April Session: Oh, What A Beautiful Session!

Alessia Charman has been performing for 14 years, since she was 2 years old - beginning with training in all genres of dancing. Alessia’s love of performing began to grow and expand beyond dance when she began voice lessons with Emma Riggs at TIDC Performing Arts Studio at the age of 8. Her first production was Adelaide Youth Theatre’s The Little Mermaid Jr, where she was a dancer, establishing her passion for Musical Theatre. Since then, Alessia has been in many productions with Adelaide Youth Theatre including, Newsies Jr as Katherine, 13 The Musical as Lucy, Shrek Jr The Musical as Donkey, and High School Musical as Sharpay. Her first professional show was Tinker Tailor’s Magical Toyshop in 2017 with Shane Wilson, during the Royal Adelaide Show. Alessia is grateful for all of the opportunities she has experienced due to her performing, including travelling both interstate and overseas to perform in the Junior Theatre Festival in both Newcastle and Atlanta, as well as performing in Disney and Universal Studio in America. Alessia is currently completing her Certificate IV in dance at the Australian Company of Performing Arts’ full-time training program, where she further extends herself in her performing arts training. Alessia is so excited to perform at Broadway Sessions this month and cannot wait to see everyone else perform as well!

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!

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.

An actor, musician and international musical theatre performer, Ben was originally a construction worker from Newcastle who fell into classical music when he was dared to audition for the Conservatorium of Music by his mates. He subsequently won a scholarship and went on to train in Opera Voice for several years – a twist of fate that changed the trajectory of his life forever.

Recently delighting screen viewers around the world in the acclaimed ABC/Sky UK/HBO Max series Frayed with Sarah Kendall, Ben’s screen credits include Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridgeplaying the role of Grease Nolan and on the small screen playing Alan Bond in Nine Network’s House of Bond, Jim Delaney in Amazing Grace, Trystan Powell in Home and Away, Buzz in Packed to the Rafters for the Seven Network and prior to that Ben starred for three seasons as Rob Duffy in the Network 10 series Wonderland.

Ben’s stage credits include Shrek in Shrek The Musical (GFO), Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd (WAO & State Opera), Evan in Vivid White (MTC), Jud Fry in Oklahoma (TPC), Achilles in Paris - A Rock Odyssey (MTM) and numerous concerts around Australia with the hit singing group Swing on This. Other stage credits include Thomas in Rolling Thunder Vietnam, The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, Zack Mayo in the World Premiere production of An Officer and a Gentleman. In 2011 Ben received rave reviews for his portrayal of Tommy DeVito in the award-winning musical Jersey Boys, which was his first Australian performance since he originated the role of Billy Kostecki in the World Premiere of Dirty Dancing in 2004. In Dirty Dancing, Ben's unique vocal ability won him the same role in every English-speaking production worldwide for almost 6 years, including the West End, Canada, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles.

Bethany trained in musical theatre at Associated Studios London in 2020, Gertrude Opera (now Australian Contemporary Opera Co.) and the Elder Conservatorium of Music in classical voice performance. She was a guest artist for Cunard Cruise Line on the Queen Elizabeth World Voyage. Her opera credits include Suor Angelica (Cordelia's Potted Opera), La Voix Humaine (BK Opera) and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi (Co-Opera). In 2022, Bethany performed her comedy cabaret, Broadway Baby, at both the Adelaide Fringe and Adelaide Cabaret Fringe. She has now debuted her cabaret, JUDY & LIZA, and featured her favourite Liza Minnelli numbers at CabLive and with Dr. Trevor Jones at the Piano Bar for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

David Gauci, proudly from Adelaide’s western suburbs, wouldn’t stop singing from an early age – so much so that the Sisters of St Joseph at primary school wished he’d just shut up and do maths.

At Woodville High, teachers and parents suggested – after David showed interest in acting or journalism – a career in accounting. He did study accountancy but also theology and music (Elder Conservatorium). David was introduced to opera and classical singing but went down the dark path of corporate functions, cabaret and music theatre. He worked in piano bars for 20 years in Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and Townsville.

David wrote cabaret shows New York According to Bernstein, The Sinatra Show and The Broadway Show, performed with co-writer and accompanist Matthew Carey in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Townsville and Darwin.

He performed at the inaugural Adelaide Cabaret Festival and again in 2016 when he returned with the award-winning It was Worth the Weight. David also wrote and performed in The Big Book of Broadway, Cole’s Girls, Leading Men I’ll Never Play and Wireless.

He was equal winner in the 2015 Australian Cabaret Competition Adelaide final and most recently performed in the Australian Touring production of Hairspray as understudy to the role of Edna Turnblad – adding to professional stage roles in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney

David’s also appeared in TV commercials and films, e.g. The Brush Off, directed by Sam Neill.

This led to forming his own Davine Interventionz Productions in 2013 with a string of shows he’s produced, directed and/or designed to glowing reviews and a welter of awards. And David’s still singing!

David is absolutely thrilled and honoured to be making his Australian debut, and to continue telling the incredible story with the Come From Away family. Credits include: Mirvish Toronto: Les Miserables, Kinky Boots, Come From Away. Stratford: 42nd St./Pirates of Penzance. Some Other Credits Include: Guys and Dolls (Big Jule), Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Valentin), Fiddler on the Roof (Mordcha u/s Tevye), Blood Brothers (Sammy), Prom Queen World Premiere (Lonnie Wynn), Too Many Cooks (Shirly), Les Miserables in Concert (Jean Valjean), Broadway Concert Series:(Les Miserable, Phantom of the Opera), Sweeney Todd (Sweeney), Of Mice and Men (Lenny), Noises Off(Frederick Fellows), Death of a Salesman (Biff), A funny Thing Happened…(Miles Gloriosus), Into the Woods(Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince), Little Shop of Horrors (Orin Scrivello DDS), City of Angels (Buddy), Cabaret (cliff Bradshaw), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), Julius Caesar (Marcus Brutus), Hunchback of Notre Dame (Frollo), Toy Story(Buzz Lightyear), Hercules the Musical (Hades), Beauty and the Beast (Gaston).

At the end of 2020, Deborah returned to Australia after spending two years as an ensemble member/Madame Giry cover in the World tour of The Phantom of the Opera, performing in Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Tel Aviv, Dubai, South Korea and Taiwan.

She has previously performed in various productions of The Phantom of the Opera as an ensemble member, off-stage swing and Madame Giry cover. This included two Asian tours, and two Australian tours.

In 2016-2017 Deborah performed in an interstate tour of Opera Australia's My Fair Lady, directed by Dame Julie Andrews.

Deborah has also been a regular performer with the State Opera of South Australia (SOSA) for a number of years. She has performed the roles of First Lady (The Magic Flute), Flora (La Traviata), ‘Elle’ in Poulenc’s one-woman opera La Voix Humaine and Queen Tye (Akhnaten) and Miss Schlesen (Satyagraha) in the highly regarded Philip Glass trilogy.

Deborah is a producer/performer with SINGular Productions who have presented a number of musical productions including I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, and Different Fields.

She has also written and performed two one-woman cabaret shows: Have you met Miss Jones? (2016 Cabaret Fringe), and Glamour and Song (The songs of Pat Carroll and Olivia Newton-John), 2022. She is planning to perform Glamour and Song again in the 2023 Cabaret Fringe.

Adelaide born and bred, Emma Kavanagh toured internationally with the Australian Girls Choir, and completed a year of study in Classical Voice at Adelaide's Elder Conservatorium, before graduating with a Bachelor of Musical Theatre from Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.

Emma was honoured to perform as the Guest Vocalist on Mirusia Louwerse’s 2018 From the Heart Australian tour and recently was featured on Mirusia’s Duets Album with the single The Flower Duet. Emma appeared as a headliner artist in the Australia Day Live Concert at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, where she performed the Flower Duet with Mirusia, musically directed by John Foreman and broadcast nationally on ABC. Emma was selected as a Semi-finalist for the 2020 Rob Guest Endowment Award. She made her operatic debut as La Conversa/Sorella Cercatrice in Mopoke Theatre Company’s 2022 production of Suor Angelica directed by Nicholas Cannon, performed in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the 2023 Adelaide Festival, and is looking forward to making her State Opera of South Australia debut in Pirates of Penzance this year.

Flynn is an Adelaide-based performer who found his passion for the stage through the amateur theatre scene with Scout Gang Shows. Since then, he has held lead roles in school musicals, teaches dance, and has gone on to work in immersive theatre with Viral Ventures in the Dancing Queen and Summer Nights Dining Experiences. Outside of theatre, he is in his final year of paramedicine studies but hopes to continue a successful simultaneous career in the arts in the future.

Jem's most recent role was the Queen of the fairies in Iolanthe. She is normally found singing things like Gilbert and Sullivan and other classical singing (having somehow performed in HMS Pinafore three times).

She enjoys a bit of everything and has performed in She Loves Me (Therry Theatre), Cats (The Met) and Aida (Hills Musical Company) and Into the Woods (Elephant in the Room). Considering herself a late bloomer performing in her first musical in her "late twenties" she loves the joy of performing outside her 9-5 work life.

The last few years she has been working a lot in choral groups and other bits and pieces - basically if you ask her to sing she will say yes. This is put up with good humour by her family, and two corgis at home.

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.

Originally from Adelaide, Jessica graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium in 2016 with a Bachelor of Musical Theatre. She made her adult professional debut early 2017 with The 7 Sopranos in their tour of Songs from Stage and Screen, and has since toured with them internationally.

With State Opera of South Australia, Jessica understudied and performed the lead role of Angela, and covered all of the female roles in their tour of Love Burns. She has performed as a soloist in Bright Lights and Big Dreams, and Emerging Artists In Concert. Currently, she is looking forward to stepping into the role of Isabel in Pirates of Penzance. Jessica has also performed in the chorus of La Bohème, Voss, and La Traviata.

Other stage credits include: Nella – Gianni Schicchi (CoOpera), Messa da Requiem (Adelaide Festival), Study Cover La Strega Buona del Nord – Il Mago di Oz (Victorian Opera), Choreographer, TweedleDee – Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland (Australian Contemporary Opera Co.), Mab/Day, Dance Captain – The Enchanted Pig (postponed, ACOCo.), actor/dancer - Don Giovanni (Opera Australia), actor - Il Viaggio a Reims (Opera Australia), U/S Mary Maguire, Ensemble - The Beautiful Game (Manilla Street Productions), Cinderella - Cinderella (Pantomime Productions), and Aurora - Sleeping Beauty (Tivoli).

Joey is 19 years old originally from the regional town of Loxton but moved to Adelaide for study last year. He is in his second year at the Elder Conservatorium studying a Bachelor of Music Theatre. He has performed in several amateur productions back at home with the Riverland Musical Society, most recently playing Raoul in Phantom of the Opera. He is a Class of Cabaret Alumni and was fortunate to be the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony of the 2023 DreamBIG Festival. He played Papa Ogre in ECMTs production of Shrek in 2023 and in his spare time he enjoys playing gigs on weekends at various venues around the Adelaide and Riverland areas.

One of Australia’s most acclaimed young tenors, John Longmuir was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.  His operatic studies took place at the Australian Opera Studio.

John’s awards encompass all of Australia's major competitions, having won the prestigious Herald-Sun Aria, the Opera and Arts Support Group Scholarship and the inaugural Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award.

After making his professional debut as Ismaele in Nabucco in Tokyo Japan, he joined Opera Australia.

John has sung all the major leggiero repertoire for national company including: Tamino in The Magic Flute, Narcisco in Il Turco in Italia, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Camille in The Merry Widow, Almaviva in The Barber of Seville, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Beppe in Pagliacci and many others.  John has also appeared with West Australian Opera as Almaviva and Camille in The Merry Widow.

Concert highlights include: Carmina Burana with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the New National Theatre in Tokyo, Elijah with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Rossini's Stabat Mater with West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Handel's Israel in Egypt with the Berliner Cappella and Faure’s La naissance de Vénus at the Konzerthaus Berlin. In 2012 and 2014, John was invited to sing Grimoaldo in concert performances of Handel’s Rodelinda under Richard Bonynge, now available as a commercial recording.

In 2021/2022, John Longmuir sang Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville for State Opera South Australia and Opera Australia and Oronte (Alcina) for National Opera. He returns to OA in 2023 as Almaviva.

Lucy Stoddart is a graduate of the Bachelor of Music, Classical Performance (Voice) program at the Elder Conservatorium (University of Adelaide). Additionally, in 2021, Lucy completed Honours study in Opera at the Queensland Conservatorium under Margaret Schindler. During her time as an undergraduate, Lucy was awarded the Guli Magarey Prize (2017) for a female student of singing, the Adelaide Choral Society Prize (2018) for her work in choral music, in 2019, the Rae Cocking Memorial Prize for excellence in solo performance and in 2021, the Griffith University Award for Academic Excellence. She has performed in State Opera of South Australia’s productions of Don Pasquale (2017), Dido and Aeneas (2018), La Bohème (2022), Voss (2022) and La Traviata (2022). Lucy has worked regularly with the Adelaide Chamber Singers, including Bach’s Johannes Passion, conducted by Stephen Layton (2019). For Adelaide Festival she has performed in the chorus of Romeo Castellucci’s Mozart Requiem (2020), Rimsky Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel directed by Barrie Kosky (2022) and Christian Spuck’s direction of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with the Zürich Ballet (2023). Additionally, Lucy works as a vocal tutor at the Elder Conservatorium and Pembroke School whilst supporting private vocal students. Lucy undertook the principal role of Rose Maurrant, with critical acclaim, in the Queensland Conservatorium’s 2021 production of Street Scene (Kurt Weill), directed by Michael Gow and conducted by Maestro Johannes Fritzsch. 

Brilliant young tenor Nicholas Jones recently won the Green Room Award for his portrayal of David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for Opera Australia.  He was nominated for a Helpmann Award for this same role.

A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and Herald-Sun Aria finalist, Nicholas’ other roles for the national company have included: Remendado in Carmen, Marasquin in Two Weddings, One Bride, Albazar in Il Turco in Italia and several roles in Shostokovich’s The Nose.  He also sang Tamino and Almaviva in Opera Australia’s touring productions of The Magic Flute and Il barbiere di Siviglia.

In 2016, Nicholas created the role of Fish Lamb in the world premiere of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet - composed by George Palmer and presented by State Opera South Australia.

He sang Male Chorus in Victorian Opera’s The Rape of Lucretia, Britten’s Canticles and Stefan Cassomenos’ Art of Thought for Melbourne Recital Centre, Soldier in The Emperor of Atlantis and Barnardo in Erwin und Elmire for IOpera, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings at ANAM and Hadyn’s The Creation for Sydney Philharmonia; Nick was also an original cast member of Deborah Cheetham’s indigenous opera Pecan Summer.

Most recently, he sang Michael Driscoll in the world premiere of Whiteley and Tony in West Side Story for Opera Australia and Tom in Christina’s World for State Opera South Australia.

In 2022, Nicholas sang Tsarevich Gvidon (The Golden Cockerel) and Harry (Voss) in Adelaide, Handel’s Messiah in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, Jaquino (Fidelio) with the Sydney Symphony and returned to Opera Australia as Almaviva.

2023 appearances include Mozart’s Mass in C minor for Sydney Symphony and Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore for State Opera of South Australia’s inaugural Gilbert & Sullivan Festival.

Nicholas is the current recipient of the Dame Heather Begg Memorial Award.

Teresa is a seventeen-year-old performer based in Adelaide, South Australia. Although she was surrounded by the arts from a young age, it wasn't until she discovered Adelaide Theatre Academy in early 2021 she became active in the local theatre scene. Some of her highlights include Cinderella's Mother in Into the Woods (2022), Violet Beauregarde in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2022), Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family (2023), and most recently Sharpay Evans in High School Musical (2024). She has also taken on leadership roles in her schools music scene; music directing and vocal coach for Lion King Jr and co-choreographing Oliver! She was also selected to sing for The Festival of Music at The Adelaide Festival Theatre.

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 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.