April Session

24 Sunday April 2016
When: 6:30pm Where: Nexus Arts, Lion Arts Centre Tickets: $10

About this Session

Join us in April as Broadway Sessions regular, Lindsay Prodea, hosts a night of performer’s favourite songs – that’s right, it’s free choice time! In addition to the regular happenings of Broadway Sessions, there will be special performances from cast members of Sugar and Catch Me If You Can, both opening in the next month.

If you are registering, please remember to suggest two songs so we can choose a program of varied style. This month there are no restrictions on what you can choose, provided it’s from musical theatre or a musical theatre writer!

 

Session Host

Lindsay Prodea (he/him)

Lindsay has performed over the past decade in both musical theatre and cabaret, having enjoyed success in various genres: classical roles such as John Brooke in Little Women (The Musical) (Therry Dramatic Society 2013) and Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods (Northern Light Theatre Company 2012); to contemporary roles such as Abraham in the Adelaide premiere of Altar Boyz (Davine Interventionz 2013), Sonny Malone in Xanadu (The Musical) (Davine Interventionz 2014), George in The Drowsy Chaperone (Hills Musical Company 2013), Kyle the UPS Delivery guy in Legally Blonde (HMC 2014) and most recently Elliott Garfield in The Goodbye Girl (Therry 2015). Lindsay has also appeared in countless other shows, favourites including Urinetown, 42nd Street, Crazy for You & Les Misérables. Most recently he premiered in Adelaide the role of Fabrizio for Davine Interventionz's 2016 Adelaide Fringe Show, The Light In The Piazza.

Aside from musical theatre, Lindsay has a keen passion for cabaret, having written, co-produced and performed at numerous cabaret events over the years. Stepping out side his usual genre, Lindsay played the role of Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (old sport), produced by Independent Theatre.

Session Performers

Andrew James Crispe

Andrew is an established freelance performer and vocal coach who has performed professionally in and around Adelaide. He has been a member of the State Opera of SA’s Chorus since 2009. Andrew‘s first foray into the world of Music Theatre was in 2000, when he was encouraged to audition for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s back-to-back production of HMS Pinafore and Trial By Jury, and since then he has not looked back!

Andrew won his first leading role in 2006, and has gone on to play a large number of leading and supporting roles throughout Adelaide’s community theatre. Andrew has been nominated for Best Male Performance by the Critics Circle Awards for his role as Don Lockwood in Singin’ In The Rain, and by the Adelaide Theatre Guide for the same role, as well as his portrayal of The Beast in Disney's Beauty And The Beast. For one of his most recent productions Andrew won the TASA Best Male Performance Award for his portrayal of Edward Bloom in BIG FISH – a show which also won the TASA MusiCal Award. Andrew co-wrote and performed in the sold-out season of Villain-Ville: A Musical Exploration of Villainy and Evil in the 2015 Fringe Festival. His most recent appearances this year include a return to the role of Curly McLain (for the third time) in an outdoor production of Oklahoma (On A Farm) with Emma Knights Productions, The Preacher in Davine Interventionz production of Violet, a return to the role of the Major General in Emma Knights Productions’ fourth season of Pirates On The Popeye, and lastly as Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Andrew played the role of Marius in both seasons of Les Misérables with the Gilbert & Sullivan’s Society in 2008 and 2009, and he is overjoyed to be coming back for yet another season with them only this time as the infamous Javert – a role he has coveted since he was little!

Ben Todd

Ben has been performing in theatre since 2011 when he stumbled upon auditions for The Crucible, staged by Gin and Vodka Productions. Since then he has appeared in various silent musicals (also called stage plays) and dipped his toes into the swim-spa of musical theatre properly in 2014 when he auditioned for Marie Clark Musical Theatre's production of Young Frankenstein, appearing in the ensemble.

He has appeared in various silent musicals and musicals over the years, most notably Jamie in The Last Five Years for Segue Productions and Patsy in the award winning Monty Python’s Spamalot for Marie Clark Musical Theatre. He directed the award winning Jekyll & Hyde The Musical for Marie Clark Musical Theatre in 2017.

Ben is looking forward to returning to the stage during the 2020 Adelaide Fringe in Forbidden Broadway with Marie Clark Musical Theatre.

Casmira Lorien (she/her)

Casmira is an experienced performer and teacher with a great passion for storytelling. Highlights have included performing the role of ‘Violet’ in Davine Productions’ Violet (for which she won the TASA award for Best Female Performance 2017) and 'Fantine' in the G&S Society's production of Les Misérables (for which she was nominated for a Curtain Call: Best Female Performance 2018).

In 2018 she performed in Edges with Irregular Productions for the Adelaide Fringe, ‘Shelby’ in Steel Magnolias with IpSkip,'The Lady of the Lake' in Spamalot with Marie Clark (winner of Best Ensemble Curtain Call 2018), and the ‘Sour Kangaroo’ in Seussical with Northern Light. In 2019 Casmira played nine characters in Judge Jackie: Disorder in the Court with Davine Productions (which won Best Ensemble and Best Musical at the 2019 Curtain Call Awards, as well as the TASA for Best Musical) and Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme in Assassins for Hills Musical Company.

Professionally, Casmira has acted and provided voices for several short films and children’s productions. She also spent many years directing and music directing musicals for Adelaide Theatre Academy, including Snow White and Alice in Wonderland for the Festival Centre’s ‘Something on Saturday’ program. Her fondest memories are working with Peter Combe in directing and choreographing his Adelaide Fringe shows from 2013-2015.

Dharini Rajaramanan (she/her)

Dharini Rajaramanan developed her passion for performing and musical theatre at a young age which grew stronger after showcasing in a number of school productions and performing in various vocal ensemble groups. Since completing school Dharini worked as a studio assistant at the Studio and Star Factory, a world class vocal coaching and artist development studio and has appeared in a few community theatre productions. In 2016, she performed in Marie Clark Musical Theatre’s production of Rent, where she understudied the role of Mimi and performed in the ensemble. Dharini also appeared in a musical theatre showcase at the University of Birmingham as a lead soloist. Dharini played the character Pat in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production of Kinky Boots in 2019 and most recently appeared as Lucinda in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production of Into the Woods in 2022. After spending the last few years focusing on her career in Clinical Psychology, Dharini is very excited to be back on stage. Dharini is excited to perform in the 2023 Adelaide Fringe production of Bimbo and is honoured to be a part of a show that challenges harmful stereotypes.

Ellis Dolan (he/him)

Ellis Dolan toured as Eddie/Dr. Scott in The Rocky Horror Show, and with the company of School of Rock as an Understudy for Dewey Finn and as a Swing – travelling all over Australia, China, and New Zealand.

He spent 2017 studying Musical Theatre at NIDA; appearing in the Sydney Theatre Company production of Chimerica as part of the NIDA Ensemble.

He has appeared in several productions around Adelaide, including Evita (The Met) in which he portrayed Che; The Producers (HMC) as the Stormtrooper; Oliver! (Shane Davidson Presents) as Bill Sykes; as well as ensemble roles in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (HMC) and Jesus Christ Superstar (G&S Society). Off-stage, he acted as Assistant Director for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and Smokey Joe's Cafe (HMC).

He also toured across Australia, portraying the role of Peter Dutton, as part of Abbott: The Musical (George Glass Productions), performing as part of the Canberra Comedy Festival and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, as well as a sell-out run in the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Outside of performing, Ellis is a writer – having completed his Honours in Creative Arts: Creative Writing at Flinders University. He’s currently struggling through the third draft of a novel and is constantly side-tracked by wanting to write reviews and film analysis; because of this, nothing seems to get done, but he has a lot of fun doing it.

He made his directorial debut with Edges as part of the 2018 Adelaide Fringe Festival and loved every second of working with such fine people.

Em Carter

Em is a 24-year old teacher back down under on a break from Ye Olde Englande. She began performing at age five but didn't enter the magical land of musical theatre until the age of 12. She enjoys reading, history, piña coladas, getting caught in the rain, and obviously, musicals.

She has performed and crewed for many shows. The highlights of her time treading the boards include playing Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun (UHS), Bet in Oliver! (G&S), and possibly her favourite role at the tender age of 12 - the Pirate King (Pelican Productions). Other credits include Les Misérables (G&S), Thoroughly Modern Millie (G&S), Cinderfella the Pantomime (Royal Holloway), Young Frankenstein (MCMT), Calamity Jane (MCMT), Music Theatre Camp 2008 - 2013 (Pelican Productions).

Emily Fischer

Emily started singing with her school choir at Hawthorndene Primary School and went on a choir exchange in Christchurch New Zealand in 2014. In 2015 Emily was one of the five South Troupe Soloists at the Festival Theatre as part of the Festival of Music. She has also taken part in several holiday program musicals including; Cruisical The Musical and Ease on Down the Road. Currently she performs regularly as a part of the Show Bugs troupe and will take part in the Theatre Bugs Cabaret and production of Elf the Musical.

Emma Haddy

Born into a family with a background in the performing arts, Emma has been immersed in the world of theatre ever since she can remember. Her introduction to Adelaide amateur theatre came when she joined the ensemble of G&S’s Oliver! in both 2013 and 2014, and was involved in the society’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2016. In 2017, Emma fulfilled her lifelong dream to perform the role of Cosette in Les Misérables, also with G&S, and in 2019 joined the cast of Therry's The Pirates of Penzance as Edith. Emma graduated from her Bachelor of Arts at Adelaide University in 2019.

Gavin Cianci

Gavin "fell" into Musical Theatre back in 2008 when he was asked by good friend Paula Cooney to audition for The Witches of Eastwick. He was fortunate enough to get in and hasn't looked back. Since then he has played various roles. He was a nasty Nazi in The Sound of Music, a prison guard in Hairspray, Cinderella's Father in Into The Woods and was even the Beast double in Beauty & the Beast and the Phantom double in The Phantom of the Opera. Gavin's favourite role is a toss up between 3... Chad in All Shook Up, The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and Glen Guglia in The Wedding Singer.

Gavin also gets involved backstage and has stage managed Altar Boyz, Xanadu and The Flower Children all for Davine Interventionz. Set construction is another part of theatre that Gavin enjoys being a part of. The Addams Family, Mary Poppins, Spamalot, Avenue Q and coming up in July, Wicked, are all shows he has put his stamp on. Gavin is now looking forward to taking on the role of Frank Sr. in Marie Clark's production of Catch Me if You Can in May.

Imala Konyn

Originally from Port Augusta, Imala is in her third year of classical voice at the Elder Conservatorium. She was awarded the Rae Cocking Memorial Prize in 2017, the Guli Magery Prize in 2016, and the SA Country Choral Association Scholarship in 2015/2016. Imala's real passion is musical theatre, and despite limited theatre opportunities growing up (no musical theatre companies in her whole town!), she has played roles such as Christine in Phantom of the Opera (Whyalla Players' in association with State Opera), and Ariel in The Little Mermaid (AYT). She worked with State Opera further last year by understudying Adele in the Con/SOSA collaborative production of Die Fledermaus. Imala has also done a number of solo recitals at various churches, and Fringe shows including Life at the Piano, Into the Woods (AYT), and Musical Moments. She enjoys busking in Rundle Mall and hopes to sing at more weddings and functions.

Jason Benson

Jason, 23, is rehearsing to star in Catch Me If You Can with Marie Clark Musical Theatre in May. The leading man, his role is based on the incredible true story of Frank Abignale Jr – a con man who forged millions in cheques, flew all over the world as a Pan Am pilot, practised medicine at a top Atlanta hospital, and worked as a lawyer – all before the age of twenty-one.

Last year Jason also starred as the lead in both Guys & Dolls and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He completed a Bachelor of Music in 2013, and is now doing a Masters in International Business, with the hope to study and work (and perhaps perform) overseas in the near future.

Jeri Williams (she/her)

Originally from the US, Jeri Williams immigrated to Adelaide in 2011. She’s a born performer, growing up singing in choirs, glee club, a pop/R&B girl group, and musical theatre. She got her start in theatre performing in the ensemble of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at age 16. After school, Jeri got a job singing in an acapella group at a theme park in Florida, which led to being cast as Wendy Darling by Disney Cruise Line. Jeri spent her early 20s working and performing on various cruise ships with her husband.

Since making Adelaide her home, Jeri has delved into the local theatre scene on a few occasions, being cast in leading roles in NLTC’s Into The Woods (2012) as the Baker’s Wife; G&SSA’s Guys & Dolls (2015) as Adelaide and NLTC's Mack and Mabel (2016) as Mabel.

When life gets too busy for a full show schedule, Jeri enjoys singing with the Civic Park Carols Choir and joining in for a sing at Broadway Sessions as often as possible.

Jessica Wolfendale (she/they)

Jess has been involved in Adelaide's theatre scene since 2015, from Guys and Dolls to The Addams Family, to (most recently) A New Brain with Davine Productions. Working as a Stage Manager and general backstage all-rounder, for companies such as Adelaide Festival Centre, State Opera, and Slingsby; they still love to perform – though it's mostly in the car on the way to and from work!

Kate Hodges (She/Her)

Kate is an established performer and a regular with NLTC having played roles such as Liesl in The Sound of Music, The title role in Cinderella, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and most recently Fantine in this year's production of Les Miserables to name a few. Kate loves the Adelaide theatre community and has performed with a number of other companies across SA including MBM, The MET, Marie Clarke, Therry, The Hills Musical Theatre Company and G&S Society. Highlights for Kate include playing the puppet Kate Monster for The Hills Musical Theatre Company's production of Avenue Q in 2018 and the roller-skating Goddess Kira/Clio in Davine Interventionz' production of Xanadu in 2014.

Kate was first nominated for an Adelaide Theatre Guide Awards for "Best Female Performance" at 15 for her role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz with NLTC. Ten years later Kate was nominated again and won ATG's "Best Female Performance"  for her role in or Kira/Clio in Xanadu. In the real world Kate is a Speech Pathologist, Voice Therapist, Vocal Coach and Mum to two young children.

Kathryn Driver

Kathryn was born in England and has had a rich upbringing in the world of the arts. She has been in various characters such as tweedledum in Alice in wonderland, Betty Rizzo in Grease and is currently playing Erma in JamaeRaws adaptation of Anything Goes. Kathryn has been singing in Soul Factor Gospel Choir for many years and is currently receiving vocal training by David Gauci.

Recently out of uni with a degree in teaching and the arts, Kathryn has been in musical theatre since a young age. She is currently in the Hills production of Aida and also teaches musical theatre, acting and singing at Starlets SA.

Kelly Bickle

Hailing from Balaklava, Kelly has a great passion for the Arts in her local community of Balaklava, where she has been President of the Balaklava Community Arts for 18 years. Kelly has performed, directed, choreographed, stage managed etc in over 30 of their productions, including Leader of the Pack (2017 Darlene Love), Seussical (2016 Director), The Addams Family (2015 Morticia),  and has just recently Directed Shrek the Musical, as well as playing the 'Dragon'.  When not banging sets together or rehearsing lines, she works as Executive Assistant at Horizon Christian School, and is a wife and mother.

Kristin Stefanoff (she/her)

Kristin is a music teacher, musician, and performer based in the Adelaide Hills. Favourite musical theatre roles include: Muriel (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Hills Musical Company 2022); Laura (High Fidelity - Hills Musical Company 2021); Vivienne (Legally Blonde - The MET 2021); Simone (Shane Warne The Musical - Segue Productions 2020); Elizabeth (If/Then - Segue Productions 2018); Cathy (The Last Five Years - Segue Productions 2017); Clara (The Light In The Piazza - Davine Productions 2016); Inga (Young Frankenstein - Marie Clark Musical Theatre 2014); Smitty (How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying - Marie Clark Musical Theatre 2013); and Ensemble/Lady of The Lake Understudy (Spamalot - Marie Clark Musical Theatre 2018). Kristin will be playing Ms Gardner/Female Authority Voice in Carrie The Musical with Hills Musical Company in November 2023.

Kristin holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the Elder Conservatorium, majoring in Classical Piano, and has extensive accompanying and pit experience. Music Direction credits include: Heathers: The Musical (Segue Productions 2019); Calamity Jane (Marie Clark Musical Theatre 2014); Poor Expectations (Investigator College 2014); Mulan Jr (Investigator College 2013); and Honk! (Investigator College 2011).

Kristin teaches piano, voice, violin and music theory, and loves seeing students grow in confidence as they develop their skills in music.

Leah Harford

At 18, Leah is trained in Musical Theatre, dance and has private singing tuition with Kirsty Roberts. The Met’s The King & I was Leah’s first musical at eight years old whereby she played the role of Princess Ying Yaowalack and some ten years on Leah was very excited to accept the beautiful role of Tuptim with The Met – shows start 13th October at the Arts Theatre.

In the ten year gap Leah has performed for both professional and amateur companies in varying lead and support roles: Adelaide Youth Theatre – Into The Woods (Cinderella), Seussical (Gertrude), Hairspray (Nicest Kid), High School Musical (Taylor McKessie), You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Sally u/s), G&S Society – Les Misérables (Young Cosette), Swell Productions – Thoroughly Modern Millie (Bun Foo), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), Beauty & The Beast (Le Fou), Seussical (Jo-Jo), … just to name a some of the shows. Leah extended her CV to include directing with AYT giving her the opportunity to direct her first musical Aladdin Jr. earlier this year – a fantastic experience which she loved.

Leah has performed overseas in Disneyland Hong Kong & Paris and on the West End in London with the Australian Youth Performing Arts Team and has sung at many previous Broadway Sessions. Leah hopes to go on and study and teach in the Arts Industry.

Mim Sarre (she/her)

Millicent Sarre (Mim) is a cabaret artist, singer-songwriter, vocal coach, and musical theatre performer, brought up and working on Kaurna Land. She has toured her original cabaret works Australia-wide; her most recent show Millicent Sarre is Opinionated won ‘Best Cabaret’ of the Adelaide Fringe 2023, and the album of the original songs from the show was released in February 2023. Previous musical theatre roles include Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd (ECMT, dir. James Millar), Hildy in On the Town (ECMT, dir. Erin James), Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (ECMT, dir. Joseph Simons), and Ivy in the Australian premiere of Ivy + Bean: The Musical (The Gemini Collective, dir. Sarah Williams). Mim will graduate with a Bachelor of Music Theatre from the Elder Conservatorium in 2023.

Mitchell Smith

Mitchell is so excited to be back at Broadway Sessions for the first time since almost 3 years living in Melbourne. Favourite past roles include Melchior in Spring Awakening (HMC), Marius in Les Misérables (PLOS - Melbourne), Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (G&S), and Monty in Violet (Davine). He currently works as a paediatric podiatrist in the public sector in Victoria and is so grateful to be able to get across the border (and hopefully back) to sing tonight.

Rebecca Raymond

Rebecca comes from a rich musical heritage and has been performing for most of her life. Versatile in her style she enjoys performing in all musical genres which has led to her performing as a soloist with many different groups and for varying audiences. She has been a leading soloist with Adelaide’s Soul Factor Gospel Choir for the past 16 years, performs regularly with her Sisters, The Raymond Sisters and for five years was the vocal soloist with the Melbourne Staff Band with whom she toured Australia, Korea and the UK where she had the privilege of singing in the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Rebecca performs corporately as a Singer and Actor. Appearing as a soloist at varying events in Adelaide and Nationally and in Theatre. Memorable roles include the role of Violet Hilton in SideShow (2018) and Aida in Aida (2017) with Hills Musical Company, Sandra Bloom in Big Fish with Therry Dramatic Society (2016), Laurey in Oklahoma! The immersive farm experience with Emma Knights Productions (2016 & 2017), and Cosette in Les Misérables with the G&S Society (2008 & 2009).

When not performing Rebecca teaches singing, has her own Mary Kay Cosmetic business and is a makeup artist. She also teaches Skincare & Self Esteem classes in schools and groups in the community.

Scott Lorien (he/him)

Scott has always had a love of the theatre, but his real obsession began in high school, with performances as the Foreman, Pimp and a Student in Les Misérables, Priam in Paris and Action in West Side Story. Since completing high school he performed non-stop for a number of years, starting with Gerald Bolingbroke in Me and My Girl, an Apostle in Jesus Christ Superstar and Ugly in Honk! (Marie Clark Musical Theatre). After playing Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! and Asher and the Butler in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Metropolitan Musical Theatre Company of SA), Scott joined Northern Light Theatre Company’s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as Monsieur D’Arque to round out 2011. The following year started with an incredible experience: Scott won the role of Henry in Six Foot Something’s pro-am Production of Next to Normal. After a mild performance hiatus in more recent times, Scott starred as Hunter in Irregular Productions sell out 2015 Adelaide Fringe season of [title of show].

If there’s one thing he regrets, it’s not starting singing and performing (publicly of course) at an earlier age. Off-stage (but in the theatre) Scott enjoys both sound and lighting design, and the challenges each of these areas brings to his knowledge of design in the digital world. Broadway Sessions is certainly the start of a new chapter, bringing together many ongoing stories and plot lines, but allowing the love of theatre (musical theatre in particular) to continue in new and exciting ways.

When not strutting his stuff on stage, or manically helping out backstage or in the roof of a theatre, Scott is a web designer & developer, creating sites like this one! You can see more of his work at www.scottreynolds.com.au.

Sophie Guidolin (she/her)

Sophie is a recent graduate of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) at the Victorian College of the Arts. Before moving to Melbourne, Sophie was heavily involved in the Adelaide theatre scene. She began dancing at the age of 6 which naturally progressed to discovering the allure of music theatre. She has been involved in a variety of cabarets, competitions and musicals including Rent (MCMT), The Little Mermaid as Ariel (AYT), Beauty and the Beast as Belle/Babette (AYT) and The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy (AYT and Gleeson College).

BJ Peake (He/Them)

As a child, you could always find BJ screaming into his SingStar microphone and dancing to High School Musical. These habits evolved into BJ's love for singing and dancing.

BJ Has been floating around the Adelaide Theatre scene for a short while now, but in his short career he has had the opportunity to participate in several shows and portray a variety of characters such as Angry Man #1, Rich Man, And Scared Man #2 in Jekyll and Hyde, Male Ensemble Member in Hello Dolly!, Reverend Henry T Dobson in Anything Goes, and Prince Dauntless the Drab in Once Upon A Mattress.

In 2021 BJ completed his Bachelors of Music Education and Pedagogy at the Adelaide Conservatorium, and is currently putting his skills to use as Assistant Music Director for Marie Clarke Music Theatres upcoming show I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. 

Zak Vasiliou

Zak is currently in his third year at the Victorian College of the Arts studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre). He has been passionate about theatre for as long as he can remember, undertaking both on and offstage roles for a variety of productions. He has completed a Certificate IV in Commercial Dance at Gravity Dance, specialising in tap, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, ballroom and ballet.

Zak’s choreography credits include Singin’ in the Rain JR (2017, TB Arts, Fringe Festival), A Peter Combe Extravaganza! (2017, Something on Saturday) and A Night on Broadway (2014, Glenunga High School). Zak made his professional debut with State Opera of South Australia’s production of Hansel and Gretel. Since then, he has played many memorable roles such as Boq in Wicked the Musical (2016, Matt Byrne Media), Mary Sunshine in Chicago (2017, Emma Knights Productions), The Tinman in The Wiz (2013, GIHS), Danny in Grease (2014, GIHS), Bert in Mary Poppins (2014, GIHS) and also appeared as a featured dancer in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2016, G&S Society of SA).

An avid performer, he has entertained at many events around Adelaide, such as the Adelaide Fringe Festival, the Royal Adelaide Show and Adelaide's Clipsal 500, as well as at private functions, weddings and parties. Zak also works as an entertainer for Nickelodeon and Showtime Attractions and has performed in many children’s shows with them.

Session Band

Peter Johns (Piano/Musical Director)

Peter is a music director, accompanist, repertoire coach, and the founder of Irregular Productions - one half of the brains behind Broadway Sessions.

He has been a theatre music director since 2005, with a number of his shows winning local awards. Theatre Credits include: (as Music Director) Beautiful, Mamma Mia, Les Misérables, Next to Normal, Violet, The Story Of My Life, Songs For A New World, The Light In The Piazza, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, Into the Woods, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, [title of show], Edges, Avenue Q, Bring It On, Singing In The Rain, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver!, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Chicago, Sweeney Todd, The Sound of Music, Urinetown the Musical, Scrooge, The Witches of Eastwick, Little Shop of Horrors, Seussical the Musical, Grease, Once Upon a Mattress; (as Associate Music Director) Kinky Boots; (as Conductor) City of Angels, The Addams Family; (as Associate Conductor) Rent; (as Assistant Music Director) Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, South Pacific, Copacabana; as well as playing keyboard in over 25 other productions.

Besides co-producing Broadway Sessions, Irregular Productions has also staged the South Australian premieres of Songs for a New World, [title of show] and Edges, as well as a new production of Godspell (with Lydian Productions).

Peter is also the music director for Civic Park Carols, Australia's second-largest candlelight carols event, working with some of Adelaide’s finest musician’s and performers, as well as artists such as Justine Clarke, Guy Sebastian, Rachel Beck, and Jimmy Giggle.

Louis Cann (Bass)

Louis has been playing both double bass and bass guitar as long as he can remember. Beginning with lessons at the age of 7, he quickly developed his skills and decided that music was the career for him. Louis began playing for Musical Theatre shows in 2011, with the Northern Lights Theatre Company’s production of Beauty and the Beast, which coincidentally, was the beginning of a long-standing working relationship with Musical Director, Peter Johns! Since, Louis has played for many theatre companies around Adelaide, including Adelaide Youth Theatre, Lydian Productions, Pelican Productions, Davine Productions, Irregular Productions, Marie Clarke Musical Theatre, The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of South Australia, and Hills Musical Company. Some of his favourite shows to play for have been In the Heights, for Pelican Productions in 2019, and Beautiful: The Carol King Musical, for Davine Productions in 2020. In 2018, Louis had the privilege of playing in the pit for the Gordon Frost Organisation’s touring production of The Wizard of Oz. Louis graduated from the Elder Conservatorium of Music in 2016, with a Bachelor of Music (Classical Performance.) That same year, he began performing as a casual member of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra - some of his favourite performances include Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Concert at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, and Last Night of the Proms at the Adelaide Festival Centre.

Max Ziliotto (Drums/Percussion)

Max Ziliotto has been performing since 2004, from concert bands, drumline and big band, to orchestral works and musical theatre. Prior to his acceptance as a Casual Percussionist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, he completed his Bachelor of Music in 2013 at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Amanda Grigg.

Born in Adelaide, Max began his musical journey under the guidance of Peter Matzick. Attending Marryatville High School, Max gained a wealth of performance opportunities including the Generations in Jazz festival in Mount Gambier. During his Undergraduate studies, Max won first place in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Snare Drum Award in 2011.

Max has been performing with the Elder Conservatorium's Music Theatre students' productions since 2021, most notably playing the drum score for Legally Blonde, directed by Broadway's Nikki Snelson in 2022.

Max was also an active member of the Raiders Drum Corps from 2006-2019, performing numerous times in the city's Christmas Pageant, and on stage with them at Australian Ultimate Drummers Weekend in Melbourne 2015. He has tutored at South Australian Music Camp multiple times, and has been in the house band of Broadway Sessions since its inception in 2015.