Victor Kazan

Victor Kazan has worked in the entertainment industry for more than half a century – in theatre, radio, film and television. Born and educated in London, he studied Romance Languages at university before attending the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. After gaining professional acting experience in repertory, he turned to directing and was soon being hired by commercial theatre producers. Over the next decade he travelled extensively in the UK, Europe, Canada, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, directing a wide variety of productions – from the farce Two and Two Make Sex to the thriller Deathtrap; from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author – and it was during this period that he began his writing career.

In the early 1980s he took up residence in Australia, working as an actor and voice-over artist.  Over the next few years, he appeared in the movies Kangaroo, A Slice of Life, Sky Pirates, A Shifting Dreaming and Every Move She Makes, as well as playing major roles in the mini-series Eureka Stockade, Waterfront, The Petrov Affair and Black Boomerang. During this same period, he continued to be offered directing engagements, helming critically-acclaimed productions such as the hit comedy Funny Peculiar, the musical Blues in the Night and Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. Musical Theatre has been an important part of Victor’s life ever since the age of eight, when he was cast in the role of Little Jake in an amateur production of Annie Get Your Gun. Twenty years later he would write the lyrics for his first musical A Little Bit of Fluff.

His film and TV writing credits include Requiem for a Wren, The Madness That Was Kolberg, Stoker’s Boat, Hit the Ground Running and Dalkeith. For the stage, he wrote the revue Rome & All That Jazz and the trilogy A Question of Identity; and with his long-time collaborator, Kevin Purcell, he created the musicals Rebecca and The Stranger from Seville.  www.kazanandpurcell.com