In Conversation

A celebrated actor and director, John Bell has been a driving force in the shape and direction of Australian Theatre for more than half a century. A former Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, he’s performed all of Shakespeare’s seminal roles, often several times over. He’s also formed two theatre companies, one of which still bears his name.

In this conversation, John Bell shares with Simon Moore some of the highlights of his long and distinguished career, the evolution of Australian theatre and the ever-changing craft of acting, plus provides an insight into what drew him as a teenager to William Shakespeare and why his works are so important to modern audiences.

Photo: Pierre Toussaint

A composer across a full spectrum of genres, Christopher Gordon has written for Australia’s leading orchestras, for major events such as the 2006 Commonwealth Games, has penned ballets, and scores for films such as Master and Commander, Mao’s Last Dancer and Ladies in Black.

In this program, Christopher talks candidly with Simon Moore about his unorthodox entry into composing after recovering from alcoholism in his early adulthood, the ins and outs of writing music for the screen, as well as his new album with the simple and elegant title “Chamber Music”.

An exciting and dynamic young conductor, Leonard Weiss has made a name for himself with the Canberra Sinfonia, and the Sydney, Queensland and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, to name just a few. He’s the inaugural winner of the Conductor NSW Orchestral Early Career Fellowship with the Sydney Youth Orchestras in conjunction with Create NSW, and was recognised as the “rising star of 2020” by John Hopkins University during his time there.

Leonard is incredibly articulate and entertaining, talking about his artistic development with good humour, including his time with one of his mentors, Marin Alsop, when he was the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Peabody Fellow.

He made the role of Lola in Kinky Boots his own, performing it on three continents, including on Broadway and the West End, and winning a Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical for his performance on these shores. He’s also appeared in such seminal musicals as Rent, The Lion King and Miss Saigon.

Callum features as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera, on Sydney Harbour from March 25. He speaks candidly about the importance of being a person of colour cast as the romantic lead, and the charity We the Industry that he and his fiancé Ainsley Melham have set up to help promote greater representation and inclusion in the Australian theatre industry. We also hear the extraordinary story of his time playing Lola in Kinky Boots – hang onto your hats for his fantastic rendition of The Land of Lola!

One of Australia’s leading harpists, Emily Granger has performed across the world, including as Principal Harp of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Sydney, Tasmanian & Canberra Symphony Orchestras. She’s played for presidents and prime ministers, presented recitals from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall, and performed with international artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Jonas Kaufmann.

Simon Moore speaks with Emily about her new solo album “In Transit”, and we delve into her time growing up in Missouri and learning from some of the harp world’s greatest, gaining some insights into this beautiful instrument. Bring your hiking shoes – she does love a good walk!

A regular director with Opera Australia, Constantine Costi was responsible last year for the triumphant production of La Traviata on Sydney Harbour. He’s worked with other leading Australian arts companies including Pinchgut Opera and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and is co-artistic director of Red Line Productions at Sydney’s Old Fitz. Simon Moore speaks with Con in the lead up to him taking on Halevy’s La Juive with Opera Australia, to be performed on these shores for the first time. As well as giving some insights into this opera, he talks about his next show with Red Line, Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins & Mahagonny Songspiel, and shares stories from the earlier period of his career, creating guerrilla productions of operas in Newtown, plus his handy abilities with a fish and a filleting knife.

La Juive is on at the Sydney Opera House from 9 to 26 March.

The Seven Deadly Sins & Mahagonny Songspiel is on at the Old Fitz Theatre from 31 March to 23 April.

Multi-Helpmann Award winner Amber McMahon plays Eve Kendall, one of the ultimate Hitchcock Femme Fatales, in the stage adaptation of North by Northwest at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre from the 9th of March. In this conversation, Simon Moore takes Amber on a deep dive into her 20 year stage career and delve into the craft of acting. She’s worked with Cate Blanchett, picnicked at Hanging Rock, and climbed Mount Rushmore in high heels.

He is a conductor who has fast established himself as a versatile artist covering the symphonic, operatic and ballet genres. He’s made a splash in Europe with such orchestras as the Mariinsky, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Odessa National Philharmonic. He and his wife, soprano Eleanor Lyons, have more recently created Live at Yours, an exciting and ever growing project, bringing top quality artists to unique and intimate settings.

Vladimir speaks with Simon Moore about the creation and development of Live at Yours, regales us with tales of studying in St Petersburg and working with luminaries like Simone Young and Iván Fischer, plus providing some significant insights into the creative process.

Jeanell Carrigan is an Associate Professor in the Collaborative Piano Unit at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has performed throughout Australia and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative duo partner. Her area of research is Australian solo piano repertoire and more recently in the piano music composed by early 20th Century Australian women composers. She’s released 32 albums of solo Australian piano and chamber works and has written several books.

In this conversation, Jeanell speaks with Simon Moore in depth about her most recent project – the recording and publication of the first four piano trios written in Australia, by Australian composers, entitled Music for The Salon Trio.

He is a man who has entertained Australia for over 30 years. He’s danced on film in Strictly Ballroom, stepped into stilettos for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, donned top hat and whip for a tightrope-walking PT Barnum, and everything in between – including West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, The Pirates Penzance, Cabaret, and Anything Goes. But perhaps his most well-known performance has been to bring entertainer Peter Allen back to life in the original Australian production of The Boy from Oz.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Todd speaks with Simon Moore about these varied roles, plus his start in show business, being a judge on Dancing with the Stars, as well as some of the parts he’s enjoyed a bit less than others.