I have appeared in about 40 productions over the past forty years. Favourite roles include Eugene Fodor and Junior in (separate productions of) Crazy for You, Mr Fox in Mack and Mabel, Max in The Sound of Music, Freddy in My Fair Lady, Julio in Paint Your Wagon, Marcellus in The Music Man and Grantaire in Les Miserables.
I have directed several school productions. I choreographed Urinetown and Little Shop of Horrors, then went on to direct Hot Mikado and the Australian premiere of 13. I have since gone on to direct/choreograph The Music Man Jr and Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr.
At my next school, I was Head of Productions, overseeing up to a dozen productions each year and directing another seven musicals, including The Music Man, Brigadoon and How To Succeed in Business Without really Trying.
I reviewed music theatre and opera for Theatre People and the Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne). I served on the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria Committee for five years as Treasurer and was on the Board of The Opera Studio Melbourne.
I am a keen audience member, having seen 58 shows in six weeks in a 2012 trip to New York, as well as 57 shows during 6 weeks in London/Europe earlier the same year.
I hope you enjoy reading the news and reviews at Man in Chair. I would love to hear your thoughts on the shows covered here so please feel free to leave your comments.
Secretive suitors and supernatural specters tinge the pure, romantic love story at the heart of perennial ballet favourite Giselle. Peter Wright’s lovingly traditional production remains a jewel in the crown of the […]
A beloved childhood novel, movie and movie remake, the blue chip property Charlie and the Chocolate Factory finally makes it to the music theatre stage. Housebound and bogged in exposition through act […]
Le Corsaire is a traditional full-length ballet that is light on storytelling, allowing plenty of scope for a multitude of featured dances, and set in an exotic locale, giving the opportunity for […]
Art isn’t easy. This well constructed revue of Stephen Sondheim gems is a pleasure to hear, but suffers from a dismally slight production and an unevenly matched cast.
Massenet’s lush, romantic setting of the time-honoured French tale of Manon is given a lavish treatment in this sumptuous yet stylish production. The journey of impetuous anti-heroine Manon from rags to riches […]
Another flashy West End crowd pleaser, The Bodyguard demonstrates the fact that London music theatre does not have the award-focused obsession that Broadway does when creating new works. There Is nothing like […]
Bursting with energy, character, hits and humour, new musical The Commitments is fully deserving of the great success that comes when a terrific musical idea is expertly and lovingly realised. Technically a […]
With its spoken dialogue, scores of children, animals and dancers, and rich, authentically Spanish setting, director Francesca Zambello’s creative but traditional production of perennial favourite Carmen is a true crowd-pleaser. Action, dance […]
Wildly inventive, joyfully humorous and unfailingly energetic, music theatre goldmine Menier Chocolate Factory provides boundless entertainment in this best of all possible productions of Candide. Director Matthew White has not only presided […]
Thoroughly disproving the old adage “you can’t go home again,” UK music theatre legend Marti Webb, now a sprightly, sunny 69, returns to the stage in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic song cycle […]
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