This event has now concluded, however you can see the 2020 program below.

Some session recordings are now available for some sessions. Information is provided on each page.

Monday 7 December

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Tuesday 8 December

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Wednesday 9 December

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Thursday

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Friday

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About the session

This session took place on Monday 7 December, 2020, 12-2pm AEDT.

In this first session of Music Theatre Futures, we will begin with an Acknowledgement of Country led by Head of the Wilin Centre at the Faculty of Fine Arts & Music, Tiriki Onus.

This will be followed by an opening address from Jayde Kirchert, Lecturer in Music Theatre at the Faculty of Fine Arts & Music and Project Lead of Music Theatre Futures, and an overview of the week’s program.

From 1pm, Tiriki will return to present and discuss First Nations perspectives on Cultural Literacy to ground the week of rigorous conversation and learning.

About the speakers

• Jayde Kirchert

  Jayde completed a Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and after a brief stint working in professional music theatre as an actor, she turned to before directing and writing. In 2014 she completed a Post Graduate Diploma of Arts majoring in Anthropology (University of Melbourne) and is currently undertaking a Master of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) at VCA (University of Melbourne).

  She has directed and written multiple critically acclaimed productions through her company Citizen Theatre, of which she is Artistic Director. Most recent Citizen Theatre works she has led as director/dramaturge include Forgotten Places – an immersive experience at Chapel Off Chapel and Kingston Arts Centre (supported by City of Stonnington and City of Kingston) and When The Light Leaves at La Mama Theatre (supported by the City of Melbourne) and Gasworks Arts Park. As a writer and director she has created Ascent for Theatre Works’ 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival program (supported by ShowSupport), Nude for the 2014 Melbourne Cabaret Festival and remounted in 2015 at the Alex Theatre and in 2021 will unveil the world premiere of her new sci-fi feminist music theatre work Mara KORPER at Theatre Works in 2021 (supported by the City of Port Phillip and Faculty of Fine Arts & Music, University of Melbourne).

  Jayde is thrilled to be the 2020 recipient of the Monash University Jeanne Pratt Artist In Residence commission, along with Peter Rutherford, to create a new feminist Vaudevillian spectacular, The 100 Year Revue.

  In addition to being a lecturer and teaching artist at VCA, she has also been a director and dramaturge for many new Australian works for the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Poppy Seed Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival and at VCA, as well directing VCA Music Theatre’s Morning Melodies concert at Hamer Hall in 2019.

  Jayde’s extensive background in dance and physical theatre converges with her training and research in music theatre and feminist dramaturgies, giving her work a distinctly elegant, yet playful and at times subversive aesthetic, and a consciousness that allows her work to speak to pertinent social issues of our time.

• Tiriki Onus

  Tiriki Onus is a Yorta Yorta man and Head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development, University of Melbourne. He is a successful visual artist, curator, performance artist and opera singer.

  His first operatic role was in the premiere of Deborah Cheetham’s Pecan Summer in October 2010, which he reprised in 2011, and 2012 for the Melbourne and Perth runs. He received the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust’s Harold Blair Opera Scholarship in 2012 and 2013. In 2015 he was the inaugural Hutchinson Indigenous Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

   

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About the session

This session took place Monday 7 December 2020, 5-6.30pm AEDT.

Hosted by Sonya Suares, this session includes panellists Laura Tipoki, Miss Cairo, Lisa Campbell and Richard Carroll. To begin a conversation around how we start to challenge casting norms in ways that are productive, the discussion will first take a step back, by considering casting within the context of programming and the broader culture, discussing the deep cultural significance of casting practices and the subsequent value statements that can emerge in casting. These concepts will enable a discussion around successful and problematic examples of challenging casting norms. Other areas that will be explored include: conscious casting, mistakes and learnings in casting, and resources and tools for more inclusive casting.

About the speakers

Host

• Sonya Suares

  Sonya has worked in film, television and theatre since making her screen debut in Ocean Girl in the 90s. An alumni of both the University of Melbourne and the prestigious WA Academy of Performing Arts, her feature films include Wil, Knowing, My Year Without Sexand The Last Ride and television highlights are Rush, Very Small Business, East West 101, Lowdown, It's A Date, Legally Brown, Romper Stomper, Next Generation and Five Bedrooms. From 2008-12, she served as General Manager at Red Stitch Actors Theatre, before taking up the role of Artistic Director at Monash University's Academy of Performing Arts. Concurrently, she founded Australia's first and only Sondheim repertory company Watch This, producing and/ or performing Assassins(2013/14), Pacific Overtures(2014), Company (2015/16), Merrily We Roll Along (2017), A Little Night Music (2018) and Sunday in the Park with George(2019) to critical acclaim and a total of 18 Green Room Award nominations and 2 wins. Sonya was also a founding director of Melbourne's Poppy Seed Festival 2014-16) and in 2015-16 co-created and performed Elbow Room’s smash hit We Get It at Melbourne Theatre Company's Neon Festival and Brisbane Powerhouse. In 2017, she performed Polyglot/ Papermoon Puppet Theatre's Helpmann and GRA-nominated Cerita Anak and MTC’s premiere of Melbourne Talam (GRA nomination, Best Ensemble). In 2018, in addition to reprising Cerita Anak in Perth and Indonesia and debuting Emilie Collyer's highly anticipated 'netball fantasia' Contest to rave reviews, she undertook dramaturgy secondments on Good Cook, Friendly Clean at Griffin Theatre Company and Enemy of the People at Belvoir. Last year, she toured Cerita Anak to the US, China and Singapore, starred in the Max Afford award-winning new work Whale by Fleur Kilpatrick; and co-directed an acclaimed season of Sunday in the Park with George with Dean Drieberg for Watch This, receiving a Green Room Award nomination for Best Director.

   

  Sonya is frequently involved in the development of new Australian writing in a variety of contexts, working with peak organisations including Playwriting Australia, Belvoir St Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, Arena Theatre, Lonely Company and New Working Group. This year, she oversaw the realisation of Watch This’ online documentary series, The Art of Making Art (Spotlight Selection, Melbourne WebFest) and is currently engaged as a dramaturg on Vidya Makan’s new Australian musical project, My Home Too. Alongside her performance, producing and dramaturgy credits, Sonya has served for three years on both MEAA's Equity Diversity Committee and the Theatre Companies panel for the Green Room Award Association. The driving force of the 2019 #justnotthatmanycampaign, she is regularly invited to speak at forums and panel events about inclusivity and representation in the arts, most recently as a keynote speaker at the 2019 national Converge symposium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0m5hM9o5lk  

  
  In 2020, Sonya was due to tour Cerita Anak to the Lincoln Center in New York, co-direct Into the Woods for Watch This with Dean Drieberg, and take David Finnigan's satirical black comedy, Kill Climate Deniers to Canberra at the invitation of presenters.

Panel

• Laura Tipoki

  Laura Tipoki is a proud Maori and a highly sought after musician and conductor. Laura is thrilled to be the Musical Director of the Australian production of Hamilton the American Musical opening in Sydney in 2021.

  Laura was the Music Director and Australian Music Supervisor for Andrew Lloyd Weber’s School Of Rock for the Australian Tour and throughout China, and Musical Director on GFO and Suzanne Jones’ Australian Tour of Wizard Of Oz. For Julie Andrews’ and Opera Australia’s 60th Anniversary Production of My Fair Lady, Laura took over as Musical Director for the 2017 Sydney season and was Associate Musical Director for the Brisbane and Melbourne seasons. She was Musical Director for Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Miserables International Tour (Manila and Singapore) in 2016 and Associate for the Dubai season and throughout the Australian tour.

  Music theatre credits include Wicked (Melbourne, Singapore, Seoul, Auckland, Manila) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide) as Associate Musical Director, Musical Director for the Waitress Audition Tour, and Love Never Dies (Melbourne), Dr Zhivago, Mary Poppins and Hairspray as keyboardist. For the Australasian tour of Chicago Laura played pianos/piano accordion, and was the Assistant Conductor (Melbourne, Perth, Singapore and Hong Kong).

  Laura was Musical Director and co-arranger for her sister Patrice Tipoki’s debut album A Musical Heart. Laura was keyboardist on the Love Never Dies DVD recorded and filmed during the Melbourne season in 2012.

• Richard Carroll

  Richard Carroll is a director, writer and producer based in Sydney. He directed an acclaimed production of CALAMITY JANE at Hayes Theatre Co, starring Virginia Gay, which toured to five cities in 2018-19, including sold-out mainstage seasons at Arts Centre Melbourne (twice) and Belvoir, followed by a commercial season at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre. Richard’s other directing work includes ONCE and AN ACT OF GOD (co-director) at Darlinghurst Theatre Co; SPAMALOT, GYPSY and SIDE SHOW at Hayes Theatre Co; THE BOY, GEORGE, a one-man show starring comedian Joel Creasey; THE SHOW GOES ON starring Bernadette Robinson, at Sydney Opera House and Arts Centre Melbourne; A NIGHT AT THE SPEAKEASY for Sydney Symphony Orchestra; and opening gala concerts for Adelaide Cabaret Festival and The Art House. He received a Sydney Theatre Award for CALAMITY JANE. He is also the producer and host of the popular podcast EVERY MUSICAL EVER.

• Lisa Campbell

  Lisa Campbell is a producer and casting director.

  She founded Luckiest Productions in 2007.  Since then Luckiest Productions has produced national tours, international documentaries and live recordings for DVD and cinema release.  They have won numerous Helpmann, ARIA and Sydney Theatre awards.  She was a producer of Adelaide Cabaret Festival from 2009-2011, with her husband, entertainer David Campbell as Artistic Director. 

  Lisa is a founding member of Hayes Theatre Co, and Chair of the Board.  At Hayes Theatre Co. Luckiest Productions has produced five musicals at the Hayes: Sweet Charity (with Neil Gooding Productions), Miracle City, Little Shop of Horrors  (with Tinderbox Productions) Gypsy and Only Heaven Knows.  

  She also has a casting company. She has cast productions including Heathers, RENT, Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert and most recently the forthcoming Broadway smash, Moulin Rouge The Musical.

  Lisa is a member of the Executive Council of Live Performance Australia and is head of the Musicals Panel for the Helpmann Awards.

  Lisa is also mother to ten year old Leo and five year old twins, Billy and Betty.

• Miss Cairo

  Miss Cairo is The Director of The People of Cabaret. She has been an advocate in the performing arts industry for her queer, trans and POC communities. She has a strong focus on mental health and well-being and is committed to ensuring that artists find their self worth and value in the work they produce. Miss Cairo has travelled extensively around the world, and has trained in many different art forms: Cabaret, Burlesque, Singing, Drag, Physical Theatre, Mask and Mime, Dance, Writing, Wig making, Costume design/making to name but a few skills! Her varying skills has helped her develop a thoughtful approach to live performance in regard to responding to, and being sensitive to, audiences' reactions. Miss Cairo developed a strong sense of improvisational techniques in her early years. Miss Cairo has fine tuned her leadership skills in being the founder of The People of Cabaret, an organisation designed to uplift, nurture and amplify artists of color in the live performance sector. She is committed to ensuring that the performing arts landscape is a safe, and regulated environment, with a focus on community and assessing the needs of individuals. Her understanding of the intersections of her identities (trans, queer, of colour and an immigrant) have provided the tools to understand deeply the needs of marginalised communities both in a micro and macro perspective. Her experience in the industry definitely is unique, and has essential perspectives which can help redefine how our industry operates. She’s pretty modest too…!

Please note: there is no recording available for this session.

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About the session

This session took place on Tuesday 8 December 2020, 12-1pm AEDT.

Taking Los Angeles-based integrated theatre ensemble Deaf West’s 2015 limited-run Broadway revival of Steven Water and Duncan Sheik’s musical Spring Awakening as her topic of inquiry, choreographer-researcher Sarah Wilbur (Duke University) will invite those gathered to pay close, surgical attention to the role of human movement in subverting norms of musical theatre production on and beyond the Great White Way. Her analysis of the plural functions of physical gesture on and offstage in this production together expose Deaf West’s efforts to challenge and upend production norms that have historically crowded out non-hearing performers and publics. After introducing her approach and offering a synopsis of the production, Wilbur will engage those in attendance in an informal dialogue about whether and how issues raised surface in other local productions, communities, and contexts.

About the speakers

• Dr. Sarah Wilbur

  Sarah Wilbur (she | hers) is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Dance at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, U.S. She is also a choreographer and researcher who studies arts labor, economies, and institutional support principally in a US context. She brings a strong field orientation to bear on her scholarship including over twenty years of experience collaborating on dance and arts projects across the realms of concert dance, theatre, musical theater, opera, K-12 education, health care, and Veterans’ Affairs. Her current manuscript, Funding Bodies: Five Decades of Dance "Making" at the National Endowment for the Arts [1965-2016] asks how money motivates movement and uses dance and performance analysis to link patterns of philanthropic over-resourcing to dominant patterns of dance practice, production and organization across the agency’s first five decades. Sarah’s research, teaching, and creative practice together recognize parity between artistic works that are performed and aspects of art making that are suppressed or ignored. https://scholars.duke.edu/person/sarah.wilbur

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About the session

This session took place Tuesday 8 December 2020, 1-2pm AEDT.

Universities and training providers generally have policies that articulate support for the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, with staff required to undergo training to understand such policies at regular intervals. However, despite this and the best intentions of staff, it cannot be denied that students have experienced harmful behaviours in their training, ranging from issues touching on race, sexuality, gender, body shape, consent to touch, personal beliefs, neurotype and others; signifying a gap between intention and impact. This year, I collaborated with over 30 people, comprising students, alumni and colleagues from within and beyond the VCA and, with Jayde Kirchert, wrote guidelines for our teaching studios that define not only our intention to make our spaces safer and more inclusive, but offer practical ways to effect this change within the context of singing, dance and acting training. In this session, I will contextualise the formation of the guidelines within the broader context of an ongoing action plan towards cultural safety and describe the process of collaboration and consultation that led to the guidelines’ development, and their implementation in practice. In so doing, I will offer a process that could enable others to develop such a document specific to their setting, to promote practices that will be of benefit both in training and as students graduate into the profession.

About the speakers

• Margot Fenley

  Margot Fenley (trained: VCA Acting) works as an actor, academic and acting teacher. Theatre includes productions for the Victorian Arts Centre, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Windmill Performing Arts, Darlinghurst Theatre, The Stables, HotHouse, forty-five downstairs, Theatreworks, Napier Street and La Mama, amongst others. She has performed in guest roles on tv series and commercials and directed within the education and the independent sectors. Margot has been teaching for more than 25 years, including twelve years as Head of Music Theatre at the VCA (2007-20019), where she designed, created and led the Foundation, BFA, and Honours programs. These days she combines her continuing role as Senior Lecturer (Acting) within the Music Theatre department with other creative projects. Margot has also taught for MTC, Bell Shakespeare, Playbox (Malthouse), NIDA, Federation University, the National Theatre Drama School, St Martins, and within schools. She is currently completing an MFA (Theatre), exploring the use of Michael Chekhov technique for improvising, devising and writing solo performance. She’s been a proud Equity member since 1991.

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About the session

This session took place on Tuesday 8 December 2020, 5-6pm AEDT.

Hosted by Fiona Choi and including a panel with Wesley Enoch (Artistic Director Sydney Festival), Matt Lutton (Artistic Director Malthouse Theatre), Marline Zaibak (Company and Casting Manager Malthouse Theatre) and Paige Rattray (Associate Director STC), this conversation focuses on mainstage contexts, discussing the initiatives, processes and policies that have been created to make the workplace more inclusive and productive. It will also branch out into what work remains and what challenges lie ahead. Music Theatre has a place within the broader theatre ecology, and producers, directors and anyone who hold space in professional theatre will no doubt find many invaluable take-away messages and learnings applicable to music theatre practice.

About the speakers

Host

• Fiona Choi

  Fiona Choi is proud her performing career features so many diverse & authentic stories. She is well-known to theatre-goers for her recent roles in MTC’s Torch The Place, Golden Shield & The Lady In The Van, as well as her acclaimed one woman show Dragon Lady: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong originally created for the 2019 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

  A graduate of WAAPA Musical Theatre, Fiona was an original member of the Australian companies of RENT (Cameron Mackintosh) Mamma Mia! (Dainty/Littlestar) and Metamorphoses (MTC).

  Fiona then spent 15 years living in New York, where she appeared Off-Broadway in The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Silken Phoenix and guest-starred on television in Homeland, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Person Of Interest, The Big C & The Newsroom. She was also involved in the development of many new musical works including Apathy: The Gen X Musical, FAMBAM360, Happy People by Matthew Lee Robinson, and The Street (MITF nominated Best Actress). Fiona also worked extensively as a casting director and resident director during her years in NYC.

  Today, Fiona is perhaps best-known for Benjamin Law’s SBS Comedy The Family Law, for which she has received an AACTA nomination (Best Performance in Television Comedy) as well as 3 Equity Ensemble Awards.  Other recent television highlights include Mustangs FC, The Letdown, Utopia, Wentworth, Get Krack!n & My Life Is Murder.

Panel

• Wesley Enoch

  Wesley Enoch is a writer and director and the current Artistic Director at the Sydney Festival. He hails from Stradbroke Island (Minjeribah) and is a proud Noonuccal Nuugi man.

  Previously Wesley has been the Artistic Director at Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts; Artistic Director at Ilbijerri Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative and the Associate Artistic Director at Belvoir Street Theatre. Wesley’s other residencies include Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company; the 2002 Australia Council Cite Internationale des Arts Residency in Paris and the Australia Council Artistic Director for the Australian Delegation to the 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts. He was creative consultant, segment director and indigenous consultant for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. 

  Wesley has written and directed iconic Indigenous theatre productions. THE 7 STAGES OF GRIEVING which Wesley directed and co-wrote with Deborah Mailman was first produced in 1995 and continues to tour both nationally and internationally.  Others include THE SUNSHINE CLUB for Queensland Theatre Company and a new adaptation of Medea by Euripides’; BLACK MEDEA. His play THE STORY OF THE MIRACLES AT COOKIE’S TABLE won the 2005 Patrick White Playwrights’ Award. 

  In 2004 Wesley directed the original stage production of THE SAPPHIRES which won the 2005 Helpmann Award for Best Play. Other productions include STOLEN, RIVERLAND, MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, HEADFUL OF LOVE, BOMBSHELLS, BLACK DIGGERS, GASP!, COUNTRY SONG, HAPPY DAYS and THE ODD COUPLE, I AM EORA, ONE NIGHT THE MOON, THE MAN FROM MUKINUPIN, YIBIYUNG, PARRAMATTA GIRLS, CAPRICORNIA, THE CHERRY PICKERS and ROMEO AND JULIET.

  His most recent production is BLACK COCKATOO, which premiered at the 2020 Sydney Festival.

• Matt Lutton

  Matthew Lutton is Malthouse Theatre’s Artistic Director and Co-CEO. Prior to this, he was Malthouse Theatre’s Associate Director, and the Artistic Director of ThinIce in Perth.

  Directing credits for Malthouse Theatre:  Solaris (Lyric Hammersmith London, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh), Cloudstreet, Melancholia, Bliss, Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets, The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man, Away, Edward II, Picnic at Hanging Rock (Barbican London, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh), I Am a Miracle, Night on Bald Mountain, The Bloody Chamber, Dance of Death, Pompeii, L.A., On the Misconception of Oedipus, Die Winterreise and Tartuffe. For Sydney Theatre Company he has directed The Trial, The Mysteries: Genesis, and The Duel. Other directing credits include: Love Me Tender for Belvoir Theatre and Don’t Say the Words for Griffin Theatre Company. His opera directing credits include: Make No Noise for the Bavarian State Opera, Strauss’ Elektra for Opera Australia and West Australian Opera, and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman for New Zealand Opera.

• Marline Zaibak

  Marline is a dedicated arts producer specialising in community/ civic engagement and casting. Currently Marline is the Company and Casting Manager at Malthouse Theatre. 

  Marline held positions as the Director of Public Programming- Intersection for the Arts (San Francisco) Art Centre Melbourne as the Producer – Participation, Family and Youth Programs as the Coordinator of City of Melbourne’s Creative Space Program and Creative Producer of the Anti-Racism Action Band. Marline has a long history in advocacy for diversity in the arts and  held positions on the Emerging Arts Professionals Advisory Board (San Francisco), Silicon Valley Creates Advisory Board (San Jose), Storefront lab Artistic Advisory Panel (San Francisco), Platform Youth Theatre Board of Management (Melbourne) and Melbourne Workers Theatre Board of Management (Melbourne).

• Paige Rattray

  Paige is currently Sydney Theatre Company’s Associate Director, after holding the role of Associate Artistic Director at Queensland Theatre.

  Prior to that, she was Sydney Theatre Company’s Richard Wherrett Fellow and has previously directed Triple X, The Deep Blue Sea, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, How to Rule the World, Black is the New White, Australian Graffiti, Power Plays and Boys will be boys for STC.

  Paige is co-founder of independent theatre company Arthur, was the 2011 Resident Director at Griffin Theatre Company as well as the company’s 2010 Affiliate Director.

  Other directing credits include, Queensland Theatre: Hedda, Scenes from a Marriage, Switzerland. Belvoir: Fangirls (with Queensland Theatre in association with ATYP). Arthur: Bright World (with Theatreworks), The Sea Project, Return to Earth (with Griffin Independent), The Myth Project: Twin (with MTC NEON), The Mesh (with Red Stitch) The Midlands (with Mudlark), Dirtyland (with The Spare Room), Cut Snake.Milk Crate Theatre: This House is Mine.

  Paige won Best Direction of a Mainstage Production for The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Best Production of a Mainstage Musical for Fangirls at the 2019 Sydney Theatre Awards, Best Mainstage Production at the 2016 Matilda Awards for Switzerland. She is a graduate of NIDA.

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About the session

This session took place on Tuesday 8 December 2020, 6-7pm AEDT.

Hosted by Callum Francis, this in depth conversation with noted commercial producer Michael Cassel is not to be missed. This pre-recorded session will be screened exclusively for registered attendees and will cover a range of topics that are pertinent to the future of music theatre. Michael Cassel will discuss initiatives and processes that reflect values of inclusion at the Michael Cassel Group, and will give  viewers an insight into how these values support and result in producing high quality, innovative and meaningful shows.

This is followed by an interview with Callum Francis hosted by Jayde Kirchert, talking about his exciting new initiative, ‘We The Industry’.

Anyone interested in producing, creating opportunities for new music theatre or passionate about the future of the industry will find this conversation inspiring and enlightening.

About the speakers

• Michael Cassel

  Michael Cassel is an internationally recognised producer and entertainment executive. He formed his  company, the Michael Cassel Group, to produce and present the world’s greatest musical and theatrical  productions, live entertainment experiences, marquee events and concert attractions. 

  Current productions include the first international touring production of the world’s #1 musical, Disney’s The  Lion King, which has enjoyed triumphant seasons in the Singapore, Daegu, Seoul, Busan, Taipei, Bangkok  and Hong Kong. 

  Michael is the Executive Producer of the Australian premiere production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child  playing exclusively in Melbourne at the Princess Theatre. The record-breaking play is produced by Sonia  Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions. 

  In March 2021, Michael will produce the Australasian premiere of the landmark, multi-award-winning musical  Hamilton at the Sydney Lyric Theatre.  

  Previous productions include the triumphant 19-month Australian and international tour of Les Misérables, the  Helpmann Award®-winning Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, the 10th Anniversary Tour of Priscilla Queen of  the Desert, the Australian premiere of Cyndi Lauper’s acclaimed Kinky Boots and the Australian and Asian  tour of Singin’ in the Rain. Concerts and events include the outdoor stadium spectacular The Royal Edinburgh  Military Tattoo at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, the opening celebration of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and  tours including Celeste Barber, Lea Salonga, Tina Arena, Rita Wilson and Darren Criss. Broadway and West  End co-producer credits include DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt, Pretty Woman: The Musical and The Cher  Show. 

  In addition to his theatrical interests, Michael exclusively represents former Australian Prime Minister, The Hon.  Julia Gillard AC, former Olympian and global sporting administrator, Lord Sebastian Coe CH, KBE, Channel  Nine’s Liz Hayes, and media personality, Sami Lukis. 

  During his ten-year tenure with Disney Theatrical Group, the live entertainment division of The Walt Disney  Company, he produced the company’s Broadway stage productions, including The Lion King, Beauty and  the Beast, Tarzan, AIDA, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid and High School Musical. Michael also supported  Disney on Ice and Disney Live! licensed to Feld Entertainment, in international markets. 

  Michael began his professional career working with Australia’s foremost entertainment entrepreneur and  celebrity manager, Harry M. Miller. 

  Michael lives in Sydney with his wife Camille and their children Eveleigh and Vaughn.

• Callum Francis

  Award winning British actor Callum Francis is best known for his portrayal as Lola in the hit musical KINKY BOOTS for Broadway, the UK and Australia.

  Callum opened in the Australian tour of KINKY BOOTS direct from the original London production at the Adelphi Theatre where he understudied the role. He subsequently won the 2017 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical and the Green Room Award for Male Lead in a Musical.

  Callum's West End credits include Cameron Mackintosh's London revival of Miss Saigon, Disney's The Lion King, Ghost and Naked Boys Singing. Internationally Callum has toured with HAIR the Musical and opened the Shanghai Culture Square with Ultimate Broadway.

  Callum trained at Laine Theatre Arts, Epsom, UK, graduating in 2010.

  Callum was delighted to tour Australia with KINKY BOOTS and fell head over heels with the country which he now calls home.

  Callum will soon be appearing as COLLINS in RENT at the Sydney Opera House.

  W: https://callumfrancisofficial.com/

  IG: callumf

A recording of the conversation with Jayde & Callum is available below. The conversation between Michael & Callum is not available.

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About the session

This workshop took place Wednesday 9 December 2020, 12-2pm AEDT.

In this two hour session Elsa will discuss her experiences working in racial justice and living her identities through performance, and provide a 1.5hr teaser version of Hue’s 101 antiracism training. This workshop is interactive and for all knowledge levels, designed to develop shared understandings and vocabulary about what racism is and its impacts. The training is developed from strengths based, peer-to-peer learning frameworks and uses facilitated conversations to develop understanding together. This workshop is part of a multiple workshop training series that you can find more about at http://hue.org.au/workshops

About the speakers

• Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg

  Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg (she/her) is a queer, Jewish and Chinese woman of colour. She is an activist, educator, facilitator and performer, with a background in youth empowerment and social change. She is the Director of Training at Democracy in Colour, a POC run campaigning organisation for racial and economic justice, establishing their training program in 2017. In 2020 she co-founded Hue: Colour the Conversation, an organisation that delivers antiracism and social justice training programs, empowers people with lived experience and provides ongoing consultation to organisations working towards racial justice and inclusion. She has a background in musical theatre and recently performed in the sold out Melbourne Fringe Festival show Safeword, an Asian, queer exploration of sex. At the start of this year she was cast as Poona in the Next Wave Festival show: Poona, an immersive theatre piece performed at the Chinese Immigration Museum. She recently completed her Social Work honours thesis exploring how Australian, multiracial people of colour from multiple minority heritages engage with their ethnic identities.

Please note there is no recording available for this session.

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About the session

This session took place Wednesday 9 December 2020, 5-6pm AEDT

This session is a must for directors, producers, stage managers and anyone who holds space for actors. Presented by certified Intimacy Coordinator, Michala Banas, this session will explain what intimacy coordination is, why it’s important for your practice and what it looks like in practice. Fundamental principles will be introduced to give practitioners and leaders an understanding of how to create professional, safe and enjoyable rehearsal spaces that involve intimate content. If you’ve ever wondered what an intimacy coordinator is and whether your production needs one, don’t miss out on this session.

About the speakers

• Michala Banas

  Michala Banas is a multi award-winning film, television and theatre actor. Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, Michala's career began very early with her first film credit at the age of 5. Since then, she has forged a remarkable acting career, starring in over 40 film, television and theatre productions. She quickly became the go-to girl for drama in Australia and more recently has been in high demand for comedy after the huge international success of Upper Middle Bogan, in which she played the much loved and feisty Amber Wheeler. Michala is also a writer, a founding member and co-artistic director of Green room nominated theatre company, The KIN Collective, and is also associate producer on the ground breaking documentary, The Show Must Go On.

  Michala trained as an Intimacy Coordinator in the UK in 2019 at IOS (Intimacy On Set) with Ita O’Brien. Since becoming an Intimacy Coordinator, she has worked on: “Faust” for Opera Australia, “Kiss of The Spiderwoman”, “Home I’m Darling”, “Torch The Place” and “Emerald City” for MTC, “Black Ties” for Ilbijerri Theatre Company, as well as the Netflix series “Clickbait” currently filming in Melbourne.

   

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About the session

This session took place on Wednesday 9 December 2020, 6-7pm AEDT.

The pressures of the performing arts industry are well-known, as is the impact they can have on our collective mental health and wellbeing. Leaders across the music theatre industry play a critical role in creating mentally healthy workplaces, and doing so is more important now than ever before. This session will give a brief overview of some of the simple steps you can take to help enable everyone in our industry to do their best work.

About the speakers

• Tracy Margieson - Arts Wellbeing Collective

  In 2016, research highlighted startling statistics regarding the mental health and wellbeing of performing arts workers in Australia. In response, Arts Centre Melbourne launched the Arts Wellbeing Collective, a mental health and wellbeing program specifically tailored for the performing arts industry. Following the success of the Pilot Program in 2017, the Arts Wellbeing Collective has grown rapidly to be a comprehensive, sector-wide initiative – the only one of its kind anywhere in the world. Head of Program, Tracy Margieson has been leading the initiative since its inception.

   

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About the session

This session took place Thursday 10 December 2020, 12-1pm AEDT.

Daniel Fish is a New York-based director, best known for his 2019 production of OKLAHOMA! which transferred to Broadway from St. Ann’s Warehouse, and won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival. This groundbreaking production was applauded for its casting and overall innovative approach to an American classic. This conversation will be a rare glimpse into the thinking and process behind creating an award winning, radical revival. Fish will also talk about his previous works, known for pushing the boundaries of traditional categories of performance. Hosted by Margot Fenley, this fascinating conversation with an internationally acclaimed director is not to be missed!

About the speakers

• Daniel Fish

  Daniel Fish is a New York-based director who makes work across the boundaries of theater, film, and opera. He draws on a broad range of forms and subject matter including plays, film scripts, contemporary fiction, essays and found audio. His 2019 production of OKLAHOMA! transferred to Broadway from St. Ann’s Warehouse and won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival.  Other recent work includes WHITE NOISE, inspired by the novel by Don DeLillo ( Ruhrfestspiele Recklingshausen, Theater Freiburg,  and  Skirball NYU),  Michael Gordon’s opera, ACQUANETTA (Prototype Festival), Don’t Look Back (The Chocolate Factory), Who Left This Fork Here (Baryshnikov Arts Center, Onassis Center), Ted Hearne’s The Source (BAM NEXT WAVE, L.A Opera, San Francisco Opera), and ETERNAL, a video  installation. His work has been seen at theaters and festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe including, The Walker Arts Center, PuSH, Teatro Nacional D. Maria, Lisbon/Estoril Film Festival, Vooruit, Festival TransAmériques, Noorderzon Festival, The Chocolate Factory, The Public Theater’s Under The Radar, Opera Philadelphia/Curtis Opera Theater, American Repertory Theater, Richard B. Fisher Center at Bard College, Yale Repertory Theater, McCarter Theater, Signature Theater, The Shakespeare Theater Company, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Staatstheater Braunschweig, and The Royal Shakespeare Company. Residencies and commissions include The MacDowell Colony, Baryshnikov Arts Center,  Mass MOCA, The Chocolate Factory, The Bushwick Starr, LMCC/ Governor’s Island.  

  He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Department of Performance Studies and has taught at The Juilliard School, Bard College, Princeton University, and The Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

  He is the recipient of the 2017 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts for the Theater.

   

• Margot Fenley

  Margot Fenley (trained: VCA Acting) works as an actor, academic and acting teacher. Theatre includes productions for the Victorian Arts Centre, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Windmill Performing Arts, Darlinghurst Theatre, The Stables, HotHouse, forty-five downstairs, Theatreworks, Napier Street and La Mama, amongst others. She has performed in guest roles on tv series and commercials and directed within the education and the independent sectors. Margot has been teaching for more than 25 years, including twelve years as Head of Music Theatre at the VCA (2007-20019), where she designed, created and led the Foundation, BFA, and Honours programs. These days she combines her continuing role as Senior Lecturer (Acting) within the Music Theatre department with other creative projects. Margot has also taught for MTC, Bell Shakespeare, Playbox (Malthouse), NIDA, Federation University, the National Theatre Drama School, St Martins, and within schools. She is currently completing an MFA (Theatre), exploring the use of Michael Chekhov technique for improvising, devising and writing solo performance. She’s been a proud Equity member since 1991. 

   

   

Please note there is no recording available for this session.

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About the session

This session took place Thursday 10 December 2020, 1-2pm AEDT.

Hosted by Ross Hannaford and featuring a panel including Leah Howard, Amy Campbell and Ryan Gonzalez, this conversation will discuss the challenges and opportunities for choreographic practices in music theatre in the 21st century. The discussion will explore the concept of inclusion as it relates to embodied practice, touching on issues such as appropriation, authenticity, ownership and culture. By discussing learnings, mistakes and innovations, this conversation will be enlightening for choreographers, directors and educators looking to build a more inclusive and creatively rigorous movement practice that is forward thinking.

About the speakers

Host

• Ross Hannaford

  Ross’ career highlights include receiving a Green Room nomination for his portrayal of Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd, playing the coveted roles of Paul in A chorus Line and Princeton in Avenue Q. Ross became the resident director of Cats after playing Skimbleshanks in the most recent Australian tour. Other credits include, Wicked, King Kong, We Will rock You, Pippin and Shout. He is a recipient of the RAD Solo Seal award and a dedicated member of the Arts community. rosshannaford.com.au

Panel

• Leah Howard

  Leah has worked extensively across the entertainment industry both creatively and as a performer and is a versatile director and choreographer and a unique triple threat actor. Prior to School of Rock Leah was the Resident Director/Choreographer on the Melbourne season of The Rocky Horror Show starring Todd McKenney.

  Leah was the Resident Director/Choreographer for the previous Australian tour of The Rocky Horror Show and toured to Korea as the Resident Director for the UK Production of Avenue Q.

  Leah has worked creatively for; Rocky Horror Live (UK), Xanadu The Musical, Australia’s Got Talent, David Campbell’s Good Lovin and Swing Sessions 2 and Sydney Mardi Gras. She has choreographed for Hi-5, A Gurls Wurld, Blue Water High, and So You Think You Can Dance Australia and worked with artists including Macy Gray, Olivia Newton John, Cyndi Lauper, Peking Duck, Sam Sparro, Kylie Minogue, Vanessa Amorosi, Deborah Cox, Sheena Easton, Meatloaf, and Mika. Music videos: Olympia, The Vines, Rogue Traders, Faker, Young Divas, Paulini and Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

  Leah is a sought after choreographer for television commercial campaigns including Bonds, Samsung, Telstra and Westfield.

  Theatre performance credits include: Disney’s Aladdin, Aretha Thomas in Legends! starring Hayley Mills and Juliet Mills, Mrs Corry in Mary Poppins, Avenue Q, Hair, Fame the Musical, Dein Perry’s Steel City (Australia and Radio City Music Hall NYC), UK tour of Tap Dogs Rebooted and Tap Dogs USA.

  Leah was the guest vocalist with KD Lang and Jimmy Somerville for the Sydney 2002 Gay Games, performed in the 2000 Olympics ceremonies, and is the face of Disney Juniors theme song, singing Heads, Shoulders, Ears and Bows. Leah was the Host of Disney Channel's My High School Musical and appears in the feature film Happy Feet.

• Amy Campbell

  Amy Campbell is one of Australia’s most accomplished dance talents with a career spanning all areas of the entertainment industry. Her extensive list of choreographic credits include the Sydney Theatre Award Nominated Once (Darlinghurst Theatre Co), In The Heights-Nominated for a 2019 Helpmann Award and winner of the Sydney Theatre Critics Award (Blue Saint Productions in association with The Hayes Theatre), the Australian premiere of Violet (Broadway World Australia Award), the national tour of HAIR (Sydney Opera House and Peace Productions), An Act Of God (Darlinghurst Theatre Co), Spring Awakening (ATYP), The Hayes Theatre Co’s Side Show and Hispanic Attack (for which she was also a co-creator), the original Australian work Guilty Pleasures (Blue Saint Productions) and Oklahoma for The Production Company. Amy’s theatre credits include dance captain and role cover in the Australian tour of Dirty Dancing, Fame The Musical, Saturday Night Fever, Xanadu, the world premiere of King Kong Live on Stage ,principal dancer in Opera Australia’s Carmen and most recently the Resident Choreographer of The Bodyguard Musical Australia. She was also the Choreographer/Movement Director and Assistant Director on The Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s productions of Funny Girl, Porgy and Bess and Candide. She has appeared in commercials for Sony, Vodafone, Coca Cola, Video Ezy, Sci-Fi Channel, Kmart and was an ambassador for Lorna Jane’s Active Living Campaign. Her other television credits include Everybody Dance Now, placing in the Top 3 on So You Think You Can Dance Australia Season 2, as well as appearing on The X Factor, The Nickelodeon Awards, TV Week Logie Awards, Australia’s Next Top Model, Australia’s Got Talent and The Biggest Loser. Amy has performed domestically and internationally, dancing alongside Kylie Minogue, Flo Rida, Redfoo, Tina Arena, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Sam Sparro and Sam and The Womp. Amy has choreographed on Dance Academy, The X Factor, ABC’s Giggle and Hoot and her film work can be seen across various campaigns for Opera Australia, Sydney Opera House and Powerball Lotteries. This year Amy choreographed Velvet Rewired for both the Australian Tour and the revival choreographer for Carmen (Opera Australia). She also made her directorial debut originating a brand new Australian production of A Chorus Line (Darlinghurst Theatre Co) Amy is currently the Resident Director on Hamilton.

• Ryan Gonzalez

  Ryan Gonzalez is a Spanish Australian performer with a career in theatre, cabaret and film. 2018/19 saw him starring as Frankie Valli in the national tour of international blockbuster musical, Jersey Boys, the role landing him a Greenroom Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He most recently finished the Adelaide Fringe season of Velvet Rewired and appeared as Gabriel in Melbourne Theatre Company’s Kiss of the Spider Woman. Ryan performed to critical acclaim as “Usnavi” in Hayes Theatre production of In The Heights for which he won the Sydney Theatre Award and GLUG Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He played Freddy in The View Upstairs, also Hayes Theatre, and took over the role of Charles Guiteau in Assassins for the Sydney Opera House season. He played Eddie Ryan in Funny Girl in Concert and featured as a soloist in the Bernstein Songbook Series, both for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Ryan won Best Cabaret Performer 2016, Sydney Broadway World Awards for his one man show ¡Hispanic Attack! Other credits include: Angel in Kinky Boots, Wayne Burns in Strictly Ballroom the Musical (cover Scott Hastings), Motion capture artist in Happy Feet Two Directed by George Miller, The Great Gatsby with Baz Luhrmann, King Kong Live on Stage (workshop and season), the Australian tour of Legally Blonde, Virgil in Violet at Hayes Theatre, Opera Australia’s Carmen and Australian film Goddess.

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About the session

This session took place Thursday 10 December 2020, 1-2pm AEDT.

Alongside important discussions on inclusivity in music theatre, discussions about environmental justice and the impact of the consumption of music theatre are also vitally important in moving towards a more socially-just future. The reawakening after Covid-19 provides an opportunity to assess our industry’s ability to keep up with ecological thinking in a rapidly changing world. A critical re-evaluation of a “business-as-usual” model can lead us to truly value all the elements which come together to create a piece of theatre, particularly from a production and design perspective.

From individuals, to an entire company, to interconnectedness between multiple companies, to the materials and practical approaches employed to achieve the vision, and the ongoing legacy of the show in its afterlife; we will consider potential paths forward to a more sustainable and ecologically just shared future between Music Theatre, the people it employs, and the planet.

About the speakers

• Rhiannon Irving

  Rhiannon Irving is a Melbourne based costumier who currently works in the Costume Workroom of the Australian Ballet. Through years of experience within many fields of live performance, predominantly in Music Theatre, but also in Opera, Theatre, Outdoor Theatre, and Dance, she witnessed first hand the short-term thinking, waste, and disregard for the ecological impact of current production and design processes. This has lead her to not only transition her own freelance work to more circular, sustainable practices, but also begin to look at ways to work with companies one on one to retain the integrity of their process and vision, whilst also ensuring the post-show legacy and impact within the wider world is a positive one. She is also an independent writer for Aussie Theatre where she interviews and examines people and companies in the Live Entertainment Industry that are making headway in sustainable approaches to their process, and telling stories of ecological significance.

• Emily Collett

  Emily is a set and costume designer whose practice comprises live performance, film, television and costume research. Recent design credits include Hello, World! (Malthouse Theatre), Control (Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre), Whale (Northcote Town Hall), and A Little Night Music (Watch This). Emily was nominated for a Green Room Award for Dream Home (Northcote Town Hall), has received grants from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust and ArtStart, and has participated in Malthouse Theatre’s Besen Family Artist Program and Melbourne Theatre Companies’ Women in Theatre Program. A PhD candidate and tutor in design at The Victorian College of the Arts, her research focuses on the topic of costume for performance as a cultural marker, specifically in relation to Australian identity.  Since working on Whale (2019), Emily’s design approach has become strongly focused on counteracting the negative ecological impact of live performance.

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About the session

This session took place Thursday 10 December 2010, 5-6pm AEDT.

This conversation, hosted by Theresa Borg with panellists Tyran Parke, Jason Langley and Petra Kalive, focuses on the challenges directors face interpreting problematic material in the music theatre canon. By starting with a conversation around the expectations and responsibilities for 21st century directors, the discussion will evolve to grapple with the question: how do we create commercial music theatre that is more inclusive? Is it possible, or, do we need to start again?

About the speakers

Host

• Theresa Borg

  Theresa is a director, writer, producer and performer. Her directing credits include Sweeney Todd starring Anthony Warlow and Gina Riley, The Light in the Piazza at Arts Centre Melbourne and Disney in Concert Under the Stars starring David Campbell and Lucy Durack for Live Nation at SOH. Her production of The Consul for Gertrude Opera was listed in the Top 5 Operas of 2014 by the Herald Sun. Theresa was a founding director of The Entertainment Store/Life Like Touring.  There she wrote over 20 family musicals, including Scooby Doo Live: Musical Mysteries, Sesame Street presents Elmo’s World Tour and Chuggington: Race to the Rescue. These shows toured nationally and to the USA, the UK, Europe, the U.A.E and Asia. Her musical The Octonauts: Operation Reef Shield is available on Netflix as The Octonauts and the Great Barrier Reef. Theresa’s sung roles include Cosette, Christine, Jellylorum, Musetta, Zerbinetta and Fosca for producers including Cameron Mackintosh, The Really Useful Company, Victorian Opera and Opera Australia. She has a B. Ed (University of Melbourne) and an Ass. Dip. of Opera and a Masters of Theatre (Writing) (VCA). 

Panel

• Tyran Parke

  

  Tyran Parke worked as a professional actor before firmly establishing himself as an acclaimed director on the Australian theatre scene. He has played in shows as diverse as Tick, Tick… Boom!, The Last Five Years, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, The Sound of Music, Jekyll and Hyde, Mack and Mabel, Anything Goes, Funny Girl, South Pacific, Oliver!, Sunset Blvd, Rosie, Evita, Listen to My Heart, Eurobeat, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Hatpin, Angels in America, Cabaret and She Loves Me.

  For the past decade, Tyran has turned his attention behind the scenes and is now a much sought-after director, producer and teacher. He directed the all-star production of Follies at the Melbourne Recital Centre, followed by last year’s acclaimed production of Barnum. Professional directing credits include the plays Thom Pain, Pool (no water), The Laramie Project, Great Expectations and Proof; the musicals Jekyll and Hyde, Lovebites, Metro St, Cheek to Cheek, Rent, The Goodbye Girl, A Chorus Line, Hello Again, and the operas The Coronation of Poppea and The Fairy Queen. Parke is a huge devotee to the work of Stephen Sondheim. Having played the title role in Sunday in the Park with George, he was thrilled to direct the highly acclaimed 2018 production in Perth. Aside from Follies, Assassins – which toured throughout Victoria after its sell-out Melbourne season, was a highlight – Into the Woods and Everything’s Coming Up Sondheim repeated this artistic success.

  As a teacher, Parke has worked for all the major training institutions and is currently the Head of Music Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).  He is also Artistic Director of Clovelly Fox Productions. Having worked at the Australian Musical Theatre Festival in the inaugural year and championed it ever since, Tyran is truly thrilled and honoured to join the team as Executive Producer in 2021.

• Jason Langley

  Jason is an award-winning director with thirty-two years’ theatre experience variously as a director, actor, dramaturg, mentor and teacher.

  In the past few years he has been busy directing: Nancye Hayes in Hayes at the Hayes; three shows for The Production Company; a couple of national tours; four new Australian works; a bunch of plays and musicals in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and London and productions at the esteemed training institutions around Australia.

• Petra Kalive

  Petra Kalive trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts  and has since been working professionally as an actor, director, dramaturg and facilitator. She is currently Associate Director at Melbourne Theatre Company. Petra has extensive experience as a director, writer and dramaturg of new works for the stage. Many of these works have been new musicals including but not limited to Taxithi, which had two sell-out seasons at fortyfivedownstairs (Green Room Nominated Best Director), an adaptation of My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin by Dean Bryant and Matthew Frank and a collaborative project, IDA, with composer  Ashlee Clapp and students, when she was Artistic Director of Union House Theatre about the first women at Melbourne University.

Please note there is no recording available for this session.

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About the session

This session took place on Thursday 10 December 2020, 6-7pm AEDT.

Sherrill Gow is the Head of Postgraduate Performance at Mountview in London. She joins Music Theatre Futures to discuss the way she explores how musical theatre pedagogy might begin to dismantle modes of practice that perpetuate exclusion and a dualistic, gendered perspective. Sherrill draws on her experience of directing postgraduate musical theatre students at Mountview in a production of Pippin where she cast a trans-man as Pippin – in many respects an archetypal male hero role – which set in motion a process of queering and subverting norms.

However, casting is only one element of creating an inclusive practice: in this work, Sherrill developed a hybrid approach that honoured students’ identities and experiences and took a critical, political view of the material being presented.

Sherrill’s approach brings together Elin Diamond’s feminist theoretical framing of Brecht with queer concepts including heteronormativity and chrononormativity, which are then applied to David Barnett’s practical explanation of a Brechtian process. Sherrill argues that feminist and queer approaches can work together to meaningfully critique hegemonic forces influencing musical theatre training and production processes.

About the speakers

• Sherrill Gow

  Sherrill is Joint Head of Postgraduate Performance (Acting and Musical Theatre Pathways) at Mountview in London, U.K. She is also a Ph.D. candidate at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Her research investigates the feminist potential of musical theatre and asks how feminist interpretations of this repertoire might be activated in the conservatoire rehearsal room. Sherrill’s thesis contributes to musical theatre scholarship and practice by demonstrating new, practical applications that builds on existing feminist performance theory and criticism. Before directing and teaching at various drama schools and universities across London, Sherrill was a freelance director and devised many site-specific projects. She was an Associate Director at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington, where she directed UK premieres of assorted Canadian plays and mentored talent on the young directors’ scheme. Originally from Canada, she trained at The Boston Conservatory, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre with an emphasis in directing and completed a Master of Arts in Actor Training and Coaching at Central.

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About the session

This session took place Friday 11 December 2020, 12-1.30pm AEDT.

Hosted by Jayde Kirchert, this conversation will include panellists Candy Bowers, Peter Rutherford and Vidya Makan. After a tumultuous year with social justice issues coming to the fore, this discussion will consider what role new music theatre has to play in the current cultural landscape and what challenges and opportunities creators of new music theatre must grapple with if they are to make productive, inclusive and culturally resonant work. In other words, what should – and what could – the future of music theatre be? This question concerns us all.

About the speakers

Host

• Jayde Kirchert

  Jayde completed a Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and worked in professional music theatre as an actor before pursuing directing and writing. In 2014 she completed a Post Graduate Diploma of Arts majoring in Anthropology (University of Melbourne) and is currently undertaking a Master of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) at VCA (University of Melbourne). 

  She has directed and written multiple critically acclaimed productions through her company Citizen Theatre, of which she is Artistic Director. Most recent Citizen Theatre works she has led as director/dramaturge include Forgotten Places – an immersive experience at Chapel Off Chapel and Kingston Arts Centre (supported by City of Stonnington and City of Kingston) and When The Light Leaves at La Mama Theatre (supported by the City of Melbourne) and Gasworks Arts Park. As a writer and director she has created Ascent for Theatre Works’ 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival program (supported by ShowSupport), Nude for the 2014 Melbourne Cabaret Festival and remounted in 2015 at the Alex Theatre and in 2021 will unveil the world premiere of her new sci-fi feminist music theatre work Mara KORPER at Theatre Works in 2021 (supported by the City of Port Phillip and Faculty of Fine Arts & Music, University of Melbourne). 

  Jayde is thrilled to be the 2020 recipient of the Monash University Jeanne Pratt Artist In Residence commission, along with Peter Rutherford, to create a new feminist Vaudevillian spectacular, The 100 Year Revue. 

  In addition to being a lecturer and teaching artist at VCA, she has also been a director and dramaturge for many new Australian works for the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Poppy Seed Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival and at VCA, as well directing VCA Music Theatre’s Morning Melodies concert at Hamer Hall in 2019. 

  Jayde’s extensive background in dance and physical theatre converges with her training and research in music theatre and feminist dramaturgies, giving her work a distinctly elegant, yet playful and at times subversive aesthetic, and a consciousness that allows her work to speak to pertinent social issues of our time.

Panel

• Candy Bowers

  Candy Bowers is a radical mischief-maker, comedian, writer and actor born on Wiraderi land to South African political refugees. A musical comedy star and theatre-maker, in 2019 she was the recipient of the MentorLA initiative and has added screen-writing to her toolbox, signing with Hollywood Agency WRITLarge. In 2020 her groundbreaking hip hop theatre show ONE THE BEAR earned her an AWGIE nomination, she picked up the role of Programming Manager at MAV and dropped her new podcast Multi-Hypho (getting comfy on the intersection) in partnership with Arts Centre Melbourne. She busy.

• Peter Rutherford

  Peter is a musical director, composer, freelance arranger and a teacher of singing. He co-wrote The Hatpin, LoveBites and A Little Touch Of Chaos with long-time friend and collaborator, James Millar. His shows have been produced across Australia, New York, London and many other cities in the world to critical and award-winning acclaim. Musical Director credits include: School Of Rock (Vocal Coach/AMD) Matilda The Musical, Beyond Desire, A Little Touch Of Chaos, On The 20th Century, A Little Night Music, My Fair Lady, Little Women, The Hatpin, LoveBites, Sing On Through Tomorrow, Annie (AMD), Cats (AMD), Jekyll & Hyde (AMD), The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber (AMD), amongst others.

  He was posted at several major tertiary institutions in London and Australia as a resident vocal tutor and musical director. Peter was the Children’s Musical Director for the Australasian tour of Matilda The Musical. He was recently working on the world tour of School Of Rock and is currently the fortunate recipient of the Jeanne Pratt Artist in Residence at Monash University.

• Vidya Makan

  Vidya Makan is a critically acclaimed actor, singer and composer/lyricist, perhaps most well known for her performance as ‘Catherine Parr’ in the original Australian cast of SIX. Most recently, Vidya directed, produced and wrote ‘I Need You To See Me’; a call to action to the entertainment industry for visibility, featuring 101 BIPoC and CALD performers aged 18-25. Her original work has garnered world wide attention and she is currently working in collaboration with Hayes Theatre Co on her newest show, Straya: The Lucky Country. Vidya’s credits include: Dot/Marie in Sunday In The Park With George which earned her a Green Room nomination for Best Performance In A Leading Role, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet and American Idiot. Vidya holds minority storytelling at the heart of all of her work, and she is honoured to be a panelist in the inaugural year of the AOC Initiative.

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About the session

This session took place Friday 11 December 2020, 1.30-2.30pm AEDT.

This session will offer an overview of the key ideas and themes from the week of conversations, presentations and workshops. It will also suggest some key learnings and take-home messages, and open up to a discussion about how we move into the future from here, as a unified, more inclusive industry. Time will be allocated for questions, reflections and comments from attendees. Hosted by Jayde Kirchert and  Fiona Choi.

About the speakers

• Jayde Kirchert

  Jayde completed a Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and after a brief stint working in professional music theatre as an actor, she turned to before directing and writing. In 2014 she completed a Post Graduate Diploma of Arts majoring in Anthropology (University of Melbourne) and is currently undertaking a Master of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) at VCA (University of Melbourne).

  She has directed and written multiple critically acclaimed productions through her company Citizen Theatre, of which she is Artistic Director. Most recent Citizen Theatre works she has led as director/dramaturge include Forgotten Places – an immersive experience at Chapel Off Chapel and Kingston Arts Centre (supported by City of Stonnington and City of Kingston) and When The Light Leaves at La Mama Theatre (supported by the City of Melbourne) and Gasworks Arts Park. As a writer and director she has created Ascent for Theatre Works’ 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival program (supported by ShowSupport), Nude for the 2014 Melbourne Cabaret Festival and remounted in 2015 at the Alex Theatre and in 2021 will unveil the world premiere of her new sci-fi feminist music theatre work Mara KORPER at Theatre Works in 2021 (supported by the City of Port Phillip and Faculty of Fine Arts & Music, University of Melbourne).

  Jayde is thrilled to be the 2020 recipient of the Monash University Jeanne Pratt Artist In Residence commission, along with Peter Rutherford, to create a new feminist Vaudevillian spectacular, The 100 Year Revue.

  In addition to being a lecturer and teaching artist at VCA, she has also been a director and dramaturge for many new Australian works for the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Poppy Seed Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival and at VCA, as well directing VCA Music Theatre’s Morning Melodies concert at Hamer Hall in 2019.

  Jayde’s extensive background in dance and physical theatre converges with her training and research in music theatre and feminist dramaturgies, giving her work a distinctly elegant, yet playful and at times subversive aesthetic, and a consciousness that allows her work to speak to pertinent social issues of our time.

• Fiona Choi

  Fiona Choi is proud her performing career features so many diverse & authentic stories. She is well-known to theatre-goers for her recent roles in MTC’s Torch The Place, Golden Shield & The Lady In The Van, as well as her acclaimed one woman show Dragon Lady: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong originally created for the 2019 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

  A graduate of WAAPA Musical Theatre, Fiona was an original member of the Australian companies of RENT (Cameron Mackintosh) Mamma Mia! (Dainty/Littlestar) and Metamorphoses (MTC)

  Fiona then spent 15 years living in New York, where she appeared Off-Broadway in The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Silken Phoenix and guest-starred on television in Homeland, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Person Of Interest, The Big C & The Newsroom. She was also involved in the development of many new musical works including Apathy: The Gen X Musical, FAMBAM360, Happy People by Matthew Lee Robinson, and The Street (MITF nominated Best Actress).  Fiona also worked extensively as a casting director and resident director during her years in NYC.

  Today, Fiona is perhaps best-known for Benjamin Law’s SBS Comedy The Family Law, for which she has received an AACTA nomination (Best Performance in Television Comedy) as well as 3 Equity Ensemble Awards.  Other recent television highlights include Mustangs FC, The Letdown, Utopia, Wentworth, Get Krack!n & My Life Is Murder.

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