Stages With Peter Eyers

A multi-award winner, Alinta Chidzey most recently originated the role of Satine in Moulin Rouge! The Musical for Australia's national tour, with her work receiving outstanding reviews. She has played Velma Kelly in Chicago for the Gordon Frost Organisation, and Anita in West Side Story, which saw her nominated for several awards, including a Helpmann, Green Room and Sydney Theatre Award. In 2011 she won the Australian Dance Award for Most Outstanding Performance.Alinta is an acclaimed jazz vocalist, songwriter and recording artist. She released her debut album with Hook Turn Orchestra, titled Jazz and the Silver Screen, a collection of beautifully rearranged cinematic soundtracks. She also released her original music with Alinta and the Jazz Emperors, titled I Got You. Both albums are available through her website and iTunes.With her burgeoning profile, Alinta is is frequently asked to perform at special events and concerts across the country both as a soloist and with her bands. These include iconic eve

London-based Australian producer Garry is the GM in RGM. With over 25 years experience developing, producing and managing ground-breaking productions around the world, he is an impresario of great vision and passion.RGM Productions is an independent, Olivier Award nominated theatre production company with an objective is to discover, develop and introduce new and compelling productions to new audiences around the world.  Established in 2012 by husband and wife team Garry McQuinn and Rina Gill, the company has an impressive portfolio of productions ranging from drama, music, dance and cabaret to children’s theatre and comedy.Garry is the lead producer and managing partner of Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical, the Broadway and West End hit show that is now Australia’s most successful theatrical export.  For the past decade Garry has been responsible for driving Priscilla’s international success; to date the show has played to almost 6 million people in 135 cities in 30 countries around the world.After w

Tim Jones has led the Seymour Centre theatre venues in Sydney since 2009. Last month announced that he is stepping down from the role.Together with a talented and passionate team, he has worked to position Seymour Centre as vital to the creative life of both the City and the University of Sydney. To achieve this he has initiated a range of curated artistic programs, focused on the presentation of outstanding contemporary performance and the exploration of big ideas, and driven by the principles of risk-taking, diversity, and inclusion.His leadership has resulted in collaboration with pre-eminent independent theatre companies to present the best new work from local and international writers and artists; the provision of quality performing arts experiences for primary and secondary students to enhance syllabus learning; and partnerships with major cultural organisations such as the Sydney Festival, Mardi Gras and Sydney World Pride. Supporting emerging and independent companies has also been a feature of Tim’s

Matt West is the Director / Choreographer for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. Matt received the L.A. Drama-Logue Award, the L.A. Ovation Award, New York’s Drama Desk Award and London’s Olivier Award, for the much celebrated show, which is in the Top 10 longest running shows in Broadway history - with 5461 performances.The classic story of Belle and her Beast has become an audience favourite around the globe. Matt recently returned to Beauty and the Beast, 30 years on, to review the show and bring it into a new era - taking full advantage of developments in technology, cultural shifts, choreographic influence and the abundance of magic, readily available from the Disney brand.Matt West has worked for the Disney Corporation a life-time, first joining the team as a Friend of Peter Pan, and graduating to creating productions for Disney Parks in Tokyo, Paris and California.On Broadway he has staged or choreographed productions of Lestat with music and lyrics by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and Mimi le

John O’May has worked in all areas of the entertainment industry encompassing music theatre, cabaret, drama, opera, concerts, comedy, radio, writing and directing.His music theatre credits include Godspell, The 20’s And All That Jazz, Seven Little Australians (which he also directed), HMS Pinafore, Crazy For You, The Merry Widow, A Little Night Music (for which he won his first Green Room Award for Leading Male Performer), The Phantom Of The Opera (in the roles of both M. Firmin and M. Andre both in Australia and internationally), Mamma Mia! and The Light In The Piazza (produced, directed and starred in this award winning show’s only Australian production). John played the lead role of Georges in La Cage aux Folles, Captain Bracket in the acclaimed Opera Australia production of South Pacific, Doctor Tambourri in Passion, Cardinal Felici in the international tour of The Last Confession with David Suchet, Herr Schultz in the musical Cabaret and Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.John has worked ex

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 actors playing Annie’s best friend Sandy in the iconic musical.Dogs are essential co-stars in a host of stage musicals whether that be Mama Rose’s Chowsie in Gypsy, Bill Sykes’ mongrel in Oliver, Paulette’s Rufus and Elle Woods’ Bruiser in Legally Blonde, Dorothy’s Toto in The Wizard of Oz or Eden Brent’s prized Pomeranian pooch in Bullets Over Broadway.Perhaps best known, as a canine co-star is Sandy in the musical ANNIE, who frequently steals the show.Luke Hura’s unique career began over 35 years ago and throughout his journey, has worked on some of Australia’s most well-known films, television shows and stage product

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 Only and Bernhardt/Hamlet in 2023.Prior to her appointment at Melbourne Theatre Company, Anne-Louise directed Stop Girl for Belvoir St Theatre in 2021. In 2019, she directed Avalanche, a new work by Julia Leigh produced by the Barbican London and later presented by the Sydney Theatre Company.In 2018, she was appointed the Artistic Director of the Lyric Ensemble at the Lyric Hammersmith, directed a new production of her acclaimed Medea for Theatre Basel, directed a new feminist adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People for Belvoir, Sydney, and her production of Sarah Kane’s Blasted at the Malthouse theatre was nominated

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 TV Week Queen of Pop Award. Before leaving the Young Talent Time regular cast, Byrne released her first solo single in 1974, He’s a Rebel. Her debut album, She’s a Rebel was released in the same year. Byrne's follow-up single was a second Crystals cover, Da Doo Ron Ron, in 1975. In that year she won both the Logie Award for Best Teenage Personality and the TV Week Queen of Pop Award for a second time. Byrne travelled to London to record at Abbey Road Studios with Cliff Richard producing. While in London, she made public and TV appearances, including on The Cliff Richard Show.Returning to Australia she made guest appe

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 TV Week Queen of Pop Award. Before leaving the Young Talent Time regular cast, Byrne released her first solo single in 1974, He’s a Rebel. Her debut album, She’s a Rebel was released in the same year. Byrne's follow-up single was a second Crystals cover, Da Doo Ron Ron, in 1975. In that year she won both the Logie Award for Best Teenage Personality and the TV Week Queen of Pop Award for a second time. Byrne travelled to London to record at Abbey Road Studios with Cliff Richard producing. While in London, she made public and TV appearances, including on The Cliff Richard Show.Returning to Australia she made guest appe

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 artists have taken to The Loading Dock theatre stage as part of the Mainstage Season, Pride Fest and Sydney Fringe Festival, performing to over 9000 audience members. The theatre saw hilarious comedies, heartbreaking dramas, insightful conversations, toe-tapping cabarets, groundbreaking musicals, inspiring literary events and more. As well as the Mainstage and Pride Fest artists, the Loading Dock partners with festivals and organisations like FORM, EnQueer, The Bookshop Darlinghurst, Sydney Fringe, and more. It is a space that proudly shares the stories of the LGBTQIA+ community, its allies and the wider community local

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 Australia’s Amateur Hour. In 1964 and 1965, he performed in three opera productions for Victorian Opera Company, then began a two year contract as Alfred Barrett in Robert  and Elizabeth for the Garnet H Carroll Management. In 1966/67, Graeme Ewer performed in The King and I, Annie Get Your Gun and The Music Man for Brett Adams Tent Theatre. The following year, he joined The Australian Elizabethan Trust Opera Company (which became The Australian Opera and, later, Opera Australia) where he enjoyed a thirty-five-year career performing seventy-seven roles. He was an audience favourite and was a master of characterisation and com

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 Australia’s Amateur Hour. In 1964 and 1965, he performed in three opera productions for Victorian Opera Company, then began a two year contract as Alfred Barrett in Robert  and Elizabeth for the Garnet H Carroll Management. In 1966/67, Graeme Ewer performed in The King and I, Annie Get Your Gun and The Music Man for Brett Adams Tent Theatre. The following year, he joined The Australian Elizabethan Trust Opera Company (which became The Australian Opera and, later, Opera Australia) where he enjoyed a thirty-five-year career performing seventy-seven roles. He was an audience favourite and was a master of characterisation and com

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 Music at the University of Canterbury, and gained First Class Honours from the New Zealand School of Music where he studied conducting and composition.Luke is the co-writer of hit musical That Bloody Woman, and the composer of The Unruly Tourists. Current projects include several projects with Australian collaborators and a new television show. In the United Kingdom, his work has been seen at Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Other Palace theatre, and he co-wrote the opening number for the last three West End Bares charity concerts in various theatres in London’s West End. His music has been sung by Broadway’s Andréa Burns, Olivie

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 Priscilla Queen of the Desert (NCL), Mary Sunshine in Chicago (MAT), Zach in A Chorus Line (MAT), John Hinckley Jr. in Assassins (Black Swan State Theatre Company) and Chantal in La Cage Aux Folles (Showtunes Productions).As a Wig, Hair and Makeup Designer, highlights of Nick’s work include Reefer Madness (RL Productions), American Psycho (Sydney Opera House), Miss Peony (Belvoir), Ghosting the Party (Griffin Theatre Co), Into the Woods (Belvoir), Midnight: The Cinderella Musical (Aspect Entertainment), The Dismissal (Squabbalogic) and A Model Murder (Sydney Festival).Nick was also Head of Wigs, Hair and Makeup on the Austral

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 bard!Early forays in the theatre saw John work during the foundation days at the Octagon Theatre in Perth. Working with Sir Tyrone Guthrie there, he toured with King Oedipus and then joined the Old Tote in 1972, playing in many productions including The Taming of the Shrew, Tartuffe, Love Labour’s Lost, Love For Love and Richard II.He’s been a part of seminal chapters in a developing Australian theatre including the early days of Nimrod, the Paris Theatre Company (with productions of Visions and Pandora’s Cross) and the experimental Actor’s Company at the Sydney Theatre Company.He spent three years as associate director

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 affectionately embrace as key moments in Australian television consumption.  He gained success and fame in Australian television series’ such as Cop Shop, The Henderson Kids, A Country Practice and Medivac.He won the Australian Film Institute's Best Actor in Mini-Series award in 1987 for Vietnam, in which he co-starred with Nicole Kidman. He played a rich would-be suitor in The Man from Snowy River II and was nominated again for his portrayal of World War II Academy Award-winning cameraman Damien Parer in John Duigan's Fragments of War, and in 2002 for Halifax f.p.His father was Australian Broadcasting Commission radio anno

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 away by the venue’s incredible sound, its intimate nature, and the unique and theatrical entry through backstage passageways.The Chief Executive Officer of Foundation Theatres is Graeme Kearns. He has led the company since 2009. Prior to joining Foundation Theatres, Graeme was Commercial Director of one of the world’s leading event production companies. Whilst overseeing the organisation’s theatre operations, Graeme’s primary role focuses on the development of the organisation, strategic operations, theatrical investments and programming.He joins STAGES to discuss Sydney’s theatrical temples, his own career trajectory a

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 series Kirbys’ Company (ABC) and The Restless Years (Grundy Organisation).In 1981 Tom was cast in the title role in the feature film The Man from Snowy River. It was an enormous box office success, and led to Tom being offered a succession of leading roles in Australian and international films and mini-series over the next several years. These included Phar Lap, Eureka Stockade, Flesh and Blood, Windrider, Piece of Cake, and The Legend of Kootenai Brown (aka Showdown at Williams Creek) as well as The Man from Snowy River I I (aka Return to Snowy River).In 1991 Tom sang the voice of the young Frank Sinatra in the Warner Broth

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 the first musical to occupy the Victorian Arts Centre during their Summer season.Co-produced by Victorian State Opera, The Australian Elizabethan trust and the Victorian Arts Centre the production boasted a stellar creative team that included Noel Ferrier and Ken McKenzie Forbes as Executive Producers, Roger Barratt overseeing Lighting, Andrew Greene as Musical Director, John Scandratt on Sound, Ray Golden as Wardrobe Master and Americans John Ferraro and Craig Schaefer as Director and Choreographer.The production showcased the extraordinary talents of Jon English as The Pirate King, Simon Gallaher as Frederic, June Bronh

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