Amadeus

Michael Sheen is a multi-award-winning Welsh actor and RADA graduate, known for his extensive work across film, TV and stage, as well as his charity work.

His vast film credits include resuming the role of David Frost in Ron Howard’s feature Frost/Nixon; Tony Blair in Stephen Frears’ The Queen; Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland; Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris; Lucian in the Underworld franchise; Aro in The Twilight Saga; Apostle (Netflix); Thomas Vinterberg’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Far From The Madding Crowd; and Simon Pegg’s Slaughterhouse Rulez.

Michael’s numerous TV credits include THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP (HBO), where he resumed the role of Tony Blair; Dr. Bill Masters in four seasons of the acclaimed Showtime series MASTERS OF SEX, for which he was also a producer; Adrian Shergold’s DIRTY FILTHY LOVE; Andy De Emmony’s KENNETH WILLIAMS: FANTABULOSA!, for which he won the RTS award for Best Actor; Aziraphale in the adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s GOOD OMENS (Amazon) with David Tennant; Chris Tarrant in Stephen Frears’ QUIZ (ITV/AMC), opposite Sian Clifford and Matthew Macfadyen, which became ITV’s most-watched TV drama of 2020, PRODIGAL SON (Fox) and critically-acclaimed BBC lockdown comedy STAGED with David Tennant.

Michael’s many notable appearances on stage include AMADEUS (Old Vic), FROST/NIXON (Donmar Warehouse), CALIGULA (Donmar Warehouse) and HAMLET (Young Vic) and UNDER MILK WOOD at the National Theatre. He created, co-directed, and performed in the ground-breaking three-day live event THE PASSION IN PORT TALBOT for National Theatre Wales.

His Christmas feature LAST TRAIN TO CHRISTMAS has been nominated for a National Film Award in the Best Comedy category.

Rahel Romahn is a renowned Australian performer with his career spanning film, television and theatre.

Rahel’s stage credits include No Pay? No Way, Lord of the Flies, Mary Stuart, Harp in the South, Three Sisters, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (STC); Cosi (STC/MTC) and Queen Fatima (Sydney Festival).

Rahel’s television credits include Shantaram for Apple TV+, God’s Favourite Idiot for Netflix, Australian Gangster, Secret City, Mr Inbetween, The Other Guy, Hyde & Seek, Janet King, Clever Man, Ready for This, The Principal and Underbelly: The Golden Mile. Feature film credits include Here Out West, Streets of Colour, Moonrock for Monday, Little Monsters, The Combination: Redemption, Ali’s Wedding, Down Under and Alex and Eve.

In 2016 Rahel was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama for his role in THE PRINCIPAL. Rahel received a Logie Award Nomination for Most Outstanding Newcomer for the same role. In 2022, Rahel was awarded the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship.

Lily Balatincz is an award-winning actor from Western Sydney. She is a graduate of the prestigious NYU Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting MFA program in New York.

Stage credits include US regional premiere of Constellations by Duncan Macmillan (Washington, DC), world premiere of The Eggs by Adam Rapp (NYC), world premiere of Meantime by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros (NYC), Stop the Virgens by Karen O (Sydney Opera House), Bad Machine (Casula Powerhouse). At NYU she appeared in The Seagull, Blithe Spirit, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Summer and Smoke, Ring Round the Moon, As You Like It.

Screen credits include Waiting directed by Isabella Wing-Davey, opposite Louisa Krause and Nadia Dajani, and Loitering With Intent directed by Adam Rapp, opposite Sam Rockwell, Marisa Tomei and Sam Waterston.

Lily received the 2017 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play in Washington DC for Constellations at Studio Theatre. She was awarded the Ron Van Lieu Scholarship by the chair of Yale School of Drama and is a recipient of the American Australian Association’s Dame Joan Sutherland Fund.

Toby Schmitz is a writer, director and actor. He was most recently seen on television in The Twelve [Foxtel], and on stage in Thom Pain (based on nothing) and Degenerate Art, which he wrote and directed [Red Line]. Toby’stheatre credits include The Rover, Hamlet, The Wild Duck, Measure for Measure, Private Lives, Thyestes, Strange Interlude, Ruben Guthrie and Dance of Death [Belvoir], The Present, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Travesties, Hanging Man, Rabbit and The Great [STC], Wild and The Importance of Being Earnest [MTC], Much Ado About Nothing [Bell Shakespeare], and The Boyce Trilogy [Griffin Theatre]. Toby received Helpmann Award Nominations for his performances in Thyestes, Much Ado About Nothing and Ruben Guthrie, and Sydney Theatre Award Nominations for Howie The Rookie, The Great and Ruben Guthrie. 

Toby was awarded the Patrick White Award for his play Lucky.

Toby’s television credits include Bloom, S.O.Z.: Soldiers or Zombies, Reckoning, Newton's Law, Blue Murder, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Underbelly: The Man Who Got Away and Black Sails. His film credits include Griff the Invisible, Three Blind Mice, The Rage in Placid Lake, and Somersault. 

His playwriting credits include dreamalittledreamalittle, Pan [BSharp], This Blasted Earth: A Christmas Miracle with Music (with Travis Cotton and Tim Minchin), Capture The Flag, I Want to Sleep With Tom Stoppard, Empire: Terror on the High Seas, and Degenerate Art [TRS].

Joseph ‘Wunujaka’ Althouse is a proud Tiwi/Arrernte man who lives and works on Gadigal Country. Joseph graduated form the National Institute of Dramatic Art with a BFA in 2018. Where he was fortunate enough to be involved in productions including Salem, The Changeling, Ex Machina and Stay Happy Keep Smiling. 

Upon completing his studies, Joseph was privileged to play in Redline Productions ‘Angels in America’, where he won the Sydney Theatre Award for best male actor in a supporting role in an independent production, for his portrayal of Belize. 

Joseph’s other theatre credits include: The Comedy of Errors National Tour, directed by Janine Watson (Bell Shakespeare), Lord of the Flies (STC) and Black Cockatoo (Ensemble/Sydney Festival), Green Park by Elias Jamieson Brown under the direction of Declan Greene (Griffin Theatre).

Television credits include ABC’s Black Comedy & Preppers.

Sean O’Shea has worked extensively in theatre for decades and has appeared for most of the Australian theatre companies, most recently in Tell Me I’m Here for Belvoir St Theatre. He has performed in over twenty Shakespeare productions, from the title role in Macbeth for Bell Shakespeare, to Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew for State Theatre Company of South Australia, to Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream for Railway St Theatre. He has toured productions from the U.K. to Washington D.C. and to Hong Kong. Other work includes Saint Joan, A Flea in Her Ear, Mariage Blanc, The Crucible, Way of the World and Scenes of a Separation for Sydney Theatre Company. Also productions for Ensemble, Griffin, Hayes, Darlinghurst Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company and Western Australia Theatre Company. Recent television includes Operation Buffalo. Sean is a graduate of WAAPA and has directed for WAAPA, NIDA, Bell Shakespeare and Sport For Jove Theatre Company.

Belinda Giblin is one of Australia’s most distinguished stage and screen actors. Her most recent theatre credits include Melissa Bubnic’s “Ghosting the Party” (Griffin Theatre) Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days” (Redline Theatre Co at the Old Fitz Theatre); “John” (Outhouse Theatre Company);  “Doubt” (The Old Fitz) ); “Blonde Poison”( Strange Duck productions ( The Old Fitz, Sydney Opera House and MTC at the Lawler), for all of which she was nominated for Best Actress in an Independent production by the Sydney Theatre Critics’ Circle Awards, 2015-21. Other plays include “Family Values” (Griffin Theatre),  “The Turquoise Elephant” (Griffin Theatre), “Daylight Saving” (Eternity Playhouse) 2014, )“Ear to the Edge of Time” (Sport for Jove),   “Dark Voyager” (Ensemble Theatre) 2014, “Absurd Person Singular” (Ensemble Theatre)  “Dinner”  ( SBW Stables);   Two sell-out national tours of “The Shoehorn Sonata”   with Maggie Kirkpatrick; (Christine Dunstan Productions)   “Love Child’, which she also produced; (Griffin Theatre);   “Wicked Sisters” (Griffin Theatre.);    “Scam” , (Christine Dunstan Productions  for Company B ,Belvoir St);    “Noises Off”   ( Ensemble at the Sydney Opera House);   “Away”  (Sydney Theatre Company)  “Blithe Spirit”  ( Queensland Theatre Co);     “Same Time Another Year”  ( Perth Theatre Co);   three National Tours of “Steaming” ( Gary Penny Productions);  “ Things We Do for Love”, “Social Climbers”, Henceforward”, How the Other Half Loves”,  and “Canaries Sometimes Sing”   ( Marian St Theatre).  

On  television Belinda has played regular roles in the series “Home and Away”; “Sons and Daughters”: “Heartbreak High”; “Skyways”;  “The Sullivans” ;   “A Country Practise” and “The Box “.

Film credits include “On the Edge of the Bed”; “ Peterson”;  “Demolition’;  ‘”Endplay”; “The Empty Beach”; “Say you Want Me” for which she won a Sammy award, and an award winning short film “Stille Nacht”. Most recently she has featured in an Independent feature film, “A Stitch in Time”(Sasha Hadden Productions) in 2022. In 2021 she featured as Elizabeth 1 in the Sport for Jove film “Venus and Adonis” (Soap Productions

Josh recently wrapped on LAST DAYS OF THE SPACE AGE alongside Jesse Spencer for Amazon.  Previous highlights include ABC telemovie RIOT, WOLF LIKE ME, ROSEHAVEN, MR INBETWEEN, RAKE, THE GREAT MINT SWINDLE and US series THE STARTER WIFE. Josh is well known for long-running roles as Miles Copeland on HOME AND AWAY and Matt Horner on ALL SAINTS.

Feature film credits include The Cairnes Brother’s features LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL and  SCARE CAMPAIGN, AROUND THE BLOCK with Christina Ricci, Abe Forsythe’s DOWN UNDER and comedy horror LITTLE MONSTERS.  

For the stage, Josh was last seen in Sydney Festivals reimaging of BETTY BLOKKBUSTER in the title role made famous by Reg Livermore in the 70’s. Josh’s other theatre credits include, for the STC, WHARF REVUE – RED WHARF, OUR TOWN, TROOPERS, MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, and THE MISER. Other theatre credits include KILLER JOE for B Sharp, THIS LIME TREE BOWER for Ensemble, ROMEO AND JULIET for Bell Shakespeare and as Oscar Wilde in THE JUDAS KISS at The Old Fitz. Josh was nominated for a Best Actor in a Musical Helpmann award for Disney’s THE LION KING, playing the villain Scar.  

Josh graduated from NIDA in 1997.

Since graduating from the prestigious NIDA in 1995, Michael Denkha has built a solid career. In theatre, Michael performed with the Sydney Theatre Company in the Liv Ullmann directed A Streetcar Named Desire, playing the role of Steve alongside Cate Blanchett, touring New York and Washington. Other theatre credits include King Lear (Sydney Theatre Company); The Blind Giant is Dancing, The Gates of Egypt and Edmond (Belvoir); Coriolanus (Bell Shakespeare): Silent Night, The Pugilist Specialist (Darlinghurst Theatre Company).

Michael has an extensive list of television credits in comedy and drama. Highlights include Here Come the Habibs!, Wolf Like Me, Hardball, Operation Buffalo, How to Stay Married, Secret City, The Ropes, The Principal, Sando, Blue Murder: Killer Cop, The Devil’s Playground, Catching Milat, Rake, East West 101 and the upcoming Boy Swallows Universe. Michael’s feature films include Down Under, The Combination, The Nothing Men, Stealth, Mask ll and 6 Days.

Soprano Katherine Allen made her debut at the Sydney Opera House as Paquette in Bernstein’s Candide. She has since performed as Josephine in HMS Pinafore (Hayes Theatre Company), Adele in Die Fledermaus (Lyric Opera Studio Weimar), and in the Chorus of Don Giovanni (Opera Australia). This season Katherine makes her debut at the Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen singing Adela in Reimann’s Bernada Albas Haus.

Recently, Katherine stepped in to perform the lead role of Anushka in Tymon Zgozelski’s new mini-opera Flights, co-presented by the Royal College of Music and Tête à Tête Opera Company. She worked again with Tête à Tête on their new opera, Film Performance.

Katherine is completing her Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music, studying with Janis Kelly. She is supported in the UK by the RCM’s Dangoor Scholarship, the Tait Memorial Trust, and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust. In 2021 she was a scholarship recipient with Melba Opera Trust.

Graduated from NIDA 1982,  a career that spans four decades of theatre, film and television - beginning with his first gig  as a director’s assistant on Aeschylus' PROMETHEUS BOUND at the Acropolis’s ancient  Herod Atticus Theatre in 1983.

Recent Television highlights include JANET KING for the ABC and the series IT’S FINE, I’M FINE For PHOTOPLAY which aired nationally on the SBS network in 2022, for which he wrote the episode' AZIZ.'  But his favourite was co-hosting an episode of the ABC’S  iconic COUNTDOWN in 1984.

Recent THEATRE credits include  THE HUMANS and PERMISSION TO SPIN at the OLD FITZ,  Belvoir’s COUNTING AND CRACKING for the Adelaide Festival (2019), ERNANI for Australian Opera in 2021, and  the world premiere of GODS and LITTLE FISHES for the NEW Theatre  in 2022. 

One of Australia’s most versatile and accomplished actresses, Blazey has an extensive list of performing credits and was most recently seen in Bell Shakespeare’s In a Nutshell. Other theatre highlights include Much Ado About Nothing, Troilus + Cressida, Richard lll, The Comedy of Errors (National and UK Tours), The Servant of Two Masters and The War of the Roses (Bell Shakespeare); My Brilliant Career, Ivanov, Nora, Miss Julie, Wild Duck (international tours), Death of a Salesman and Medea (Belvoir); Dogged and Strange Attractor (Griffin Theatre); Gypsy, Miracle City and Only Heaven Knows (Luckiest Productions); Summer Rain, Wharf Revue, Arcadia, Travesties and Troupers (Sydney Theatre Company); Fawlty Towers (Michael Coppel); Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Showtune Productions); B-Girl (Luna Hare) and The Iliad Out Loud (Sydney and Adelaide Festivals). In film, Blazey has appeared in Brendan Cowell’s Ruben Guthrie, Ten Empty, West, Stealth and Powder Burn. Her recent work in television includes the audience favourite A Place to Call Home, critically acclaimed Rake, Janet King, The Killing Field, Home and Away, Between Two Worlds and most recently the Netflix series Pieces of Her. She will soon be seen in Significant Others. Blazey has won Sydney Theatre Awards for her performances in Ivanov, Miracle City and Medea.

‘Ana graduated WAAPA in 2021 where she performed on stage in a number of leading roles including JULIUS CAESAR.  Other theatre production include GRACE and LET ME FINISH, both directed by Phoebe Sullivan and staged at The Blue Room Theatre in Perth. 

She will make her feature film debut in Australian comedy IT ONLY TAKES A NIGHT alongside Eliza Taylor and for television later this year ‘Ana will recur in the third series of BUMP for Stan. 

Gabriel Fancourt is a graduate from NIDA where he appeared in Lord of the Flies, A Midsummer Nights Dream and This Property is Condemned. Gabriel’s further theatre work includes Henry V for Bell Shakespeare, Cosi for Melbourne Theatre Company, The Hypochondriac for Darlinghurst Theatre Company K.I.J.E; Fallout and Babes in the Woods for Old Fitz Theatre and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Twelfth Night; The Tempest; A Comedy of Errors; Edward II; Measure for Measure; The Servant of Two Masters and River at The End of The Road for Sport for Jove Theatre Company. He has also appeared in Cry Havoc’s Titus Andronicus and Punk Rock for ATYP and This Is Not Mills and Boon for Old 505 Theatre.

Laura's operatic roles include Nella in Gianni Schicchi and Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos for Land of Enchantment Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni in Bulgaria at the Varna International Opera Academy, and Donna Elvira in Pacific Opera's Pocket Opera Don Giovanni. She was the soprano soloist Beethoven's 9th Symphony for Napier Civic Choir and for Willoughby Symphony Orchestra she was the soprano soloist for both the Beethoven 9th Symphony and the Poulenc Gloria. Laura is an alumna of the Pacific Opera Young Artist program and through that association she premiered the September 11th song cycle "Race to the Sky" by Richard Pearson Thomas in The Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House. Laura has performed with the Opera Australia chorus in King Roger, Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour's Carmen, The Nixon Tapes, Verdi Requiem, Aida, Turandot, Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour's La Traviata, Otello, and La Juive. Laura is a grateful recipient of assistance from both the Wagner Society NSW and the Prue Kennard Career Development Scholarship. In 2022 her engagements have included performing as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah for Penrith Symphony Orchestra, the role of Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro for The Cooperative, as well as a special evening of Croatian Opera Arias for Croatia House, NSW. Laura is proud to join the company of Amadeus.

Daniel Verschuer is an operatic tenor, actor, and graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. As a child, Daniel performed at the Sydney Opera House in Opera Australia productions of Carmen, Gianni Schicchi, and Billy Budd, among others. As an adult, he has portrayed leading roles in operas and operettas such as The Magic Flute (Tamino), The Marriage of Figaro (Don Basilio), Fidelio (Jaquino), The Gypsy Baron (Ottokar), and Pirates of Penzance (Frederick). Daniel’s most recent role was as the title character in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring, in a special production by Pacific Opera.

At the 2021 Sydney Festival, Daniel featured in director Kate Gaul’s HMS Pinafore, and he has previously been a part of the Sydney & Adelaide Fringe Festivals. Daniel has been described as “warmly lyrical” and “a charismatic presence”, and has also performed in concert with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, and Rockdale Opera Company.

Michaela Leisk holds a Bachelor of Music with Honours in vocal performance from the Royal College of Music, London, under the tutelage of Eiddwen Harrhy. Michaela most recently appeared as a featured singer in Boublil and Schönberg’s Australian tour of Enda Markey Presents’ Do You Hear the People Sing. Earlier in 2022, she performed in the ensemble of the Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour with Opera Australia, and in 2020, as a swing in Cameron Mackintosh’s UK and Ireland tour production of The Phantom of the Opera.

In Sydney, she performed in the ensemble of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love at the Hayes Theatre, understudying the role of Giulietta. Other roles in Australia include Calisto in the Australian premiere of Offenbach’s Daphnis and Chloe with Pacific Opera, Lucille in Rossini’s The Silken Ladder with Sydney Independent Opera, Orlenda in Charody Productions’ circus opera The Carnival, Envy in Fat Lady Productions’ Pleasure Opera, and Rose Pickles in the creative development of Cloudstreet: the opera. Michaela was a member of the 7 Sopranos for seven years, performing with them both internationally and interstate, on television, and in concert. She was featured on their debut, self-titled album with ABC Classics.

As a soloist, Michaela has performed many classical sacred works in churches and venues throughout the UK and Sydney, including Mozart’s Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Bach’s Cantata 51: Jauchzett Gott in allen Landen. A particular highlight was singing as the soprano soloist in Poulenc’s Gloria at Chelmsford Cathedral, Essex.

Michaela is in demand as a freelance soloist for concerts and corporate events, also singing with; The Jingle Belles Singers, Australian Global Entertainment, and Singers for Hire Oz.

Joshua Oxley is a tenor based in Sydney. His operatic roles include Balthasar Zorn (Wagner, Die Meistersinger), Tamino (Mozart, Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Mozart, Così fan tutte), Don Ottavio (Mozart, Don Giovanni, Opera Hunter), Alfredo (Verdi, La Traviata), Jenik (Smetana, The Bartered Bride), Mozart (Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart and Salieri), Sam Polk (Floyd, Susannah), Brighella (Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos) Remendado (Bizet, Carmen), Pane (Cavalli, La Calisto), Tchaplitsky

(Tchaikovsky, Pique Dame), and Frederic (Sullivan, Pirates of Penzance). Joshua has also toured NSW, Victoria, and South Australia with Opera Australia, performing the roles of Tamino (Mozart, The Magic Flute) and Count Almaviva (Rossini, The Barber of Seville).

He has been tenor soloist for St. Andrew’s Cathedral (Handel, Messiah; Bach, Cantata No. 4, No. 62 No. 80, No. 115, No. 140) Other major solo concert performances include Evangelist in St Matthew Passion, Stabat Mater (Rossini), Mozart Requiem, arias in St John Passion, Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini), Te Deum (Nicolai), and Bernstein Mass (Conservatorium Centenary).

Competition success includes winning the Joan Carden Award, the Opera and Arts Support Scholarship, the BBM scholarship for music, and twice receiving the Ronald Dowd Memorial Prize, as well as being a finalist in many national competitions.

Daniel completed the Advanced Opera Diploma at the Sydney Conservatorium in 2013. In Australia, he has performed as Sandy in Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse, Il Conte and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Boheme, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Re di Scozia in Ariodante, and Michele in Il Tabarro, Harlekin/Wigmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos, conducted by Simone Young, and most recently, sand Der Vater in Hansel und Gretel with Pacific Opera. Since 2014, he has been working for Opera Australia as a singer in their chorus and in their School’s Touring Program, and made his mainstage debut last year as Dancaire in Carmen at the Sydney Opera House, when he went on last minute, as the cover. Daniel has also performed internationally; Conte in Le Nozze di Figaro (Hawaii Performing Arts Festival), Guglielmo and Sagrestano in Cosi fan Tutte and Tosca (Greve Opera Academy, Italy), and Papageno in The Magic Flute (Connecticut Lyric Opera).

Sydney Theatre Company: Chalkface (with STCSA), No Pay? No Way!, Così (with MTC), The Father (with MTC), Away (with Malthouse Theatre), Disgraced, Arcadia, Love and Information (with Malthouse), After Dinner, Perplex, Tot Mom, Elling, The Pig Iron People, Don’s Party (with MTC), Julius Caesar, Victory, Love for Love, Mongrels, Historia, Two Weeks with the Queen, Dead White Males (national tour). As Understudy: Blithe Spirit. Other Theatre: Merrigong Theatre Co: As Luck Would Have It, Letters to Lindy. Daniel Sparrow Productions: Rupert. Ensemble: Sorting Out Rachel, Act One, All My Sons, Sanctuary, Face to Face, A Conversation, Charitable Intent, Birthrights, Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, Happiness, Managing Carmen, Tuesdays With Morrie, A View from the Bridge, Ten Unknowns, The Ruby Sunrise, Rapture, Blister, Burn. Bell Shakespeare: As You Like It (national tour). Belvoir: The Judas Kiss (national tour). B Sharp: Rhinoceros. Griffin Theatre Company: A Hoax, Porn.Cake. Seymour Centre: Transparency, Museum of Modern Love. Marian Street Theatre: Labour Day. Wayne Harrison Productions: Stainless Steel Rat. Darlinghurst Theatre: Laurence and Holloman, Every Second. Noosa Longweekend Festival: Birthrights. Old Fitz: Last One Standing. As Assistant Director: Ensemble: Charitable Intent. Ross Mollison Productions: Defending the Caveman. Film: Little Monsters, Little Deaths, Last Train to Freo, Dripping in Chocolate. TV: Colin from Accounts, Anzac Girls, Redfern Now, The Moodys, The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting, All Saints, BlackJack, Stingers, Water Rats, Backberner. Positions: President of the NSW branch of Actors’ Equity, Deputy Chair of The Actors Benevolent Fund of NSW. Training: NIDA. Proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1995.

Romance Was Born is the contemporary Australian fashion house with a unique story telling vision. The renowned duo Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales met while studying fashion in 2005 and established the inimitable label Romance Was Born. The pair is known for their ability to transform any theme or seemingly random inspiration into a glittery glimmering fashion paradise. Their collections are full of breathtaking statement pieces and feature; covetable prints, hand worked details of appliqué or embroidery, intricate beading and intensely detailed sequinned elements. Romance Was Born is held in costume and textile collections nationally at the National Gallery of Australia, the Powerhouse Museum, The National Gallery of Victoria and the South Australian Museum. Internationally, they featured in the 2019 Summer show “Camp: Notes on Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Artistic collaboration is an integral part of how Romance Was Born design, they carefully choose collaborators who share their creative passion and dedication to their process. Past collaborations with kindred artists and brands such as; May Gibbs, Linda Jackson, Jenny Kee, Del Kathryn Barton, Disney, Marvel, Lego and the Sydney Theatre Company. Romance Was Born create clothing that is more than just beautiful garments - they create an immersive and emotional experience for the wearer.

Together they explore a creative common ground and freely toy with the relationship between fashion and art. The design duo have garnered respect for their extravagant and theatrical runway shows, a forum where they have agency across the entire Romance Was Born vision. Such fashion statements have attracted artists who also boldly express their sartorial style with individual flair. Those who famously wear their collections include style mavericks and mavens such as; Cate Blanchett, Roisin Murphy, Nicki Minaj, Karen O, MIA, Eva Chen, Natasha Khan, Laura Brown, Patricia Paccinini, Andrea P, Grimes and Miley Cyrus. Each Romance Was Born collection is a vast fashion dreamscape exploring themes of fantasy steeped in vibrant imagery. www.romancewasborn.co

Formed in 2009 under the baton of Artistic Director & Chief Conductor Sarah-Grace Williams, The Metropolitan Orchestra (TMO) is recognised as one of Australia’s most versatile orchestras, delivering consistently vibrant first-class experiences.  TMO’s annual concert season is packed with a variety of events targeted at different demographics. 

TMO’s remarkable history of music making boasts more than 600 concerts with an impressive roster of performers appearing with the orchestra, including internationally renowned artists José Carreras, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Bryn Terfel, Sumi Jo, David Helfgott, Elaine Paige, Anthony Warlow, John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, James Morrison, Kate Ceberano, Marina Prior, Todd McKenny and the Grigoryan Brothers. TMO has also collaborated with leading Australian arts organisations including the Australian Ballet, Opera Australia, Sydney Chamber Choir, Sydney Philharmonia, Pacific Opera and the Sydney Opera House.

The Metropolitan Orchestra has received critical acclaim for their exceptional performance across numerous genres. Recent highlights are Australian and New Zealand tours with the 2Cellos, Basement Jaxx, The Piano Guys, Air Supply, Joy Division and Horrorshow, and concerts with film (including Jurassic Park, BBC’s Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy).  They have performed mid-field at the NRL Grand Final, at Opera in the Vineyards in both the Hunter Valley (NSW) and Clare Valley (SA), sailed for 7 years aboard Bravo Cruise of the Performing Arts and played for ‘Synthony - a celebration of dance music reimagined’.