STAGES with Peter Eyers

From an early age Tim Rice was a pop music fanatic. He began his professional life as a trainee solicitor. While still an apprenticed clerk Tim approached the head of Arlington Books, Desmond Elliot, with the idea of writing a book about pop history. The idea didn't impress Elliot, but the fact that Tim was also a budding song-writer did. Elliot knew someone in need of a collaborator: a young man called Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wanted to be a composer. At Elliot's suggestion, Tim wrote to Andrew, and a meeting was quickly arranged. The two men hit it off immediately, and, owing to Andrew’s love of American musical theatre, began to try to write a musical rather than pop singles.

And so this story begins. Tim Rice continued to work with Andrew Lloyd Webber, giving us visceral and intelligent musical theatre fare that includes Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.

The pair also share the unique accolade of writing a song for Elvis Presley; “It’s Easy for You”. The song is also remarkable in that it is the last song on the last album released during Elvis' lifetime.

Subsequent collaborations have been with fellow titans of the craft - Elton John, Alan Menken, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson creating popular theatrical fare that includes Chess, The Lion King, Aladdin and Aida.

His output has been presented by the Disney Organisation, on Broadway, in The West End and for commercial stages around the globe. The popularity of his works with community and school theatres has ensured that at any time, somewhere in the world, a Tim Rice musical is being produced. This year in Australia alone we have seen commercial productions of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and Beauty & the Beast.

Tim is the recipient of 3 Academy Awards, 4 Tonys, 5 Grammys and 1 Emmy - making him that ‘rare bird’ in the entertainment industry - one of only 17 artists to have garnered an EGOT.

He was knighted by Elizabeth 2nd for services to music in 1994. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, a Disney Legend Recipient, a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, and has his own Cricket team.
With Andrew Lloyd Webber he wrote a musical for Queen Elizabeth titled Cricket, and has crafted songs for Freddy Mercury, Placido Domingo and David Essex.
Tim Rice has contributed songs to soundtracks, such as “All Time High” for the Bond movie Octopussy. His most recent musical work, From Here To Eternity opened in 2013. He is the co-author of the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and a co-founder of Pavilion Books.
And today, celebrates 400 episodes of the STAGES podcast.
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 Diedrich is one of the Australian theatre’s greatest and most versatile talents, having contributed to the industry across many platforms as actor, writer, director and producer. 
John commenced his career at age 11 with J.C. Williamson’s, appearing in the classics Camelot and then Oliver!, playing the Artful Dodger. At the age of 19 John produced and directed his first musical, presenting Minnie’s Boys, a musical based on the life of the Marx Brothers. Regular engagements as an actor followed in both plays and musicals, including Salad Days at St Martins, Grease for Harry M. Miller, Two Gentlemen of Verona for Kenn Brodziak, Lloyd George Knew My Father, starring alongside Sir Ralph Richardson, and with Leslie Phillips in The Man Most Likely To.
John co-wrote, directed and performed in three highly successful revues; Gershwin - a musical tribute to the songwriting brothers, The Twenties and All That Jazz and Oh Those Thirties.
In 1980, John was cast as Curly in Cameron Mackintosh’s revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s seminal musical Oklahoma!, playing the Palace theatre on London’s West End. The production was directed by Oscar’s son, James Hammerstein. For his performance, John was nominated for an Olivier Award as Best Actor in a Musical. He returned to Australia in 1982 to recreate the role in the Australian production and tour.
In 1987, John co-produced and starred as Guido Contini in the ground breaking musical Nine, for which he was nominated as Best Director of a Musical in the Sydney Theatre Critics awards. Nine was also nominated as the outstanding production of the year. John co-produced the original cast album of Nine which won the ARIA Award for Best Cast recording. He has recorded five other cast albums. 
John’s other theatre credits include Inspector Javert in Les Miserables, Wolf by Tobsha Lerner and Insignificance by Terry Johnson for Playbox, Aren’t We All with Sir Rex Harrison and Claudette Colbert, High Society for the Melbourne Theatre Company, as Dr Grant Swain in David Williamson’s Dead White Males for the Sydney Theatre Company and as Vittorio Vidal in Sweet Charity. In 1993, he again appeared on London’s West End at the Prince of Wales theatre in the role of Frank Butler in Ronald Lee’s production of Annie Get Your Gun.
In 1998, John created the role of the silver-tongued lawyer, Billy Flynn, in the acclaimed revival of Chicago. In 2000, he was invited to London to play the role on the West End stage. Further theatre credits include Mack & Mabel, South Pacific, Into the Woods and Follies. 
Producing and directing credits include the musicals South Pacific, Titanic, Zorba and Jekyll & Hyde.
His television and film credits include Bluey, Special Squad, Class of ’74 and The Challenge. In the UK, the sitcom The Gingerbread Girl and Second Thoughts; and Fred Scheppsi’s The Devil’s Playground. 
In this two part conversation with John Diedrich, STAGES recounts many of those highlights, along with the challenges of a life in the theatre, and the tremendous legacy that his career has gifted us.
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 Diedrich is one of the Australian theatre’s greatest and most versatile talents, having contributed to the industry across many platforms as actor, writer, director and producer. 
John commenced his career at age 11 with J.C. Williamson’s, appearing in the classics Camelot and then Oliver!, playing the Artful Dodger. At the age of 19 John produced and directed his first musical, presenting Minnie’s Boys, a musical based on the life of the Marx Brothers. Regular engagements as an actor followed in both plays and musicals, including Salad Days at St Martins, Grease for Harry M. Miller, Two Gentlemen of Verona for Kenn Brodziak, Lloyd George Knew My Father, starring alongside Sir Ralph Richardson, and with Leslie Phillips in The Man Most Likely To.
John co-wrote, directed and performed in three highly successful revues; Gershwin - a musical tribute to the songwriting brothers, The Twenties and All That Jazz and Oh Those Thirties.
In 1980, John was cast as Curly in Cameron Mackintosh’s revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s seminal musical Oklahoma!, playing the Palace theatre on London’s West End. The production was directed by Oscar’s son, James Hammerstein. For his performance, John was nominated for an Olivier Award as Best Actor in a Musical. He returned to Australia in 1982 to recreate the role in the Australian production and tour.
In 1987, John co-produced and starred as Guido Contini in the ground breaking musical Nine, for which he was nominated as Best Director of a Musical in the Sydney Theatre Critics awards. Nine was also nominated as the outstanding production of the year. John co-produced the original cast album of Nine which won the ARIA Award for Best Cast recording. He has recorded five other cast albums. 
John’s other theatre credits include Inspector Javert in Les Miserables, Wolf by Tobsha Lerner and Insignificance by Terry Johnson for Playbox, Aren’t We All with Sir Rex Harrison and Claudette Colbert, High Society for the Melbourne Theatre Company, as Dr Grant Swain in David Williamson’s Dead White Males for the Sydney Theatre Company and as Vittorio Vidal in Sweet Charity. In 1993, he again appeared on London’s West End at the Prince of Wales theatre in the role of Frank Butler in Ronald Lee’s production of Annie Get Your Gun.
In 1998, John created the role of the silver-tongued lawyer, Billy Flynn, in the acclaimed revival of Chicago. In 2000, he was invited to London to play the role on the West End stage. Further theatre credits include Mack & Mabel, South Pacific, Into the Woods and Follies. 
Producing and directing credits include the musicals South Pacific, Titanic, Zorba and Jekyll & Hyde.
His television and film credits include Bluey, Special Squad, Class of ’74 and The Challenge. In the UK, the sitcom The Gingerbread Girl and Second Thoughts; and Fred Scheppsi’s The Devil’s Playground. 
In this two part conversation with John Diedrich, STAGES recounts many of those highlights, along with the challenges of a life in the theatre, and the tremendous legacy that his career has gifted us.
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

Martin Portus has managed media and communication strategies for five organisations, including the launch of the National Museum of Australia, for the University of Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music, Parramatta City Council and the Australia Council for the Arts.  
At Parramatta City Council Martin was also employed as senior policy/political adviser to three Lord Mayors.  Most recently, he completed a one-year contract where he reinvented the branding, media and partnership strategies for the Commonwealth’s new Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).  
NIDA trained, his first career was as a television and stage actor in Sydney and Adelaide. Later, with a BA from Adelaide University, he studied a post-graduate diploma of journalism at City University in London.  After freelancing in London, Martin worked in Sydney as an arts journalist and critic for Fairfax Media, mostly the SMH, before joining the ABC in 1989.
From 1989–2000,  Martin was an ABC TV and Radio National arts broadcaster and producer - presenter of Arts National, presenter of Performance (a specialist performing arts program) and producer/presenter of Arts Today.  
Martin continues to work as a theatre and dance critic, a freelance journalist and a PR and media strategy consultant. He also works for the performing arts advocacy organisation, Currency House. Martin is a  director of Currency and a media and editorial advisor, notably in promoting and steering the quarterly Platform Papers and quarterly Creative and Business Breakfast addresses at the MCA.
He has also served on the boards of the Sydney Star Observer, the ACT AIDS Council and the Street Theatre in Canberra.
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

Welcome back to this companion episode of the STAGES podcast and our conversation with Natalie Mosco.
In Part 1, Natalie shared anecdote from her vast career, particularly the period when she worked throughout Australia is many shows, garnering a significant profile. Natalie of course arrived in Australia via the Musical Hair, where she had been a member of the Broadway company.
Subsequent stage sojourns included Grease, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Magic Show, Gershwin, The Rocky Horror Show, Get Happy and Pippin. All of which she shares terrific insight to - the triumphs and occasional trauma. And always with tremendous passion, joy and respect; for an art form she adores and the folk who inhabit it.
She recalls her first Australian too - the great Cyril Ritchard, who directed her as an 11 year old in La Perichole at the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
In Part 2, Natalie recounts growing up and embracing an education in the Performing Arts. And revisits celebrated performances in Follies, as Emily Whitman, and Grand Hotel as the Ballerina Grushinskaya. 
Throughout her stellar career she has also worked alongside key artists, teachers, performers and creatives - everyone a contributor to Natalie’s remarkable story; and for who she continues to carry the torch of their combined artistry.
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

New York born, Natalie Mosco appeared on Australian stages over a three decade period in productions that included The Rocky Horror Show, Get Happy, The Conquest of Carmen Miranda, Company and Oscar’s Turn to Sing.
Her earliest theatrical experiences were garnered as a dancer in a string of operas for the Metropolitan Opera House, as well as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty for Britain’s Royal Ballet.
She turned to acting in 1965 with plays for Off-Broadway’s American Place Theatre. In 1968 she was a member, and later starred with the original Broadway cast of Hair and began a four year association with that show which took her as a performer/choreographer to Toronto, Boston, Paris, and finally Melbourne for the beginning of the Australian tour.
Following Hair, Natalie toured with Jesus Christ Superstar, leaving that show for major roles in Grease, Two Gentlemen of Verona, No Sex Please We’re British, Pippin, Gershwin, and The Magic Show. An offer to re-create her Australian role in The Magic Show on Broadway took her back to America where she remained for almost five years doing Broadway, television, and regional theatre work including new plays, musicals and ‘standards’ such as ‘Maggie’ in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.
In Australia, her television credits include regular roles in Bellbird, Number 96, Learned Friends, The Last Bastion, A Country Practice and Carson’s Law, as well as guest spots for the ABC and Crawfords in sundry roles. 
Natalie performed the role of ballerina ‘Grushinskaya’ in the West End production of Grand Hotel. And for the prestigious Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey; ‘Belinda Blair’ in Noises Off; and ‘Emily Whitman’ in the first revival of Follies, alongside Kaye Ballard, Eddie Bracken, Donna McKechnie and Ann Miller.
We’re thrilled to welcome Natalie Mosco to the STAGES podcast.
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

Brett Weymark is one of Australia’s foremost choral conductors. Since 2003 Brett Weymark has conducted the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs throughout Australia and internationally. He has also conducted the Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Sydney Youth Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and productions for WAAPA, Pacific Opera and OzOpera. He has performed with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra, The Song Company and Musica Viva.

He studied singing and conducting at Sydney University and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and continued conducting studies with Simon Halsey, Vance George, Daniel Barenboim and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, amongst others.

His performances have included Bach’s Passions and Christmas Oratorio, the requiems of Mozart, Verdi, Duruflé and Fauré and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He is champion of Australian composers and has premiered works by Matthew Hindson, Elena Kats-Chernin, Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards and many others. He has prepared choirs for Sir Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Sir Simon Rattle. He has recorded widely for the ABC and conducted film scores, including Happy Feet, Mad Max Fury Road and Australia.

Recent highlight performances include Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (West Australian Opera), Paul Stanhope and Steve Hawke’s Jandamarra (SSO), Michael Tippett’s A Child Of Our Time (Adelaide Festival) and Carousel (State Opera South Australia).

In 2001, Brett was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal. In 2021, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts through music.

Brett is passionate about singing and the role that music plays in both the individual’s wellbeing and the overall health and vitality of a community’s culture. Music can transform lives and should be accessible to all.
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

A special episode of the STAGES podcast - a Mother’s Day focus with two of our favourite Mother/Daughter acting pairs - Belinda Giblin and Romy Bartz.

Many women have followed their Mums into the precarious vocation that is the stage and screen. Whilst being witness to the challenge and triumph of such a career, it has not stopped them following in Mother’s footsteps - chasing the dream, telling stories and embracing a wondrous profession.

For many showbiz families, it is the family business; and we are aware of the dynasties who have made Acting their focus across several generations. Some who trod the boards, are the ‘black sheep’ of the family, who find their way without a single member guiding the way.

So what are the challenges, or the advances, if any, of having your Mum lead the way. Belinda and Romy offer a unique insight and allow us to celebrate their significant talents.

Belinda Giblin is one of Australia’s most distinguished stage and screen actors. Her most recent theatre credits include “Amadeus” alongside Michael Sheen, and Melissa Bubnic’s “Ghosting the Party” (Griffin Theatre). Other recent credits include “Blonde Poison” (Old Fitz, SOH, Southbank) “Doubt” (Old Fitz) Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days”(Old Fitz) for all of which she was nominated for Best Actress in an Independent production by the Sydney Theatre Critics’ Circle Awards.

On television Belinda has had regular roles in the series “Home and Away”; “Sons and Daughters”; “Heartbreak High”;  “The Sullivans”; and “The Box “.

Film credits include “ Peterson”, “Say you Want Me” for which she won a Sammy award, and an award winning short film “Stille Nacht”. Belinda appeared in an Independent feature film, “A Stitch in Time”(Sasha Hadden Productions) in 2022. 

Belinda is presently playing in ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ at the Ensemble Theatre.

Romy Bartz is an actor and director who graduated from NIDA. Since graduating she has performed in theatre productions such as ‘Hillbilly Thriller’, ‘The Moors’, ‘Mercury Fur’, ‘Slaughterhouse’, ‘Bull’, ‘Idle Lies’, ‘Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them’ and ‘Thank You for Being a Friend’. 
Romy’s television credits include ‘Reef Break’, ‘The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show’, ‘The Surgeon’, ‘Love My Way’, ‘Skool Sue’, ‘White Collar Blue’ and ‘Murder Under the Microscope’.
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

Born in Australia, Nicholas McRoberts studied piano, composition and conducting at the Melbourne Conservatory, the Victorian College of Arts, the CNSM in Paris and the Ecole Normale. He studied conducting with Robert Rosen, Jorma Panula and Dejan Savić.
Today he is based in France. His works include operas, symphonies, ballets, voice, piano and chamber works.
His Symphony No. 1 “From the Old World” was premiered by the Sofia Philharmonic on the 27th of August 2022 with the composer conducting. 
His "Adagio for Strings" was commissioned for the Nürtinger Chamber Orchestra and first performed on November 14, 2021, conducted by Friederike Kienle. It was written during the Covid lockdowns and recorded with the Janaček Philharmonic in March 2021. The French première was given by the Ensemble Orchestral de Biarritz, conducted by Yves Bouillier in July 2022. 
In September 2019 he was named conductor of the Orchestre Démos du Grand Verdun with the Philharmonie de Paris. In 2018 he was named artistic director of Opéra Montmartre in Paris. 
In 2017 he collaborated with the French choreographer Nawel Oulad on a ballet Les Tisseuses de Silence and a duo Femme au Piano for the Semaine de la Danse in Paris which were performed in the Festival Les Aliennes and the Festival Appel de la Lune. His Violin Concerto was recorded in 2017 with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. 
His operas include "Lyon" (2016) premiered by the Ruse State Opera in July 2016, and "Nera" (2017) adapted from the play "Devojka Modre Kose" (The Girl with the Midnight Blue Hair) written by the Serbian playwright Vida Ognjenović. 
His composition "Festival Fanfare" was the recipient of the 2002 OpenBook Award for Sacred Music. His works are published by Halcyon Publications in Paris.
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

Katherine Wiles has been a full-time member of the Opera Australia Chorus since 2007. An essential and vital ensemble of players who contribute enormously to the world of the narrative being sung on stage. A stimulating position that sees the ensemble represent community in a breadth of operatic repertoire - as nuns, soldiers, townsfolk, mourners, socialites and sisters. But whether it’s dressing up or dressing down, the chorus is an exulted position that completes the Opera aesthetic and sound.
Katherine delivers an honest, raw, and hilarious insight into the life of an Opera Chorister. …. in a recently penned autobiography detailing a most splendid vocation. NO AUTOGRAPHS PLEASE! - LIFE IN AN OPERA CHORUS. It is filled with backstage antics, onstage disasters, personal anecdotes, and shines a light on a section of the opera industry people know very little about.

New Zealand-born Katherine lives in Sydney, after being based in the UK where she studied with Patricia Hay. She holds an F.T.C.L. Voice from Trinity College, London, England, a Masters in Opera from Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland and a Bachelor of Music (Honours) from Auckland University, New Zealand. From 1996-1999 Katherine was a Young Artist and Chorus Member of New Zealand Opera.

In 2016/2017 Katherine performed the roles of Lady Boxington/Ensemble in the Opera Australia/John Frost 60th Anniversary Production of My Fair Lady directed by Dame Julie Andrews, touring Australia.

In 2015 Katherine continued performing with Opera Australia as Papagena (The Magic Flute), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) in the Melbourne season, and Handmaiden (Turandot).

During 2014 Katherine’s performances with Opera Australia included Papagena in The Magic Flute and Giannetta in The Elixir of Love. In 2013 Katherine performed the role of Cupid in Orpheus in the Underworld and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni on tour for OzOpera in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales, as well as covering Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), Eurydice (Orpheus in the Underworld) and Ortlinde (Die Walküre) for Opera Australia’s Ring Cycle. In 2012 Katherine performed Valencienne (The Merry Widow), Papagena (The Magic Flute) and Handmaiden Two (Turandot) for Opera Australia and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) for OzOpera on tour in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.

Other recent performances include the roles of a Musician (Manon Lescaut), Mrs. Nordstrom (A Little Night Music) and First Bridesmaid (The Marriage of Figaro) for Opera Australia; Adina (L’elisir d’amore) for State Opera of South Australia; Serenade to Music with the Sydney Symphony conducted by Mark Wigglesworth; High Tea concerts at the Sydney Opera House; a series of concerts with Opus Orchestra on tour in New Zealand; Messiah for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs at Sydney Opera House as well as for Auckland Choral Society and Christchurch City Choir in New Zealand and the New Zealand Premiere of Bach St. Luke Passion for Bach Musica. She also covered the role of Betty in Bliss for Opera Australia at the Edinburgh Festival and was a guest soloist on board the Royal Yacht Britannia for an Opera Australia/Edinburgh Festival Event.

Other operatic roles include Giannetta/Adina cover The Elixir of Love (NZO/NZ International Arts Festival); Adina The Elixir of Love (Grange Park Opera/Pimlico Opera UK Tour); Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro (London Opera Players, UK); Despina Cosi fan tutte, Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia, Elvira Italian Girl in Algiers, Barbarina/Susanna cover Le Nozze di Figaro (NZO); Rosina The Barber of Seville (Swansea City Opera, UK); Adele Die Fledermaus (Sevenoaks Philharmonic, UK); Olympia Les Contes D’Hoffmann (Guildford Opera, UK).