January Session: Performer’s Choice

Ali is a proud Scot continuing his Aussie adventure working as Box Office Manager for Adelaide Fringe. He is an experienced amateur performer being a member of various musical theatre groups, having also worked as a Singing Waiter at weddings, functions and events. His previous musical roles include Tick in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Eddie in Sister Act, Link in Hairspray, Cortina in Made in Dagenham and ‘Star to Be’ in Annie. He has been immersed in the world of local pantomime in the UK, both on and offstage, as a performer, writer and director for the last 17 years.

Ava is 16 years old and has been singing and acting since the age of seven. She has performed in over 25 musicals with various Adelaide theatre companies and in 2022 landed one of her favorite roles, Little Red, from Into The Woods with AYT. This year see's a big year for Ava being the 2023 recipient of the Clara Serena Memorial Scholarship. Ava currently takes vocal and acting lessons as well as dance classes. On top of this she also plays the piano and has tried her hand at the drums. She is literally an all rounder. Ava is currently studying for her Grade 7 AMEB Musical Theatre Exam which will take place early this year, and hopes to pursue a career in the musical theatre world as well teaching vocals to others.

Chloe is about to begin third year at Elder Conservatorium's Bachelor of Music Theatre. She is from Perth WA, where in 2020 she graduated with a Diploma in Musical theatre from WAAPA. She began her career at 10 with credits including the Annie Understudy in Annie (Gordon Frost Organisation, dir. Karen Johnson-Mortimer), Jemima in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (TML Enterprises, dir. Rodger Hodgman), a solo semi-finalist on Australia’s Got Talent (Fremantle Media), and the Australian ambassador for the inaugural Wunderkidz Convention in Argentina (Piggyback Productions). Her most recent production was with ECMT, playing Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre in the second year production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (ECMT, dir. Joseph Simons). Chloe is excited to be performing at Broadway Sessions for the first time!

Having lived in Adelaide for the past three years studying Music Theatre at the Elder Conservatorium, Declan thinks he should get a few more Broadway Sessions performances under his belt before he leaves!

Dennis has always loved singing whether it's Disney, musicals and general pop in various acapella clubs. While also now gaining an interest in song writing, after uploading his first song love me too, he has uploaded a few more singles and covers under the same album, on Spotify and itunes with more to come. Along with singing Dennis has a passion for acting and is playing in a musical in 2023 called First Date playing the lead, Aaron.

Eloise Quinn-Valentine loves to tell stories on stage, and has performed in a variety of musicals, plays, cabarets, and choirs from a young age. Recent highlights include Othello and Seagull (Independent Theatre, 2022), The Hello Girls (Therry Theatre, 2021), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Davine Productions, 2020), Jerusalem (University of Adelaide Theatre Guild, 2019), It’s Only Life (Davine Productions, 2018), Violet: a musical (Davine Productions, 2017), and The Crucible (Royal Holloway University of London Drama Society, 2017). Eloise works and volunteers as an educator across a variety of disciplines and contexts, and particularly loves teaching others about faith, storytelling, compassion, and justice.

Gabriella grew up on the Central Coast and Hunter Valley in NSW were she began acting, singing and performing from a young age. She grew up in a dramatic family, her great-grandfather was in the last silent film filmed in Australia The Kid Stakes. Three of her cousins have also gone on to pursue professional careers in performing arts. Her mother was even in a musical whilst she was pregnant with her, playing a “virgin princess”!

She graduated from the Regional Institute of Performing Arts in 2011 with an Advanced Diploma in Arts (Acting). Over the past 20 years she has performed in over 30 shows across NSW. She has played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Tribute Show, Jessica in Merchant of Venice and Amy in Charley’s Aunt. Her most recent acting credit was playing Jean Maitland in Stage Door with Southside Players in London. She has also dabbled in film, with a couple of web series, advertisements and even a dating show in the UK. 

Gabriella is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts (Drama and Geography/Environmental Studies) with Flinders University. She is also an enormous animal lover, with two spoilt cats and currently works at the Adelaide Zoo.

Jaxon is an avid 19 year old musical theatre performer and fan in Adelaide. Since he began performing regularly in 2017, Jaxon has explored various outlets of Adelaide theatre, performing in major shows, original musicals, and even his own cabaret. Jaxon’s love of Music Theatre has only grown since finding his niche, a challenge for him as a performer on the spectrum. Some notable roles include Captain Hook in Adelaide Theatre Academy’s Peter Pan (2020), Grantaire and Courfreyac in two productions of Les Misérables; the first with Adelaide Youth Theatre (2021), the latter with Northern Light Theatre Company (2022), and Joe Pesci in Northern Light Theatre Company’s Jersey Boys (2022). Jaxon is also keen within the background of theatre as the youngest MD in the history of Scouts SA's Performing Arts Branch for Adelaide Gang Show, where he initiated the return of a full youth band. Jaxon is also a keen Theatre Technician, working casually in a northern adelaide theatre. Jaxon is currently studying the Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Elder Conservatorium, with an aim to finish at the end of 2025.

Most recently, Jaxon performed in the Fringe-award winning Show Fountain Lakes: A Very Foxy Parody Musical, where he played the role of Kel Knight.

Karen has been involved with a number of theatre companies in Adelaide over the last 15 years. Some of her stage highlights include Oliver, Into the Woods, Beauty and the Beast, Avenue Q and Spamalot. Although she had a seven year run off stage in the role of "Mother of two", she recently made the return to the theatre by playing Ursula in Disney's The Little Mermaid, and in the ensemble of Les Misérables with Northern Light Theatre Company and Granny/Cinderella's Mother/Giant in Into the Woods with the G&S Society of South Australia.  You will also be able to see Karen in the upcoming production of Urinetown at the Hills Musical Company in the role of Old Ma Strong.

Kirsty grew up in Mount Gambier where they were involved in multiple community choirs and theatre productions, including Little Shop of Horrors as Chiffon and Rizzo in Grease. After moving to Adelaide they played Martha in Segue Productions Heathers in 2019 as well as being involved in choral groups. They took a few years off before returning to the stage again in 2022 with HMC’s Shrek, playing the all so loveable ‘Egg’.

21-year-old, Liliana Carletti, has been singing, acting, and dancing since she was five. Audiences last saw her as a multitude of characters in NLTC's Catch Me If You Can (2023), most notable being a "sexy singing nurse"... Eponine in Les Misérables with Northern Light Theatre Company (2022), and Little Red Ridinghood in Gilbert & Sullivan Society of SA's production of Into The Woods (2022).

Liliana has performed theatre roles with G&S, Adelaide Youth Theatre, Northern Light Theatre Company, and Pedare Christian College. Other recent credits include: Mersister ‘Andrina’ and Flounder understudy in The Little Mermaid (2021), Frenchy in Grease (2020) and Kendra in 13: The Musical (2019).

Off-stage, Liliana studies a Bachelor of Creative Industries at UniSA, majoring in Digital Media and Communications. She runs her own freelance business, ‘Lily Rose Media’, offering services of photography, videography, and graphic design in Adelaide.

Lily Bennetts is a musical theatre performer from Adelaide who has been living and breathing the performing arts since a very young age. She has studied at The Studio and Star Factory and Australian Company Of Performing Arts (ACPA) since a very young age, before then graduating with her Certificate III and IV in Dance. She has performed in shows such as Chicago (Velma Kelly), Wicked (Glinda), Heathers (Chandler), Aladdin (Genie), Hadestown (Hermes) and more. Moving into the next chapter of her career, Lily is excited to be completing her Diploma in Musical Theatre in 2023 at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

Lorren has always loved performing and has recently re-joined the amateur theatre scene, performing in NLTC's Les Misérables and Jersey Boys in 2022. She is currently rehearsing for NLTC's Catch Me If You Can due to go on later this year. She has previously performed in NLTC's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Annie, and The Pajama Game, and her favourite role to date was playing Doody in her high school's production of Grease.

Marley Banham has recently completed a Bachelor of Music: Education and Pedagogy at the Elder Conservatorium. With over four years of vocal training in a broad range of genres, her voice has developed into one of her assets. She has had the privilege of working within the University of Adelaide choir Chorale, which has performed with the likes of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Marley has acting experience through SACE Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drama, in which she partook in numerous productions. Most recently she was in a production of Firebringer the Musical in which she had one of the leading roles as Zazzalill.

Mat Monti is a proudly pansexual, non-binary artist with a passion for theatre and activism. With training in musical theatre, cabaret, comedy and jazz, Monti is a performer with a diverse skill set; having performed in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Fringe Festival, and was part of the Australian Premiere of Considering Matthew Shepard as part of Feast Festival in 2019. Monti took every opportunity thrown their way at the Elder Conservatorium, having played Chip Tolentino and U/S Mitch Mahoney in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Judge Pitkin in On The Town: In Concert and Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd.

Mateja,18, was a grand finalist in 2021 on Season 10 of The Voice as part of the pop group G Nation. This was followed in 2022 in top 5 of SBS production of Eurovision - Australia Decides. Despite that, her passion has always been musical theatre where the journey began at the age of 8. Mateja recently was a vocalist in the original, professional One Eye Open production of Express at the Festival Theatre. Mateja finished her year 12 at ACPA Academy of Performing Arts in 2022 and is currently furthering her training at The Queensland Conservatory, Griffith University this year in Musical Theatre!

Oliver is 22 years old and a current second year student at the Elder Conservatorium’s Bachelor of Music Theatre. He has been performing in musical theatre since 2008 and has worked as a music director, performing arts teacher and private singing teacher. At ECMT, Oliver has performed as Ensemble/Beadle Bamford (U/S) in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (dir. James Millar), a featured soloist in the first year showcase Magic, Myths and Monsters (dir. Joseph Simons), and will perform in November as Pig (Bricks)/Lord Farquaad (U/S) in Shrek The Musical (dir. Erin James). Before university, he played Dewey Finn in School of Rock (Pelican Productions, dir. Jen Frith), Seymour Krelborn in Little Shop of Horrors in the Adelaide Fringe Festival (Adelaide Theatre Academy, dir. Michelle Davy) and performed as Marty the Zebra in Madagascar: A Musical Adventure in the U.S. Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta (Adelaide Youth Theatre). Earlier this year, Oliver travelled interstate to perform as a backing vocalist in HELLO: Erin Jae’s Tribute to Adele as a part of the Under The Stars Festival (Australian Shakespeare Company).

Sean Weatherly graduated from the Flinders University Drama Centre in 2002 with Honours. He has performed at several Adelaide Cabaret Festival's in Sing Your Own Musical with Michael Morley. In Melbourne he performed alongside Eddie Perfect and Matthew Robinson in Magnormos' first ever production of Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night. Sean produced Tomfoolery for the Adelaide Fringe in 2008 performing with Catherine Campbell and Hew Parham to sell out shows. He is also the composer and co-lyricist for the world's first post-covid musical Price Check - The Supermarket Musical which had a 2 week season at the Bakehouse Theatre in 2016. Price Check - The Supermarket Musical was published last year and is currently available for hire for schools and theatre groups through David Spicer Productions. Sean also performs regularly as Noodles The Clown entertaining kids with magic shows and crazy balloon designs.

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).

Sophie graduated from WAAPA in 2014 where she had the great opportunity and honour to work with such names as Tayna Mitford, Jason Langley, Lisa O'Dea and the head of Performing Arts at WAAPA Andrew Lewis. Throughout her time there she was featured in roles such as Sheila in Hair, Mae Colman in Reefer Madness and Consuela in West Side Story and had the privilege to perform with Hugh Jackman. After moving to Melbourne she took a contract as the lead vocalist on one of Royal Caribbeans newest ships – The Quantum of the Seas. She returns to Australia excited to continue pursuing her dreams of working in musical theatre.

Thy has only had one singing role in a musical, which was Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music back in high school. She has been involved in a few choirs but more recently, her main singing audience is her shower head and her car. This is because Thy is usually behind the piano playing for people to sing! Thy plays for choirs, weddings, and cover bands.

Thy will regularly travel anywhere and everywhere to see musicals (usually Sydney and Melbourne), the furthest being West End in London. Her dream is to finally go to New York and watch as many musicals as she can afford on Broadway.

Van has been performing for family and small community events on and off since the age of four, and enjoyed participating in amateur musical theatre and dancing performances throughout high school and university. She joined her church youth group choir when she was six, and has been its director/co-director since 2014.