STAGES with Peter Eyers

As one of our finest actors, Keith Robinson carved a career on stages around the country. As a  wit and treasured talisman, he kept us informed and in stitches with his regular postings on social media.
Keith’s repertoire of characters included the great clowns of Shakespeare. He was admired for his tremendous physicality in realising these endearing fools and jesters …. and for his dependability in affecting an audience.
As a member of the ensemble at Belvoir Theatre, he contributed to the success of milestone productions such as Hamlet, The Tempest, The Alchemist, Night On Bald Mountain and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. 
Keith’s extensive theatre credits also included the Dickensian epic Nicholas Nickleby with the Sydney Theatre Company ……  and ventures into musical theatre with the premiere Australian production of Les Miserables. 
As performer and playwright -  Keith co-authored (with Tony Taylor) the silly, comic romp The Popular Mechanicals - a fond valentine to the determined amateur acting troupe of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. 
In 2006 his life upon the boards looked like being snatched away when he was diagnosed with a neurological condition, called Guillain-Barre syndrome. His personal expression as an actor became compromised with limited mobility and the necessity of a wheelchair. 
But Keith was a determined thespian …. and in 2016 he returned to the Belvoir stage as a wise and moving Feste …. in a production of Twelfth Night. 
As well as a phenomenal talent, Keith was immensely entertaining and terrific company. Passionate, funny and tremendously informed, Keith traversed an eventful life on and off the stage. 
His legacy of compelling screen performances are fortunately preserved in television productions such as the anthology series Summer Love, season 2 of The Twelve and in a much discussed TVC for Australia post, where we may still be able to find him at various point of sale.
This conversation, recorded for the STAGES podcast, took place in May 2021 when Keith was preparing to play Leonid Gayev in The Cherry Orchard at the Belvoir street theatre. It was to be the final time we would see Keith light up a stage. 
I hope this return episode brings you some comfort - and joy - relishing in Keith’s wonderful anecdote, insightful wisdom - and that enormous laugh that instantly embraced it’s listener.
Vale Keith Robinson - you will be greatly missed.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Entertainer Doug Lucas has been delighting audiences around the country for several decades as a comic, a creative and much loved drag performer. Chiefly his performance stage has been found in various Melbourne venues. 
Doug is a pioneer of these establishments, commencing Melbourne's first gay disco in 1975 and the legendary show evening, Pokeys, in 1977.

“It was only going to be a little Sunday night show but it grew and grew”, Lucas recalls. “We started without any sets or props, then started doing little simple sets”. As its popularity grew, those simple sets became increasingly elaborate, as did the costumes and staging. “We used to do a massive, massive show. They were the biggest drag shows Melbourne has seen.”

Doug has been performing and running events ever since. Most recently with the very popular Broadside entertainments.
He is a legend of the Melbourne scene and a most charismatic fellow. You’ll quickly discover in this terrific conversation with the fabulous Doug Lucas.
The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Iain Sinclair is one of Australia’s finest, award winning theatre directors specialising in new writing and contemporary international work.

Iain established the critically acclaimed theatre company Elbow Theatre in Canberra, where he received four Critics Circle Awards. He received a Sydney Theatre Award for his production of The Seed by Kate Mulvaney and is also an AWGIE Award nominated director.

He has directed a number of highly praised main stage productions in Sydney including Our Town  by Thornton Wilder for The Sydney Theatre Company, which was described as “a triumph”. His production of Arthur Miller’s, All my Sons was described as “A rock solid production of a play that makes you shake your head in wonderment”. 

Iain has also directed for The Melbourne Theatre Company, The Ensemble, The Queensland Theatre Company, Belvoir and Sport for Jove with celebrated productions of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? By Edward Albee, The Caretaker by Harold Pinter, A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller, Mojo by Jez Butterworth, Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca (translation by Sinclair), The Beast by Eddie Perfect, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare and Berlin by Joanna Murray Smith.

Iain graduated with distinction from the RADA Masters Program and Kings College, London. He is the associate artist and resident dramaturge for Playwriting Australia and has been assistant director to Cate Blanchett and Max Stafford Clark. Iain was invited by Max Stafford Clark to tour the UK as a member of his company “Out of Joint” teaching principles of new play making and Max Stafford Clark’s legendary process based on actioning.

Iain continues his work as a dramaturge and has worked with the following companies; ASK Los Angeles, New Dramatists New York, The Traverse Scotland, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Court and The National Theatre England.
Iain Sinclair is presently the Head of Acting at 16th Street Actors Studio in Melbourne, where he nurtures a new generation of actors and continues to practice and refine his magnificent craft.
The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Tim Draxl is an actor and singer with a career spanning more than two decades.
Most recently he was seen in the SBS anthology television series Erotic Stories, for which he has received an AACTA Nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama series, and the lead role in ABC’s four-part musical drama In Our Blood, for which he has received both an AACTA Nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series and TV WEEK Logie Award Nomination for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.
On stage, Tim was most recently seen in Belvoir’s Into The Woods as ‘Cinderella’s Prince/ Wolf’ and in the role of ‘Steve Healy’ for the first overseas tour of Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill produced by GWB. Other theatre credits include critically acclaimed Only Heaven Knows, Catch Me If You Can and Evie May (all for Hayes Theatre), Torch Song Trilogy (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Lip Service, Mothers and Sons (Ensemble Theatre), Freeway – The Chet Baker Journey (Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Festival, Brisbane Festival), Nailed (Griffin Theatre Company), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Belvoir), The Sound Of Music (GFO) and She Loves Me (The Production Company).
Other television credits include anthology series Summer Love and critically acclaimed The Newsreader both for the ABC, hit series A Place to Call Home as series regular Henry Fox (FOXTEL), the Molly Meldrum telemovie Molly, the critically acclaimed series Serangoon Road, Reef Break, Mrs Biggs, Home & Away, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Crownies, Day One, Tangle, Headland, Supernova, Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure and The Shark Net.Tim’s film work includes action film Blacklight alongside Liam Neeson, Guardians of the Tomb, directed by Kimble Rendall, A Few Best Men, Undocumented, Ivory, In My Sleep, Red Canyon, Right Here Right Now, Travelling Light, Swimming Upstream, and Dirty Deeds.
He received his first TV WEEK Logie Award Nomination for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 2005 for The Shark Net and an ASTRA Award Nomination (later renamed The AACTA Awards) for Most Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy for Supernova (2006). His one man show Tim Draxl in Concert was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Live Music Presentation in 2002 and has received several Sydney Theatre Award nominations for his cabaret and theatre shows winning the award for best cabaret production with Back For Seconds in 2006.
He has released four solo albums. ‘Ordinary Miracles’ and ‘Insongniac’ for Sony Music Australia under the Columbia label, the independently released ‘Tim Draxl Live at the Supper Club’ and ‘My Funny Valentine’ released through Ambition Entertainment/EMI which reached number 1 on the iTunes jazz charts.
Tim can currently be seen on Australian stages playing the role of Jodie Gillis opposite Sarah Brightman’s Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard. This will be the musical theatre event of the year. Don’t miss this strictly limited season at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre from May, and at the Sydney Opera House from August, 2024.
The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Vivid Sydney is an annual celebration of creativity, innovation and technology, which transforms Sydney for 23 days and nights. 

In 2024, for its 14th year, Vivid Sydney will fuse art, innovation and technology in collaboration with some of the most boundary-pushing artists, musicians, thinkers and culinary experts of our time.

Mark the dates 24 May – 15 June 2024 in your calendar and explore the program of Light, Music, Ideas and Food, united by this year’s artistic direction, "Vivid Sydney, Humanity”.

Vivid Sydney 2024 explores what makes us human and how we can make a better world, together.

Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW Government's tourism and major events agency.

At the helm of this creative fusion and imagination is Artistic Director, Gill Minervini.
For over 35 years Gill has produced some of Australia’s most engaging and successful international events and festivals, creating unforgettable, immersive experiences for diverse audiences. In her time at VIVID, the annual festival has celebrated International recognition and relished record-breaking audience numbers.
A mantra which she shares with her production teams is that they are ‘in the business of creating memories’.  We can all recall the first time we shared in the palpable experience of a creative event or festival. Such experiences are an immersion with community, art, humanity and the theatre of life. Essential experiences that feed into the human condition.
Gill Minervini is passionate about her job and communicating stories. It’s obvious in this conversation. She provides insight, reflection and passion for the craft of making big art, telling stories with a broad palette, and what it takes to curate a magical experience like VIVID Sydney.
This episode of the STAGES podcast is dedicated to the inaugural Creative Director of VIVID Sydney; Ignatius Jones (1957-2024)The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

In this Vale episode of the STAGES podcast, we remember Arts Historian - Frank van Straten, who passed away in April.

Frank was the inaugural archivist at the Performing Arts Museum (now Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne) and later its founding Director.

Renowned as a theatre historian of supreme knowledge, Frank was the author of many publications which celebrated theatres, artists, practitioners and productions. His historical perspectives of plays and musicals were a regular feature of programs for commercial producers.

Between 1986 and 2001, he researched and presented ABC Local Radio’s Nostalgia segment, broadcast on Melbourne’s 774 and the ABC Victorian Regional Network.

He was the Historical Consultant for Graeme Murphy’s ‘dance musical’ Tivoli, performed by the Sydney Dance Company, and given his tremendous knowledge, he frequently accepted invitations to contribute information to considerable books, speeches, biographies, performance and exhibitions. 

In recognition of his services to the performing arts in Australia, Frank van Straten was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1999.

Frank’s passion for our performing heritage was palpable. With an ability to talk at length on any subject to do with the performing arts in Australia he was the perfect guest for the podcast.
I’m so grateful he agreed to a conversation for the STAGES podcast. He was a gentleman of the theatre who I much admired. We recorded this conversation for Series One of the podcast in 2018.
Like everyone, I am deeply saddened by the passing of dear Frank. What a cultural institution he became as a custodian of our history, his endless anecdote, and his tireless support of creatives and artists.
Born in London in 1936, today (May 14th) would have been Frank’s 88th birthday.
Vale Frank van Straten - A champion of the Performing Arts in Australia.
The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

John-Michael Howson worked as a journalist, starting in Mildura, Victoria, before moving to print and radio in Melbourne where he began writing comedy sketches and songs for revue clubs, theatres and television. After several years working in the UK and Europe he returned to Australia and created, wrote and performed in two of Australia’s most beloved children’s shows the multi-award winning The Magic Circle Club and Adventure Island. He also adapted the international stage hits Irene, No, No, Nanette and Norman Is That You? for Australian productions. 

John-Michael also wrote the hit 1970’s musical Razza Ma Tazz at a time when it was difficult to get locally written musicals produced. He has also written several successful children’s theatre productions including adapting Disney’s Pinnochio. 

For many years he wrote for, and appeared on, a score of variety shows which led to becoming a popular team member of one of Australia’s legendary shows The Mike Walsh Show where he first met and worked with producer David Mitchell (a co-writer of SHOUT! and Dusty).

John-Michael travelled the world covering international stories from The Academy Awards, Emmys, Tonys, world premieres and royal weddings. In 1989 he moved to Los Angeles to report on the entertainment industry for Australian print, radio and TV including Midday with Ray Martin and GMA with Bert Newton. He also appeared on a number of US television and radio shows. John-Michael was a regular on The Joan Rivers Show and The Gordon Elliott Show, appeared on LA based talk shows and also had small parts in comedy shows like The Tracey Ullmann Show. He also filed news reports for SKY UK and other international news programs. He wrote the best selling mystery novellas Once Upon a Nightmare and Deadly Dreams.

After seventeen years he returned to live in Melbourne where he was heard on radio shows around the country and starred on the top rating political commentary show Sunday Morning on 3AW. 

John-Michael has co-written SHOUT! and Dusty – the Original Pop Diva (with David Mitchell and Mel Morrow), Pyjamas in Paradise (with Peter Pinne), Dream Lover -The Bobby Darin Story (with Frank Howson) and More Sex Please, We’re Seniors. In 2025, his new musical based on the lives of the Andrews Sisters will open in the U.S.A.

John-Michael was awarded an OAM in 2009 for services to writing and children’s television. He is proudly a patron of a number of organisations involved in the arts and charity.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Stephanie Beacham is without a doubt one of Britain's most talented, beautiful and well-known actresses. Despite becoming world famous and an icon of the 1980s due to her role as Sable Colby in the American soap operas Dynasty and The Colbys and going on to have starring roles in shows such as Sister Kate, Seaquest DSV, Beverly Hills 90210, and Bad Girls, Stephanie Beacham had already carved a solid acting career back in her home country. 
Born in Hertfordshire in southern England, one of the four children of an insurance executive and a housewife, Beacham began an interest in acting at a young age and studied mime at the respected and renowned school of Étienne Decroux in Paris before completing her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. 
Guest roles on British television followed in the late 1960s such as The Saint and UFO, however Beacham's breakthrough was her starring role opposite Marlon Brando in the cult horror film The Nightcomers that brought her critical acclaim and widespread attention. 
She became a regular staple in British horror films for the remainder of the 1970s and early 1980s such as Dracula A.D. 1972, House of Mortal Sin, Schizo and Inseminoid, however she was still a commonly seen face on television, such as being given her own soap opera in Marked Personal as well as regular modelling work. 
It was in the 1980s however that Beacham's career became supercharged. She had starring roles in the acclaimed television series Tenko and Connie, the latter gaining particular interest in the US.
Beacham moved to Hollywood in the mid-1980s and was given the role of Sable Colby in the ABC soap opera The Colbys, and then joined it's parent show Dynasty where she remained until the show's cancellation. Both shows made Beacham a household name on both sides of the Atlantic as the glamour-puss wife of Charlton Heston's character Jason and cousin of Joan Collins' Alexis, with the two regularly involved in a 'battle of the bitches' scenario. 
Following the cancellation of Dynasty, Beacham headlined the sitcom Sister Kate for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, before going on to have main roles in Beverly Hills, 90210 as Iris McKay, Steven Spielberg's Seaquest DSV as Dr. Kristen Westphalen and Countess Bartholomew in Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as film roles opposite Christopher Plummer in Secrets and Anthony Hopkins in To Be The Best. 
Beacham maintained a regular presence on television and in theatre both in the US and the UK for the remainder of the 1990s until she played Phyllida Oswyn in the prison series Bad Girls, a role she would play until the show's end in 2006. She would later have parts in films such as Love and Other Disasters, Moving Target and Wild Oats and played Martha Fraser in Coronation Street.
Her theatre credits are extensive and include roles in the West End and on Broadway. Most recently she completed UK tours as Judith Bliss in Hay Fever and Maria Callas in Masterclass. It is the role of Mrs Cheveley in Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband in 1998 that brought her to Australia and it is this production which reunites us both after a couple of decades to reminisce and catch up.
The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au

Since graduating from WAAPA in 2006, Lucy Maunder has cemented her reputation as one of Australia’s musical theatre leading ladies performing in a huge range of roles over the last 17 years.
Most recently she appeared as Winifred Banks in the critically acclaimed Cameron Mackintosh/Michael Cassel Group/Disney revival of Mary Poppins. Prior to this Lucy starred in Victorian Opera’s production of Kurt Weill’s anti-capitalist musical Happy End as Lillian Holiday. The start of 2022 also saw her play the protagonist Alison Bechdel in the acclaimed MTC/STC Australian premiere production of Fun Home (Green Room and Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Performer in a Leading Role in a musical). In between seasons of Fun Home, Lucy reprised her role of Mrs Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Crossroads Live) for which she received a Helpmann Award nomination.
Following the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic to the Arts, Lucy was lucky enough to appear in the first main stage commercial musical to return after the shutdown of all theatre as Catherine in Pippin for Crossroads Live. Her other recent career highlights include Cynthia in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Michael Cassel Group, Green Room Award nomination), Miss Honey in Matilda: The Musical (Louise Withers/RSC, Helpmann Award nomination), The Spirit of Christmas (QPAC), There’s Something About Music (The Little Red Company), Heather Chandler in Heathers (ShowWork Productions), Patty in Tim Finn’s Ladies in Black (QTC/MTC), Rizzo in Grease (GFO, Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award nominations), Cinderella in Into the Woods (Victorian Opera, Helpmann and Green Room Award nominations), Georgia Hendricks in Curtains (The Production Company), Gertrude Lawrence in Noël and Gertie (CDP Theatre Producers, Glug Award for Best Actress in a Musical), Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera (STC/Malthouse/Victorian Opera), Janet in The Rocky Horror Show (TML Enterprises), Emma in Jekyll & Hyde (TML Enterprises) and Anne in A Little Night Music (Opera Australia). Lucy also created the role of Lara in the world première of Doctor Zhivago opposite Anthony Warlow (GFO, Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award nominations).
Lucy’s film credits include The Eternity Man (Channel 4 UK/ABC) and the lead role in the short film Identical, amongst other commercial and television appearances including the National Anthem at the State of Origin, The Lord Mayor’s Christmas Carols (Channel 9) and appearances on The Morning Show (Channel 7) and Today Extra (Channel 9).
Lucy’s one-woman show Irving Berlin: Songs in the Key of Black toured Australia to rave reviews at venues such as the prestigious Spiegeltent, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, His Majesty’s Theatre Perth and La Salon at Claire’s Kitchen. Her album featuring arrangements and musical direction by Daniel Edmonds is available across all streaming platforms.Lucy is over the moon to be starring as Roxie in Chicago, a true bucket list moment.
The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au