About this Session
Unfortunately due to the seven day lockdown, this Session has been cancelled. If you purchased tickets you will be emailed in due course.
See you all at our SIXTH BIRTHDAY next month!
We constantly have people saying to us, “I’ve got the perfect song to register for a Session, I’m just waiting for the perfect theme night for my perfect song.”
So this month we are running The Perfect Theme night. If you have a perfect song that you’ve been waiting for the perfect theme night, then this month is the perfect chance to bring your perfect song to the perfect theme night.
Have we said perfect enough? Perfect!
Session Hosts
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.
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.
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.