchemist, with the South Australian Theatre Company. A long and distinguished stage career includes numerous credits with the South Australian Theatre Company, the Melbourne Theatre Company, Griffin and Sydney Theatre Company in repertoire as diverse as Les Miserables, As You Like It, The White Devil, Under Milkwood, Cyrano de Bergerac and The Importance of Being Earnest. Bruce made his film debut in the title role of Stork in1971, for which he won the AFI Award for Best Actor. Since then he has amassed over 100 film and television credits including The Cars That Ate Paris, Eliza Fraser, Mad Max 2, Dimboola, Narnia 3: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Peter Pan, The Year My Voice Broke, Cloudstreet, Finding Nemo, Newsfront, The Dry, The Drovers Wife, Mad Dog Morgan,  and Ten Pound Poms. Bruce is the only actor to have appeared in each of the Matrix, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings series of films.  Bruce has been a proud Equity member since 1971, served as NSW State President, Federal Vice President and chaired the Actors Benevolent Fund of NSW from 2019 to 2023.  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

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 artistic development programs. Julian has directed theatre, opera and circus as well as large-scale site-specific works. For NORPA Julian has created a number of highly successful place-based works including Love for One Night - set in and on a country pub, Railway Wonderland – set on a disused railway station, Dreamland – set in small village halls and Wildskin, staged in a warehouse in the Lismore showgrounds. Julian has also directed Engine, The Bloody Bride and Not Like Beckett. He was also part of the creative team that made Cockfight by The Farm in association with NORPA.  Julian’s work as a theatre maker and artistic director focuses on original works that are created at the intersection of place, community and adventurous theatre making. These works combine forms including physical theatre, dance, text, and live music to convey the story.  Prior to creating an extensive body of work at NORPA Julian has made works for Perth International Arts Festival, Sydney Festival, ATYP and Powerhouse Youth Theatre. He is a graduate of Charles Sturt University BA Theatre/ Media, NIDA’s Directors course and trained as a performer in London with Philippe Gaulier. 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

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 she won, Best Actress in a TV series. From 1992 until 2003, Natalie lived and worked in New York City. She made her Manhattan cabaret debut at the Greenwich Village cabaret room, Club 88, where she subsequently headlined six seasons with her own shows. She went on to perform at the famous Oak Room, Fez, and The Russian Tea Room. She won the Backstage Bistro Award for Outstanding Vocalist and a MAC Award for Outstanding Female Vocalist in 1997 and 2000. Her debut CD Weave also received a MAC nomination for Best New Recording. Natalie featured in the documentary Showbiz Is My Life with the cabaret icon Julie Wilson and Baby Jane Dexter. In 1996, she made her London debut at the ICA, in Gary Carter’s Acts And Revelations. They collaborated again in 2000 at The Birmingham Repertory Theatre with Anger Is Not A Place I Like To Be commissioned by the Fierce Festival. Masque Of Water, commissioned by Queer Up North was performed at The Royal Exchange in Manchester in 2005. Since moving to Australia in 2003, Natalie has performed in clubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. She continues to create her own one-woman shows, recently producing her second CD, Misfit. Natalie has been delighted to collaborate with the extraordinary artist and sculptor Ken Unsworth, singing with a 19-piece orchestra for his installation A Ringing Glass at Cockatoo Island, and at the Art Gallery of NSW in House of Blue Leaves. Some of Gamsu’s theatre credits include Candide (Woman With One Buttock – Multiple Award Winner), Dr Zhivago (GFO), Mary Poppins, (Miss Andrew – Disney), Women Of Troy (directed by Barry Kosky for Sydney Theatre Company). Natalie originated the role of Abuela in Baz Luhrman’s Strictly Ballroom (Global Creatures). Natalie also works on the large and small screens. Her credits include the on-going role of Jan Barton in the long running Australian soap Neighbours, and the role of Fatima in the Feature Film, Ali’s Wedding. Her autobiographical theatrical work, Shrapnel takes to the stage at the Hayes theatre in Sydney from October 3rd to 6th. The show is an evening of storytelling, music, and a yearning to find the flamenco dancer inside. 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

Carmel Dean is a Composer, Arranger, Musical Director and Pianist. Her first musical, Renascence, was produced Off-Broadway by the award-winning Transport Group, and was named Best New Musical at the 2018 Off-Broadway Alliance Awards. The Original Off-Broadway Cast album is available on Apple Music and Spotify. Her song cycle Well-Behaved Women starring Broadway stars LaChanze, Bonnie Milligan, Liz Callaway, Barbara Walsh and Andrea Burns, among others, premiered to two sold-out performances at Joe’s Pub in New York City.  As a Musical Supervisor and Arranger her recent projects included The Notebook with music by Ingrid Michaelson. Carmel was Musical Director for the Broadway musical If/Then, starring Idina Menzel, and was Music Supervisor of the subsequent National Tour. Other Broadway credits include Hands on a Hardbody, American Idiot, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Off-Broadway credits include Everyday Rapture, Vanities and Elegies by William Finn. International credits include Chicago in Hong Kong and the 2000 Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Sydney. Carmel has also served as Chita Rivera’s Musical Director for many national and international appearances, and she performed with Green Day on the Grammy Awards in 2010. Other compositions include the YouTube series Project: Song Blog; music for the Disney TV show Johnny & the Sprites; and Songs of Innocence & Experience (co-composed with William Finn, Deborah Abramson, Vadim Feichtner & Gi-hieh Lee.) Carmel is a native of Perth, Western Australia, and received a B.Mus. from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). In 2001 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the United States, and subsequently graduated from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program with a MFA in Musical Theatre Writing. She is a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Workshop. Sydney audiences are readying for an enormous treat as Carmel is in town for the return Australian season of her delicious song-cycle Well-Behaved Women. This dynamic and empowering musical extravaganza celebrates extraordinary women throughout history. Well-Behaved Women is a co-production between Belvoir Theatre and Michelle Guthrie Presents. It plays the Belvoir Theatre from September 28th to November 3rd. 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

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 played and sung show with a cheeky queer bent. Bev Kennedy is one of Australia’s leading musicians and Musical directors having worked on over 30 Professional music theatre productions including Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia!, The Producers, We Will Rock You, The Lion King, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Chicago, Muriel’s Wedding, Heathers, Jersey Boys, Wicked & The Concert version of Sunset Boulevard with Judi Conelli. As Assistant Musical Director she has worked on Simon Gallaher’s Pirates of Penzance; the highest selling recording of a musical in Australian history & also won an Aria award for best soundtrack.   Rupert Noffs is a singer and actor trained at NIDA and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. As the grandson of the legendary Ted Noffs, founder of Kings Cross’ Wayside Chapel, he carries a significant artistic legacy. Rupert discovered his love for Stephen Sondheim at 16, performing “Being Alive” at the Sydney Opera House. Rupert has appeared on screen as Jacki Weaver’s son and played Bob Downe’s nephew, in both Sydney and San Francisco. During his seven years living and working in Manhattan, Rupert collaborated with New York cabaret legend Amber Martin at Joe’s Pub and Parkside Lounge. He was a judge on Seven’s All Together Now hosted by Julia Zemiro, and performed sold-out one-man shows at Claire’s Kitchen on Oxford Street.” Comedian, singer, actor, broadcaster and journalist, Mark Trevorrow’s 40+ year journey through Australian media and show business has taken him from the Melbourne Herald Sun, to cabaret group The Globos, to arts editor of Vogue Australia, to the creation of Bob Downe in 1984, to acting in Kath & Kim, singing as himself on Good News Week and broadcasting on ABC TV and local radio – then back to Bob again. His work has taken him from Australia to Edinburgh to London to New York, and it’s not over yet! OLD FRIENDS! is touring through November with dates in Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Check out the team’s Instagram page - oldfriendssingsondheim 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

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 playing piano at an early age, always loving the jazz standards from his grandmothers sheet music and listening to his father’s record collection. He gained professional stage experience working for Australian Opera in productions of Aida, Marriage of Figaro, The Merry Widow and more, during a classic era of Dame Joan Sutherland and Rita Hunter and met legendary actor and teacher Hayes Gordon during Fiddler On The Roof. With stage and acting coaching by Gordon and vocal training teacher Don Graden he soon knew how to perform a song with originality, confidence and knew how to own the stage.  He has always worked with and had great friendships with the very best musicians and orchestrators in the music industry. Performing with Don Burrows and George Golla, John Morrison and Swing City, Chair Of Jazz Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Craig Scott, Band leader and pianist Geoff Harvey, and Maestro Tommy Tycho with whom he recorded albums for ABC Music with a 50 piece orchestra.In the USA Gregg Arthur has worked with and performed with Frank Sinatra’s pianist and conductor Vincent Falcone, Bobby Darin’s pianist and arranger Bob Rosario, and Sammy Davis Jr’s drummer Clayton Cameron. Over many years Gregg Arthur performed at Herb Alpert’s Bel Air venue Vibrato with bass legend Pat Senator of Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, and pianist and arranger Tom Ranier.Gregg Arthur has released 9 albums, 7 compilations and 2 EP’s. His latest album out now is Gregg Arthur In Concert The Great American Songbook.  His reworking of Australian classic My City Of Sydney was released in October 2020. www.greggarthur.com 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

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 what we could expect, if finding ourselves in the Savoy, Dominion, National, Donmar, Old Vic or Barbican theatres over the coming months. Simon Parris is a theatre reviewer based in Melbourne. His review blog ‘Man in Chair’ regularly reviews musicals, plays, opera and the arts. Access to these reviews can be found at simonparrismaninchair.com Ian Phipps is one of Australia’s leading publicists, promoting theatre and its stars around Australia. If you know that a show is happening, no doubt it’s because Ian has communicated this to you via a myriad of masterful means. 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

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. Silvie’s other Australasian credits include the role of Jeannie in Hair, Grizabella in the Australian and Asian tour of Cats, Ellen in Cameron Mackintosh’s Australian premiere of Miss Saigon, Donna in the smash hit Mamma Mia!, Rita in the world premiere of Sideshow Alley, Lady Thiang in The King And I, Florence in Chess (Green Room Award and Helpmann nomination), Clara in Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, Helen Bechdel in MTC’s Fun Home and the Fairy Godmother, in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. She has performed as guest solo artist with Australia’s leading orchestras and has also toured with Patrizio Buanne and Michael Bolton. She has had the honour of performing with celebrated theatre composers Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim. Silvie is also well known to Australian audiences through her performances at special events including the AFL Grand Final, NRL Grand Final, The Boxing Day Cricket Test, The Asia Pacific Special Olympics, The Olympic Dinner in Beijing, A Night with Roger Federer and Friends – and regular television appearances including Carols by Candlelight. Her recordings include Silvie Paladino Sings Streisand (a live recording of her one-woman show for which she was nominated for a Green Room Award), Silvie Paladino – Christmas List, On My Own, When You Believe, O Holy Night and I Give You My Heart with the Salvation Army Band. Silvie is currently playing the role of Norma Desmond at select performances in Opera Australia’s production of Sunset Boulevard. 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