STAGES with Peter Eyers

Vidya Makan grew up in Brisbane spending most of her time on the football (soccer) field with dreams of one day becoming a Matilda. However, at the age of 14 after playing flower girl number 3 in her high-school production of My Fair Lady, Vidya decided to take on a much more realistic and stable path and made the wise decision to lead a life in showbiz.

Having learnt to read music at the age of three (before she was able to read English) she is also a cellist and highly skilled pianist. She is a proud graduate of The Bachelor of Musical Theatre program at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, class of 2015. 

Vidya is one of Australia's most exciting multi-hyphenates in the entertainment industry. As a leading lady, she has wowed audiences across the country through her powerful performances as Eliza in Hamilton, Catherine Parr in SIX, Ruby in Bloom and Dot/Marie in Sunday In The Park With George to name a few, all of which saw her nominated for major industry awards. In 2024 she featured on the ABC and Michael Cassel Group’s A (Very) Musical Christmas, and in 2023 she was a guest quiz master on Channel 10’s Have You Been Paying Attention. 

Vidya is also a talented composer and lyricist of her own musicals. Her critically acclaimed debut original The Lucky Country opened to rave reviews in Sydney in 2023 and is being presented this October at Melbourne Theatre Company’s Southbank Theatre and then as part of the MELT festival in Brisbane. The original cast album will be released on all streaming platforms with Origin Music on August 14.

Vidya is currently in development with Queensland Theatre on a new original musical exploring the everyday lives of South Asian Australians working with collaborator Tasnim Hossain.

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

Penny McNamee is currently starring as Rachel in the smash hit - MJ the Musical at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne.

Most recently Penny stared in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple alongside Lucy Durack, Todd McKenney and Shane Jacobson for both the Sydney and Melbourne seasons to rave reviews.

She is a Green Room Award Winner for her role as Nessarose in the original Australian production of WICKED and has played leading roles in mainstage productions across the country, including Donna in the Griffin Theatre’s production of Hurlybury, Ella in Bells are Ringing for the Hayes Theatre Company, Alaura Kingsley in City of Angels, also for the Hayes Theatre Company and Jennifer in Cameron Mackintosh’s Australian production of the Witches of Eastwick.

Penny’s international musical theatre credits include leading roles in Daddy Long Legs the musical and Rocket Science both staged in New York City.

Penny was a series regular for six years in the Seven Network’s hugely popular drama Home and Away in the role of Dr Tori Morgan, which saw her nominated for a Logie Award. 

US television credits include Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (CBS), Steven Spielberg’s The Pacific (HBO), Political Animals (USA), Elementary (CBS) and Blue Bloods (CBS).

Some of Penny’s other Australian television credits include roles in White Collar Blue, All Saints, Headland and Foxtel’s Satisfaction.

Penny’s feature film credits include lead roles in the US feature film, See No Evil (Lionsgate) and John Duigan’s critically acclaimed Australian feature Careless Love.

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

Steven Kramer is a multi-faceted artist working as a music director, pianist, writer, composer, orchestrator, producer and cabaret performer.

He has been the Associate Musical Director for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and previously served as the Assistant Musical Director for Chicago (GFO). A long-standing collaborator with the esteemed Hayes Theatre Co since its founding in 2014, his credits include Little Shop Of Horrors, Calamity Jane, Assassins, The Drowsy Chaperone, Rent, LOVEBiTES, She Loves Me, Side Show, Catch Me If You Can and Jekyll and Hyde for which he won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Musical Direction.

As a pianist he has performed with leading orchestras and renowned artists, including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Paloma Faith, The City Recital Hall, Trevor Ashley and Kate Ceberano, as well as in major commercial productions such as Mary Poppins, Frozen, Beautiful and The Sound Of Music.

Dedicated to championing new Australian work, Steven has contributed as an arranger and orchestrator to productions including The Dismissal (Squabbalogic), Zombie: The Musical (Hayes Theatre Co), Evie May (Hayes Theatre Co), The Secret Singer (Darlinghurst), Never Let Me Go (Griffin) and Nosferatutu (Griffin). He collaborated with Courtney Act to compose the opening number for the Sydney WorldPride Domain Concert, which was broadcast nationally on ABC.

As a writer and composer, his original musical Phar Lap: The Electro-Swing Musical is set to premiere at Hayes Theatre Co in 2025. His award-winning one-man cabaret, I Sing Songs, has been performed across Australia, featuring his original compositions. He has also written original music for There's No One New Around You (Keira Daley, Mark Simpson), Neighbourhood Watch (Illuminate Educate) and In Stitches (Alex Giles), as well as a commissioned double concerto for saxophone, marimba and orchestra, performed by Translucent Duo.

Steven is the co-director and co-founder of Curveball Creative, the production company behind the critically acclaimed live-streamed musical Who’s Your Baghdaddy, or How I Started the Iraq War, which he also musically directed. The production received a Critic’s Pick from The New York Times and was streamed on BroadwayHD. Curveball Creative continues to produce innovative musical theatre, including Once On This Island at Hayes Theatre Co.

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

Tricia Paoluccio is a multifaceted actor, distinctive visual artist, and dynamic creator whose talents flourished in remarkable ways during the pandemic. Two of her lifelong passions—performance and visual art—took center stage, leading to transformative projects.

She co-wrote and stars in Here You Come Again, a heartfelt two-person musical comedy in which she portrays her lifelong idol, Dolly Parton. With Dolly’s personal endorsement, the production was granted global grand rights to feature her iconic music.

Following a successful U.S. tour in 2023, the show captivated audiences across 30 cities in the UK, selling out performances and earning critical acclaim. Currently, the production is delighting London audiences at Riverside Studios before embarking on a major tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Tricia’s performance has earned her a nomination for Best Leading Performer in a Musical, while the show itself is up for Best New Musical at the 2024 Broadway World UK/West End Awards.

As a visual artist, Tricia’s passion for flower pressing has led to high-profile collaborations, creating botanical designs for luminaries in the fashion, publishing, and music industries.  Her collaboration with Oscar de la Renta resulted in Taylor Swift’s iconic pressed flower dress at the Grammys and Anna Wintour wearing her art to the Met Gala. The viral success of these creations led to Tricia launching her brand: Domain of the Flowerings which features pressed flower imagery in high design. 

Raised on an almond farm in Modesto, CA, by an inventor father and a school teacher mother, Tricia moved to NYC where she initially sold her art on the street while pursuing her acting career. 

Since making her Broadway debut as Catherine in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, she has worked consistently in New York theatre on Broadway and off, in television and film. Her varied stage work ranges from playing Cressida in Sir Peter Hall’s Troilus and Cressida to originating the role of Donna in the cult Off-Broadway comedy hit Debbie Does Dallas, to co-starring in the inaugural production of Edward Albee’s Lady from Dubuque at the Signature Theatre, to playing Chava in David Leveaux’s Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Recent tv credits include recurring roles on Saint X and Law and Order: SVU.

As a creator, Tricia developed, produced and starred in the cringe comedy web series, Mommy Blogger, a satire of influencer culture, which was later optioned and retitled LIKE ME. 

Here You Come Again is currently playing the the Theatre Royal in Sydney and will then continue an Australian tour.

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 graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Tara Morice has worked extensively in theatre, film and television for over 30 years.

Her first film out of NIDA was Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom, for which she was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award, an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award and a Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. 

She has also appeared in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Dance Academy: The Movie, Oranges and Sunshine, Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance, Candy, Hildegarde, Moulin Rouge!, Hotel Sorrento, Metal Skin, Carmen and the Oscar-nominated short Miracle Fish. Tara can most recently be seen in The Moogai and Nugget Is Dead, and will next appear in Rebel Wilson’s The Deb.

Her television credits include the award-winning teen series Dance Academy, as well as Answered by Fire, McLeod’s Daughters, Salem’s Lot, After the Deluge, Dogwoman and Play School.

On stage, Tara has performed in many productions for the Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, Griffin, the Ensemble, Queensland Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre and the State Theatre Company of South Australia. She has been nominated for her work in musical theatre with a Victorian Green Room Award for The Venetian Twins and a Helpmann Award for Fat Swan.

Tara wrote and directed the documentary My Biggest Fan, which premiered at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and screened on SBS.

As a singer, Tara recorded Time After Time with Mark Williams for the Strictly Ballroom soundtrack, and a new solo version for Baz Luhrmann’s album Something for Everybody.

In September she returns to the stage in a brand new production of Menopause The Musical - playing The State Theatre in Sydney.

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 and raised in Sydney, Australia, Alexis Fishman is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). She was nominated for a Helpmann Award for her performance as 'Young Dusty' in Dusty, her first show after graduating. Alexis then went on to star in some of Australia’s biggest musicals including Shout! and the award winning Sydney premiere of Kiss of The Spiderwoman. Other Australian credits include Urinetown, Closer, Troupers, as well as plays at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Monkey Baa Theatre Company. 

Alexis is the creator of six solo cabaret shows including the award winning Club Gelbe Stern which made it’s US debut at NYMF where Alexis was awarded ‘Outstanding Individual Performance’. Other shows have been performed across Australia at the Adelaide and Melbourne Cabaret Festivals, Shir Madness Jewish Music Festival, The Reginald Theatre, The Sound Lounge, Chapel Off Chapel, Sydney Jewish Museum, Ginger’s at the Oxford Hotel and Claire’s Kitchen. In New York, Alexis’ shows have been seen at 54 Below, City Winery, Pangea, The Triad, JCC Manhattan and Laurie Beechman Theatre as well as in New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut and Florida. 

Most recently, Alexis was seen off-Broadway as Anne Frank in Anne Being Frank by Ron Elisha. The production garnered two Broadway World Awards, for Best Solo Performance and Best off-Broadway production. 

Alexis holds a Masters in International Relations from Deakin University and was honoured to sing for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Iraq war. Her personal essays have been published in two books, God, Faith and Identity in the Ashes, and the i'Mpossible Project's Lemonade Stand. 

Alexis has coached Cabaret workshops for Broadway Weekends, Actors Equity Australia and the Sydney Cabaret Showcase. She also sees private clients.  

In September, Alexis brings her celebrated turn in Anne Being Frank by Ron Elisha, to the stage at the Sydney Opera House.

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

Noni Hazlehurst recently returned to the stage with MOTHER  at the Arts Centre in Melbourne. Her autobiography Dropping the Mask was released in October 2024.

Noni played the role of Miss Cartwright in the feature film Ladies in Black for which she received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2018 ACCTA Awards.

Noni completed filming on A Place to Call Home, the final series screening in 2018.

She has completed a second sell-out tour of the one woman play, MOTHER and the role of Mag in the Sydney Theatre Company production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, both to excellent reviews.  She reprised MOTHER in Queensland in 2020.

Most recent television and film work includes: Long Story Short, June Again, The End, A Place to Call Home, Truth, and Redfern Now.

In 2016 Noni was inducted into the TV Week Logie ‘Hall of Fame’.

In September she is back on the boards in the world premiere season of Daniel Keen’s LARK at the Melbourne Arts Centre.

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

Francis Greenslade began performing with the Adelaide University Footlights. He has been an actor and a teacher for over 30 years. He is best known for performing a host of characters on ‘Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell’ and Brian Gross on ‘Winners andLosers’. Other screen credits include The Leftovers, Irreverent, Blue Heelers, Dr Blake, SeaChange and Full Frontal.

He has worked with most theatre companies across Australia. His stage credits include The Odd Couple, Shakespeare in Love, Man the Balloon, and Urinetown for the Melbourne Theatre Company, Babes in the Wood, The Odyssey, Optimism, and Tartuffe for Malthouse, and Navigating for the Sydney Theatre Company. In 2019 STC produced his adaptation of Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

His book ‘How I Learnt to Act’ was published by Currency Press in 2019 and his play ‘The Platypus’ has had seasons at Theatreworks in St Kilda in 2024 and at Holden Street Theatres for the Adelaide Fringe in 2025.

‘The Platypus’, plays the Brisbane Festival in September.

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

From beloved TV dramas to blockbuster musicals, Ian Stenlake has carved out a dynamic career across stage and screen. Most recently, he conjured magic (and menace), mesmerising audiences as the enigmatic Saruman in The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale. Prior to that, Ian toured nationally in Elvis: A Musical Revolution, portraying the legendary Colonel Tom Parker, a performance that earned him the Glugs Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Musical. His musical resumé is stacked with acclaimed roles including Sam in Mamma Mia!, Sky in Guys & Dolls, Curly in Oklahoma!, Cliff in Cabaret, Robert in The Bridges of Madison County and John Ashby in Georgy Girl.

Beyond musicals, Ian has also made his mark in a wide range of main stage productions. Highlights include Around the World in 80 Days for Ellis Productions, One Crowded Hour with the Tasmanian Theatre Company, Daylight Saving for Darlinghurst Theatre Company, School of the Arts for Queensland Theatre Company and Sleeping Beauty for Malthouse Theatre.

On screen, Ian is best known for his long-running roles as Commander Mike Flynn in Sea Patrol and Oscar Stone in Stingers. His television work also includes appearances in The Secret Daughter, Dance Academy and more. His film credits range from Diana & Me to Trapped in Space, and even a role in The Godfather Part III.

A two-time Green Room Award winner and Helpmann Award nominee, Ian continues to enchant audiences nationwide, affirming his place as a powerhouse of Australian stage and screen.

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

Robert W. Schneider is one of the foremost educators and lecturers in the world of theatre having given countless presentations at Yale, Fordham, The Institute of the American Musicals, and at various engagements throughout the United States and the UK. 

He is currently on the faculty of both Penn State University and the Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at New York Film Academy. Robert is a graduate of Penn State University (MFA) and a member of The Society of Directors and Choreographers.

Rob is one of the iconic New York Cabaret venue Feinstein’s/54 Below, original programming producers. He is the Artistic Director of the J2 Spotlight Musical Theatre Company, and a freelance director. He has worked with such artists as Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, as well as such institutions as Lincoln Center, Second Stage, The York Theatre, PBS, Walnut Street Theatre, and Center Theatre Group. 

As a director, Rob has focused mainly on revivals and regional premieres: which have included Memphis, Rock of Ages, Hairspray, How to Succeed…., Bye Bye Birdie, Company, Merrily We Roll Along, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and City of Angels.

For J2 Spotlight Musical Theatre Company he has directed productions of Smile, Zorba, Drat! The Cat!, Do Re Mi, Lucky Stiff, Seesaw and No Strings. The Company presents professional revivals of  worthy Broadway musicals; in doing so it provides an opportunity for  patrons to re-visit these shows and, in some cases, experience them for  the first time.

As a producer at 54 Below Rob has worked on over 80 concerts, many in the MAC-Award winning 54 Sings Series….where he directed concerts of We Will Rock You (NY Premiere), Memphis (OBC Reunion) and Curtains (OBC Reunion) among many more.

He is also the Producer/Host of several podcast series which celebrate and investigate the Broadway musical and their practitioners; all essential listening for fans of the shows and the people. 

The podcasts include Behind the Curtain: Broadways Living Legends, Broadway Bound: The Musicals That Never Came To Broadway and Fifty Key Stage Musicals.

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