The Cast

Brenda Addie

Brenda Addie’s professional career has involved a long, varied, and international contribution to theatre, film and television as an actor, writer, producer, director and dramaturg. As an actor she has worked with luminaries such as Meryl Streep, Michael York, Richard Todd, Sam Neil, David Jason, Frances de la Tour, Max von Sydow, Terry Scott, Henry McGee and Brendan Gleeson. In Australia, she is remembered for her ongoing television roles in Bellbird, Chances and Neighbours. Amongst her directing credits, she staged and dramaturged six adaptations of the works of James Joyce for Bloomsday in Melbourne and premiered Anitra Nelson’s Servant of the Revolution. Brenda started her music theatre career as Jane in Salad Days. Since then she has played Miss Adelaide (Guys and Dolls), Bianca (Kiss Me Kate), Amy (Where’s Amy?), Aldonza (Man of La Mancha) and Madame Tetracini (Lilac Time).

Liam Ayres

Liam began Irish dancing at the age of 5 in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Under the tuition of his uncle, Raymond and aunty, Christine Ayres, he won 7 Victorian and 2 Australian solo titles as well as placing 3rd at the 2003 World Championships in Ireland.  He was an original troupe member of the Irish dancing show Dance of Desire before being offered a position with Riverdance. As principal dancer, he led companies in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and throughout Australia & New Zealand, performing on prestigious stages including the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and Radio City Music Hall in New York. Additional Irish dancing credits include Please Like Me (ABC) and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Liam is a qualified Irish dancing teacher (TCRG) with the Christine Ayres School and an adjudicator (ADCRG), selected to judge competitions worldwide.

Kim Bishop

Kim was nominated for a Green Room Award for his costume design on The Light In The Piazza (Life Like Company). His most recent design work includes The Wedding Singer (David Venn Enterprises) Australia, New Zealand tour and Sweeney Todd starring Anthony Warlow and Gina Riley. Other costume design work includes The 39 Steps and They’re Playing Our Song (HIT Productions, National tours), Jesus Christ Superstar, Singin’ In The Rain, The Producers, Kismet, The King & I, The Boyfriend, Crazy For You, Mame, Damn Yankees, 42nd Street, Sweet Charity and The Boy From Oz with Todd McKenney (The Production Company).

He has toured as Head of Wardrobe on many large-scale musicals including The King & I, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, South Pacific, The Rocky Horror Show, Aida – The Spectacular, Singin’ in The Rain, Shout, Moonshadow, One Man Two Guvnors, The Boy From Oz and Dusty. He has dressed on Grease, Cats, Sugar Babies, A Little Night Music, Shane Warne – The Musical, for Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet. For several years, Kim had the pleasure of touring the world as Wardrobe Manager with Torvill & Dean and

Zak Brown

Zak has performed for Music Theatre Melbourne (MTM) as Aenaes in the original staging of Paris. He has also appeared in many Musicals, Operas and Concerts around Melbourne. Some of his favourite roles include Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Molokov in Chess, John Wilkes Booth in Assassins and Javert in Les Miserables.

Paul Dawber

Paul Is a veteran of stage & screen and has appeared in over a dozen feature films including Erskineville Kings, Paper Planes, Underground: The Julian Assange Story and the title role in The Novelist (2017). His television credits are numerous with over a dozen TV movies and hundreds of TV episodics from Sons & Daughters (Todd Buckley1987) to Neighbours (Harry Sinclair 2017-20). Theatre credits include Jonathan Harker (Count Dracula) for Queensland Theatre, Mercutio (Romeo & Juliet) Laertes (Hamlet), Slender (Merry Wives of Windsor) Antonio (Twelfth Night) for Los Angeles Shakespeare Co., Two (All the male roles) for Malthouse, Antonio (The Merchant of Venice) for Ensemble Theatre, Herr Zeller/Von Trapp cover (The Sound of Music) for GFO and Lt. Schrank (2019-21 International Tour West Side Story) for Opera Australia & GWB.

Mark Dickinson

Mark spent eight years living and working on London’s West End and his theatrical credits include Irving Berlin’s White Christmas as Sheldrake, the original UK cast of Disney’s High School Musical as Coach Bolton, the original West End cast of The Drowsy Chaperone and Les Miserables including a performance for the Royal Family at Windsor Castle. Since returning to Australia Mark played the role of Feste (Twelfth Night), Jaques (As You Like It) and Claudius (Hamlet) all for the Australian Shakespeare Company; Judas/John The Baptist (Godspell) for Room 8, Col Ricci (Passion) for Lifelike Touring, Dan (Next To Normal) for Doorstep Arts, John Wilkes Booth (Assassins) and David (Company) both for Watch This!; Molokov (CHESS), Lt. Brannigan (Guys and Dolls) and Mike Kirkeby (Promises, Promises) all for The Production Co. He recently appeared Australian premiere of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.Previous Australian theatre credits include Jon(tick, tick… BOOM!) (Australian Premiere) as Gus/Growltiger (CATS), Mr. Fox (Mack & Mabel), Miles Gloriosus(A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), as Gauguin (Vincent, an A Capella Opera), Australian premieres of Sunset Boulevard, and Beauty and the Beast. Film and television credits include Paul Hogan’s The Very Excellent Mr Dundee, Wentworth (FOXTEL), The Leftovers (HBO), The Divorce (ABC TV), A Journey Through Time With Anthony (feature), Stories I Want To Tell You In Person (ABC TV), House Husbands (Ch9), Ned (feature), South Pacific (feature), Digital Memory (short), The Damnation of Harvey McHugh (ABC TV) and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber Masterpiece in Beijing (DVD).

Madeleine Featherby

Madeleine is a NIDA-trained musical theatre performer. She has performed in numerous productions since her first appearance on stage as a ‘street urchin’ in Les Miserables at the age of eight. Off-Broadway: Sofia in The Stranger from Seville (Theater 555, 42nd St.) Australia: Helen of Troy in Music Theatre Melbourne’s (MTM) inaugural production of Paris: A Rock Odyssey (Melbourne Recital Centre); Young Heidi in Follies (Melbourne Recital Centre) for Storeyboard Entertainment and Madeline in MTM’s production of 1980’s movie classic, Electric Dreams (Gasworks). Other theatre credits include Victorian Opera’s La Traviata (Her Majesty’s Theatre), Godspell (Melbourne Recital Centre), NINE (Melbourne Recital Centre) and performing with iconic Broadway composer John Bucchino in Stella Entertainment’s production of, It’s Only Life (Chapel Off Chapel).

Kieran Harvey

Kieran started Irish dancing at the age of five, drawing interest and inspiration from his Irish heritage and ‘Riverdance’ videos. Kieran competed from a young age in State, National and World Irish Dancing Championships. He gained numerous State and National titles in solo and ceili sections and was also runner-up throughout his career at numerous championships. A highlight of his competitive career was achieving a top ten position at the World Championships in Dublin 2011. Kieran has also performed professionally, including being part of the original cast of Celtic Illusion in 2011, and performing with Daniel O’Donnell during the Melbourne leg of his 2017 Australian tour. Kieran is a qualified Irish Dancing teacher, having passed his teaching exam in 2013 and currently teaches with the world renowned Christine Ayres School of Irish Dancing in Melbourne, Australia.

Nigel Huckle

International Tour: Tony (West Side Story) for Opera Australia, Les Misérables (Manila, Singapore, and Dubai). New York: Adding Machine(B-Side Productions). Regional: Lt. Cable (South Pacific) for TUTS Houston & Utah Shakespeare Festival, Fabrizio (The Light in the Piazza) for CCAE Theatricals, Hairspray (Flat Rock Play House). Australia: Jimmy (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Barnaby (Hello, Dolly!);Touring member of the Platinum-selling group The TEN Tenors. BFA Shenandoah Conservatory.

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

Adrian Li Donni

Adrian Li Donni, born and raised in Australia, is a graduate of Circle in the Square Theater School in New York. Since graduating in 2008, he has gone on to play the ill-fated lover Lun Tha in The King and I for numerous companies across the globe to critical acclaim. Some of these include for Leicester Curve and Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House. For three years, Adrian was a member of Australian recording and touring group The Ten Tenors, completing multiple national and worldwide tours. He appears in their most recent album titled Wish You Were Here (Sony Music Australia). Other career highlights: Le Fou in Disney’s Beauty and The Beast at Melbourne Zoo, The Engineer Miss Saigon for Gold Coast Art Centre, Björn Muriel’s Wedding for Sydney Theatre Co., and Kayama in Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures for which he received a Greenroom Award for best supporting actor. In 2018 Adrian was a finalist in The Acclaim Awards opera fellowship competition. Adrian has completed a Master of Arts in Advanced Vocal Studies at the Wales International Academy of Voice, under the tutelage of renowned tenor Mr. Dennis O’Neil. 

Cameron MacDonald

Originally from Melbourne, Cameron has forged a successful career on the Australian stage and screen. Credits include Beautiful, the Carole King Musical and “Tunny” in Green Day’s American Idiot. Other theatre credits include Matthew in Altar Boyz, Jesus in Godspell, Sondheim’s Passion, Miss Saigon, Mamma Mia, Georgy Girl, Life’s a Circus, Parade, Songs for a New World, Guys & Dolls, and RENT (Singapore). Most recently, Cameron played Tommy DeVito in the 2018-19 tour of Jersey Boys. This performance earned him a Green Room award for Best Supporting Actor. TV credits include: Neighbours, Blue Heelers, The Dr Blake Mysteries, 800 Words, and The Divorce.

Jordon Maher

Originally from Dharawal Country (Wollongong, Australia), Jordon is a BFA Music Theatre graduate of the VCA. Jordon’s recent theatre credits include Mayor Sapsea (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)for Little Triangle, the Soldier (Sunday in the Park with George) for Watch This, Talthybius (PARIS: A Rock Odyssey) for Music Theatre Melbourne, Georg (Spring Awakening) for Stage Art, Aaron (FIRST DATE The Musical) for Pursued By Bear and the Premiere Productions of, Einstein: Master of the Universe (RL Productions), Super Duper! (Echelon), Work of Art (Little Triangle) and Peaked Caps & Khaki (Wordsmith Theatre). 

John O’May

John’s career in the entertainment industry encompasses musical theatre, cabaret, drama, opera, concerts, comedy, radio, television, film, writing and directing. Shows John has performed in include: Godspell, Gershwin, The 20’S And All That Jazz, Evita, No No Nanette, HMS Pinafore, La Belle Helene, The Threepenny Opera, The Merry Widow, Crazy For You, Mamma Mia!, The Phantom Of The Opera, La Cage Aux Folles, South Pacific, The Last Confession, Paris – The Concert Version, Cabaret, The Dressmaker and The Divorce. He has performed in more than twenty productions for both Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Companies and five shows for The Production Company: Funny Girl, Kiss Me Kate, Anything Goes, Grey Gardens and Ragtime. John is most proud of his six Sondheim musicals: Company, Follies, Assassins, Into The Woods, A Little Night Music (Green Room Award winner) and Passion.

Kevin Purcell

Kevin has served as a musical director and conductor for opera, classical music and musical theatre for over 35 years in the USA, Europe and Australia.  He holds doctoral degrees in Theatre and Music. Kevin is also the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Australian Discovery Orchestra, the country’s most innovative professional symphony orchestra.

As a musical director, Kevin has previously been the musical director of the original production of CATS (1995-96) at the New London Theatre as well as for the South Korean Premiere production (2003).  More recently Kevin has conducted WICKED at London’s Apollo Victoria theatre and was the originating musical director for the first national UK/Eire tour (2013).

As an arranger and orchestrator, Kevin is much sought after for his American Songbook orchestrations.  His arrangements have been performed by leading orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra (Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), New York City Opera, New York Pops, Boston Pops and by artists including, Marvin Hamlisch, Stephen Schwartz, Kristin Chenoweth, Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, Raúl Esparza, Victor Garber, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and numerous other A-list Broadway artists.

Kevin originally studied conducting at the Moscow Conservatory (USSR) with subsequent graduate conducting studies at the Janáček Academy of Music (CZ) culminating in a Master degree in orchestral conducting at Bard College (USA).  Awards include: GOI-IES Scholarship (Ireland, 2021); The American Music Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award (2019); Tait Memorial Trust Award (London, 1996); Australian Music Foundation in London Sir Charles Mackerras Conductor Prize (1995 & 1994); Opera Australia Willem van Otterloo Scholarship (1993) and Bellhouse Conducting Prize (Sydney, 1993).

www.kevinpurcell.com.au

Adrian Ricks

Credits include: So You Think You Can Dance Australia, The Footy Show Players Revue, Victoria Racing Club, Melbourne Cup, White Night – Melbourne, AFL Preliminary Finals, Alannah & Madeline Foundation, Dancing With The Stars Promo, T.L.S Corporate Events, Twisted Broadway, Winners & Losers, Porsche Showroom Launch, Jaguar Launch – Australian F1 Grand Prix, Epworth Medical Foundation Dinner, Saxton Speakers Turns 50, Club Melbourne 10th Anniversary Dinner, Dulux Colour Awards, Heavenly Gala, Banksia Environmental Awards, Federation Launch, AMP Conference, V.C.A.S.S Malthouse Season and Cecchetti Ballet Conference. 

Christian Scallan

Christian Scallan is a Melbourne based freelance audio engineer. A graduate of the highly regarded La Trobe University contemporary music program Christian has gone on to forge a unique career in audio engineering. Christian has worked extensively in all areas of film score production from recording and mixing scores to soundtrack album production and music editing. His film credits include Elizabeth, Sliding Doors, The Bank Job, Australia and Red Dog. His music production and engineering credits include The Avalanches, Paul Kelly, Manic Street Preachers and David Hirschfelder. He owns and runs Melbourne’s boutique Soft Centre Studios. www.thesoftcentre.com.au

Angela Scundi

Angela has worked extensively across stage and screen in Australia and abroad. Most recently, Angela delighted audiences as Miss Flannery (Thoroughly Modern Millie)for The Production Company and as Millie in the new Australian Musical, Electric Dreams for MTM.  A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Angela made her professional debut in Newtheatricals new Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show (dir. Gale Edwards). Angela played Susan/Karessa in Pursued by Bear’s Greenroom nominated production of Tick Tick Boom…, Lucinda (Into The Woods) for Victorian Opera. For Sydney Theatre Company, Ilsa in the Australian premiere Spring Awakening and Suki Tawdry in The Threepenny Opera. For the Production Company, Ushrette/Lick Me Bite Me (The Producers) and Dulcie (The Boyfriend).  Angela returned to the The Rocky Horror Show for two touring productions in Australia and overseas for GFO and TML respectively performing as a Phantom, Magenta and Columbia. Other credits include Candy Starr in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Monster Media), Cindy-Lou in The Marvelous Wonderettes (Monster Media) the Lady of The Spa (NINE the Musical)for Manilla Street Productions, Cherry in Cherry Smoke for Sol III Production, Catherine (A view From the Bridge) forTimber Productions and in concert in No Regrets – A Tribute to Edit Piaf for Singtheatre (Singapore). Screen credits include films ELEVATE (Crystal Screen Productions), I Love You Too (Princess Productions) and B.O.A.T.S (Camerella Productions).

Sam Ward

Sam has recently performed the role of Henri Baurel in the Australian production of An American in Paris (GWB Entertainment). He is a 2016 graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, where he was awarded the Cassidy Bequest Scholarship for 2015. He has been a member of Platinum-selling group The Ten Tenors since late 2019 with which he has had opportunities to perform all over the world. Throughout 2018 and 2019 he toured Europe and the Caribbean, performing the role of Frank, and understudying the roles of Tick and Bob in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert aboard the Norwegian Epic. In 2017, Sam made his professional debut in Jesus Christ Superstar (The Production Company) and also played the role of Marius in Les Miserables (Free-Rain Theatre Company). His other credits include Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street (Free-Rain Theatre Company), Del in The Beautiful Game (Manilla Street Productions), Whizzer in Falsettos (StageArt), Sam in Together Apart (Gertrude Opera) and Ensemble/Assistant Musical Director for They’re Playing Our Song (Company Eleven).