STAGES with Peter Eyers

Richard Roberts is an award-winning designer and educator. His body of work spans theatre, ballet, opera, musical theatre, and film, across Australia and internationally.

Richard is currently Head of Design and Production at the Victorian College of the Arts.  He has held positions as Head of Design at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Head of Production at The Victorian College of the Arts and Head of Design at The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.

Richard’s designs for opera include: for Opera Australia, Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, The Magic Flute and Die Fledermaus (with West Australian Opera); for Victorian Opera, Parsifal, Cunning Little Vixen; Nixon In China, The Magic Flute, Baroque Triple Bill, The Marriage Of Figaro; The Corronation Of Poppea and Don Giovanni; for Opera Queensland, Ruddigore; and for New Zealand Opera, Seattle Opera, and Philadelphia Opera Rigoletto.

For dance, Richard’s designs include: for Australian Ballet, Don Quixote, Requiem, Molto Vivace and Raymonda; La Sylphide and La Fille Mal Gardee for West Australian Ballet and Queensland Ballet.

For theatre, Richard’s designs include: for Queensland Theatre, Othello, The Sunshine Club, Death Of A Salesman, Noises Off (with MTC), Much Ado About Nothing, Tartuffe and Managing Carmen (with Black Swan); for Ensemble Theatre, Black Cockatoo; for TML, Fiddler On The Roof; for Melbourne and Sydney Festivals, The Season national tour; for Melbourne Theatre Company, Last Man Standing, Solomon And Marion, Next To Normal, The Gift and Frost/Nixon, Macbeth, Dreams in an Empty City, As You Like It, Hedda Gabler, The Sapphires, All My Sons; for Sydney Theatre Company, Australia Day(with MTC), True West, Riflemind; for Black Swan, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Glengarry Glen Ross; for Belvoir, The Sapphires (with Black Swan).

For screen, Richard’s work includes production design for George Ogilvie’s The Battlers for the Seven Network, the 12-part series Five Times Dizzy for SBS and I Own The Racecourse for Barron Films.

Richard has designed the Operatic adaptation of Jane Harrison’s The Visitors for Victorian Opera, currently playing The Arts Centre in Melbourne. For Opera Australia’s Summer season he is Design Consultant for the Mozart Opera’s Idomeneo and The Magic Flute.

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

Rod Waterworth commenced  the discipline of Dance in his twenties, and subsequently ‘opened a new window’ to a triumphant career on the stage. For several decades Rod has been a delightful fixture of commercial Musical theatre throughout  Australia
His professional theatre credits include Cats, Anything Goes, The Wizard of Oz, 42nd Street, Me and My Girl, The Pirates of Penzance, My Fair Lady, Red, Hot & Rhonda, Crazy For You, Jolson, Annie, Singin’ in the Rain, Fiddler on the Roof, Saturday Night and various VSO/Opera Australia and Australian Ballet productions. 
Rod worked regularly in Children’s theatre for Garry Minivan Attractions and performances include Possum Magic, Winnie the Pooh, The Magic Faraway Tree and The Fairies.
As a regular performer with Melbourne’s The Production Company, Rod clocked up an amazing array of appearances in Mame, She Loves Me, Funny Girl, Call Me Madam, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Mack and Mabel, Anything Goes, Bye Bye Birdie, High Society and The Pajama Game. 
Rod’s film and television credits include Strange Bedfellows, Da Kath & Kim Code, Scottish Bob, Bed of Roses, The Midday Show and Good Morning Australia.
Along the way he gave life to the exuberant ‘showgirl’, Laura Gravity; adding another dynamic string to his theatrical bow.
Rod’s most recent stage role was singing and dancing the story of little orphan Annie. A production he has twice traversed.
He continues navigating the ‘roar of the greasepaint’ attending to his daily post as the congenial stage doorman at the iconic Her Majesty’s Theatre in Exhibition street, Melbourne.
Whether stage door or stage centre, Rod is a welcome presence to audience and colleagues alike.
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

Tune in to a Broadway Spotlight edition of the STAGES podcast. A Spotlight replay brought to you by Academy Travel - a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours.
In January 2024, Academy Travel will be leading a 10 day tour to sample the best of Broadway and New York - alongside a host of cultural experiences at museums and galleries populating The Big Apple.
Find further information at the Academy Travel website … academytravel.com.au and search Theatre in New York - Best of Broadway tour.
To whet the appetite, STAGES will be revisiting conversations with Australian artists who have conquered The Great White Way in a series of Broadway SPOTLIGHT episodes - brought to you by Academy Travel.
Howard Sherman, though not Australian, is a guest we’ve featured on the STAGES podcast due to his extensive relationship with the theatre of Broadway and New York.

Howard was executive director of the American Theatre Wing from 2003 to 2011. During that time, he served on the Tony Awards Management and Administration Committees.

Howard was the first General Manager of Goodspeed Musicals, working on 24 new and classic musicals, including the U.S. Premiere of Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s By Jeeves. 

He has moderated artist conversations for public audiences for more than 30 years, and when STAGES spoke with him he had just released a book on the eternal fascination and magic of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town - a classic of the American Theatre cannon.

Howard Sherman was a guest on the STAGES podcast in December 2020

With SIX seasons and 450+ episodes in the STAGES archive …. from time to time we revisit conversations previously featured. 
STAGES spotlights such episodes, in case you missed them first time ‘round - or so you can simply savour a second listen. The STAGES podcast opens an essential doorway to access precious oral histories from the people who were … and are, on and around our stages.
Conversations with Creatives about craft and career!
In this episode, we celebrate International Stage Manager’s Day, spotlighting a conversation with Stage manager - Luke Woodham; recorded in February 2019.
On any successful theatre production, you’ll find a key position is that of the Stage Manager. The role is a unique function because it serves as a key support to the director and production staff during the rehearsal period, and then becomes the figure in charge of the production during the actual performance. The running of the show rests on their shoulders.
It’s a vital role covering many facets – management of time and staff, delivery of a quality product and harmony in the enormous machinery of a big show.
At the helm of many of our big commercial musicals and plays has been Luke Woodham – Luke has overseen the life of many productions throughout Australia – these have included The Book of Mormon, Strictly Ballroom, Mary Poppins, Matilda the musical …… and the theatrical juggernaut, War Horse.
A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Luke is a native Tasmanian, who hasn’t stopped working since graduation, in a variety of projects from corporate to festivals to concert to theatre.
Live performance can be a pressured environment and it pays to keep a cool head and a methodical approach – all of which Luke has in spades. It was an insightful conversation delving in to the world of Stage Management … all called by the man on cans … Luke Woodham. 
STAGES celebrates all the Stage Manager’s running our shows around the country today. You can celebrate a Stage Manager on this International Stage Manager’s Day by going to one of these shows. 
Mr Woodham, Mr Eyers … beginners please!

Tune in to a Broadway Spotlight edition of the STAGES podcast. A Spotlight replay brought to you by Academy Travel - a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours.
In January 2024, Academy Travel will be leading a 10 day tour to sample the best of Broadway and New York - alongside a host of cultural experiences at museums and galleries populating The Big Apple.
Find further information at the Academy Travel website … academytravel.com.au and search Theatre in New York - Best of Broadway tour.
To whet the appetite, STAGES will be revisiting conversations with Australian artists who have conquered The Great White Way in a series of Broadway SPOTLIGHT episodes - brought to you by Academy Travel.Amelia Cormack has played on Broadway over the past year in the Tony Award winning Best Musical - HADESTOWN. This thrilling evening of theatre will be served on the New York-Broadway Academy Travel tour in January.

STAGES caught up with Amelia in November 2022, live from New York City, to celebrate her passion for musical theatre, the importance of chasing your dreams and … to rejoice in the occasion of Amelia making her long anticipated debut on Broadway. 

Hello. Thanks for checking in to this repeat performance of a STAGES conversation, recorded with the divine Jacqueline Dark in April 2019.
Jacqui's passing is a terrible shock and sadness that we all share. A consummate artist who had so much more to give her audience - across many platforms - Opera, Musical Theatre and Cabaret. Jacqui commanded a stage with an exquisite presence, an extensive skill set and an elegant humanity.
Her stage presence was such because of her love of life and all that she encountered in it. Her generosity of spirit and laughter and kindness touched so many people. 
I was fortunate to know Jacqui for several decades, meeting her in community theatre productions in Ballarat. She excelled in the operetta of the Gilbert & Sullivan cannon, featured annually during Ballarat's Begonia Festival. She turned her focus to straight plays too, giving a delicious 'Nora' in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs. And I watched mesmerised at every performance of Godspell, as she delivered a passionate ‘By My Side’. She excelled in theatre restaurant and music hall presented at The Victoria Theatre, Sovereign Hill. Cheeky, dedicated, warm, witty and possessed of the most magnificent voice - Jacqui was destined for far bigger stages. And so she did. And so, she conquered them all.
Condolences to all of Jacqui’s colleagues, family and friends. We have lost a giant talent and a super human being!
The Wizard of Oz remarks to the Tin Man on his departure from Oz ………. “And remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others”.
Vale Jacqui Dark.

Tune in to a Broadway Spotlight edition of the STAGES podcast. A Spotlight replay brought to you by Academy Travel - a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours.
In January 2024, Academy Travel will be leading a 10 day tour to sample the best of Broadway and New York - alongside a host of cultural experiences at museums and galleries populating The Big Apple.
Find further information at the Academy Travel website … academytravel.com.au and search Theatre in New York - Best of Broadway tour.
To whet the appetite, STAGES will be revisiting conversations with Australian artists who have conquered The Great White Way in a series of Broadway SPOTLIGHT episodes - brought to you by Academy Travel.
Michaeljon Slinger was born in Queensland and via a series of successful twists and turns, found himself studying in New York in his late teens. He received a full scholarship to attend American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis school. 
Study at the prestigious Julliard school followed, making him the first Australian to be accepted into either one of these programs.
A significant run on the musical theatre stage in New York has earned him 7 Broadway credits in a host of roles as Performer, Swing and Dance Captain. 
It commenced with his debut in the revival production of West Side Story directed by Broadway Titan …. Arthur Laurents.
In recent times he has shifted his focus to choreography as an associate and assistant.

Michaeljon Slinger was a guest of the STAGES podcast in April 2021

Tune in to a Broadway Spotlight edition of the STAGES podcast. A Spotlight replay brought to you by Academy Travel - a leading specialist in small-group cultural tours.
In January 2024, Academy Travel will be leading a 10 day tour to sample the best of Broadway and New York - alongside a host of cultural experiences at museums and galleries populating The Big Apple.
Find further information at the Academy Travel website … academytravel.com.au and search Theatre in New York - Best of Broadway tour.
To whet the appetite, STAGES will be revisiting conversations with Australian artists who have conquered The Great White Way in a series of Broadway SPOTLIGHT episodes - brought to you by Academy Travel.
Kaye Tuckerman played Broadway in the Donna Summer Musical! - and has appeared in extensive Musical Theatre product around the globe.She relishes living in the Big Apple - and all that it offers culturally to its inhabitants and many visitors.
Kaye Tuckerman joined the STAGES podcast in April 2023.

Justin Smith is presently filling the shoes of Australia's 21st Prime Minister, Edward Gough Whitlam, in Squabbalogic's world premiere production of 'The Dismissal'.

He will appear in three upcoming series’ premiering in 2023: The Messenger for the ABC based on Marcus Zusak’s bestselling novel, and Last Days of the Space Age and The Artful Dodger, both for Disney+. He most recently featured in the smash hit Netflix reboot of Heartbreak High.

Elsewhere on the small screen he appeared in the latest season of Foxtel’s hit drama Wentworth and in the hit Channel Seven series RFDS. Prior to that he starred in both seasons of major Foxtel’s series Secret City alongside Anna Torv and Jacki Weaver. He also returned in the second season of the award-winning ABC comedy The Letdown. Both seasons have aired on Netflix around the world. Previously, Justin played Glen McNamara in the Seven Network drama Blue Murder: Killer Cop opposite Richard Roxburgh. Other notable television credits include playing Damon in the first season of Stan’s brilliant comedy The Other Guy, the role of Lester Lawrence alongside Sam Worthington and Hugh Dancy in Foxtel’s Deadline Gallipoli, Underbelly: Badness, The Straits and Bastard Boys, for which he was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor.Justin’s feature film credits include the forthcoming Sony feature Carmen starring Paul Mescal, the award winning Australian film Babyteeth, Disney’s hit film Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man Tell No Tales starring Johnny Depp. Fred Schepisi’s The Eye of the Storm, Around the Block, Sleeping Beauty, Burning Man, Being Venice and Angst.

Justin has starred in numerous stage productions. Most recently Into The Woods at Belvoir, Dubbo Championship Wrestling at Hayes Theatre Co, and Wudjang Not The Past for Bangarra. Other theatre credits include as Billy’s Dad, Jackie Elliot, in Billy Elliot The Musical, Small Mouth Sounds for Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam at the National Theatre of Parramatta, The Long Forgotten Dream, directed by Neil Armfield for Sydney Theatre Company, A Strategic Plan for Griffin Theatre Company, and A Flea in Her Ear and Arcadia for the Sydney Theatre Company. Justin has appeared in many notable productions for Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, Griffin and the STC.Justin made his professional debut in the 1992 Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar alongside John Farnham and Kate Ceberano. In 1998 he played the role of Mark in the original Australian cast of Rent the Musical. He was later to play the role of Tony Elliot in the original Australian production of Billy Elliot.
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

Karen Johnson Mortimer began her professional career at the age of 15 in the Cole Porter musical, Anything Goes starring Toni Lamond. She has subsequently carved a dynamic career in musical theatre, contributing via a succession of roles.
As a performer, Karen played Cassie in the original Australian production of A Chorus Line and appeared in musicals as diverse as Company, The Conquest of Carmen Miranda, Dames at Sea, Kiss Me Kate, No No Nanette, Irene, Cabaret and Footloose. 
Throughout the 80’s Karen was also a regular solo guest artist in television variety on The Don Lane Show and The Mike Walsh Show. 
Karen’s choreographic credits also include a variety of experiences. She crafted dance and movement for the Reg Livermore productions of Turns, Wonder Woman and Sacred Cow, Grease-The Mega Musical (GFO), Stones In His Pockets (STC), Leader of The Pack - The Ellie Greenwich Musical (Star City), Anzac Military Tattoo (Acer Arena), the 2007 Helpmann Awards, Tin Symphony (Opening Ceremony – 2000 Sydney Olympics), the Norman Gunston Show (ABC TV) and Farnham & Byrne (ABC).
A new direction pursuing Directorial roles as Associate, Resident and Director in her own right, have seen her steer a number of prominent commercial productions.
In 2017 Karen enjoyed the great honour of working with Dame Julie Andrews as her Associate Director for the 60th anniversary production of My Fair Lady . A role she also assumed for Crossroads Live’s production of Dolly Parton’s 9 TO 5. 
She has also been the Associate Director for Grease -The Arena Spectacular,  Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Wizard Of Oz, Dirty Dancing and the Australian tours of Wicked.  Karen remounted the Korean Language production of Wicked in Seoul. 
Karen was Resident Director for the 2009 production of Chicago and returned for the 2019 production. 
She directed the production of Saturday Night Fever starring Marcia Hines, and Annie starring Anthony Warlow. She has directed three annual Rob Guest Endowment Finalists Concerts held in both Sydney and Melbourne. 
Karen has returned to the rehearsal room to mount the recently launched season of Wicked and soon shifts focus to the return of another audience favourite - Kander and Ebb’s Chicago.
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