September Session: Performer’s Choice

Alyssa has grown up in the dance scene and decided to focus on singing once she returned from Patrick School of the Arts due to an injury. This is her second time performing at Broadway Sessions and she is so excited to spend the night celebrating our beautiful theatre community!

Carolina started her musical theatre career at the ripe old age of ten, playing Sergeant Sarah Brown in their primary school's production of Guys and Dolls Jr. In 2016 she became a founding member of amateur theatre company Briggs and Heaysman Co. where she made her debut in theatre outside of school which she is still and will be forever grateful for. Since 2015 she has been in over 20 shows, and is constantly planning her next move! Their favourite shows include In The Heights with Pelican Productions in 2019, Grease with AYT in 2020 (where they played Marty), and The Producers with Marie Clark (where they played a showgirl covered in sausages). She's excited to join Marie Clark again in one of her biggest roles yet as Ronette in Little Shop of Horrors.

Clare Wilks is a 17 year old singer, actress and dancer. From a young age, Clare has always had a deep love and passion for singing and performing. Since joining Theatre Bugs Combo classes at the age of 7, her love for the stage has only grown. She regularly performs with Adelaide Theatre Academy and is a valuable member of the senior class troupe, Performance Academy. Over the years, Clare has performed in several musicals with Adelaide Theatre Academy, including Xanadu Jr, 13: The Musical, Moana Jr, Dr Dolittle Jr, and Annie Jr.

Clare is a dedicated performer, having taken private singing lessons with Ben Francis from 2018 to 2021, performing solo numbers in various cabarets and singing showcases throughout those years. She is currently taking singing lessons with Nikki Long. Her other performance credits include performing in St Aloysius College’s 2019 production of Wicked and their 2023 production of High School Musical, as Troy Bolton.

Clare is currently rehearsing for Adelaide Theatre Academy’s The Little Mermaid Jr where she is set to play the leading role of Ariel this October school holidays.

Daniel's recent roles include: Fred Graham/Petruchio (Kiss Me Kate - HMC), Tony (West Side Story - AYT), Jasper (Parlour Games - Green Guys Co.) Whilst studying he played Professor Bhaer (Little Women), Thomas Aquinas/John the Baptist U/s (Godspell), Snowboy (West Side Story), and was also a Featured Performer with the Queensland Pops Orchestra, understudying Teddy Tahu Rhodes and as a soloist. He participated in a creative development of Yve Blake's Fangirls, and developments of works by playwright Will Hinz. Daniel is a huge proponent of new works and lesser known theatre getting its time in the sun, and is a proud union member.

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.

Fiona has an Honours degree in performance from Flinders University Drama Centre. She has appeared on television and on stage both professionally, here and interstate and as part of the Adelaide Amateur Theatre community. She has worked in several aspects of theatre from performer to choreographer to director. Maureen from RENT is a dream role in a show she has loved since she was 14 and received the original Broadway album and was privileged enough to see the original Australian production.

Jelena is a current third year of the Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Elder Conservatorium and will be playing the role of Beth March in ECMT's upcoming production of Little Women (dir. Erin James). Other previous credits include ensemble/Dragon cover in Shrek (dir. Erin James) and as a booth singer in Sweeney Todd (dir. James Millar). Additional performances include Musical Mania with Adelaide Fringe Festival, Piano Man alongside Trevor Jones as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, and she workshopped Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for iTheatrics in New York (dir. Marty Johnson).

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!

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.

Kim is a local dancer and singer, excited to be making her amateur musical theatre debut in the role of Chiffon in the upcoming Marie Clark Musical Theatre production of Little Shop of Horrors. Kim was previously a competitive Irish dancer, and has held the South Australian state title, and placed in both national and international competitions.Outside of the world of the performing arts, Kim is an avid boulderer and works in research.

Liam, 17, has been on the stage since he was 12. His passion for musical theatre struck after being in Pulteney Grammar School’s Wicked. Throughout his schooling, he has gone on to perform in Mary Poppins as Michael Banks, Matilda as Bruce Bogtrotter, and most recently Jesus Christ Superstar as Caiaphas. Liam looks forward to significantly improving all three aspects of his performance in his final year of schooling as he goes on to perform his final school show as Warner in Legally Blonde.

Lily has moved to the great Festival State from Melbourne, to study the Bachelor of Music Theatre at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. In April this year, she will be performing as Jo March in ECMT's production of Little Women (dir. Erin James). Previous ECMT credits include Fairy Godmother/Ensemble in Shrek the Musical (dir. Erin James) and Songs and Scenes: Magic, Myths and Monsters (dir. Joseph Simons). Prior to her move, Lily completed a Diploma of Musical Theatre at APO Arts Academy in Melbourne, graduating with the 2019 Achievement Award and the 2018 Showmanship Award. Lily is very excited to be joining this month's Broadway Sessions line-up!

Lluka is 17 years old and has loved performing on stage from a young age. She has been a company member of Pelican Productions since she was seven years old. She has played Gurtrude Mcfuzz in Seussical, Annie in Annie Jr, Tracy in MTC 2018, Jasmin in MTC 2020 and Muriel in MTC 2023. She looks forward to playing Elsa in Frozen Jr this August 2023. Lluka recently performed in Class of Cabaret at the Festival theatre as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. She also enjoys playing the piano, guitar and ukulele.

Madi has been performing since a young age in choirs, music ensembles and dance troupes. She has played various roles in theatre since 2013 including, Gabriella - High School Musical, Kathy Seldon - Singing in the Rain, Dorothy - Wizard of Oz, Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods and most recently Lois Lane/Bianca in HMC’s Kiss Me Kate. She also choreographed Temple Christian College’s 2021 production of Mary Poppins. Madi is currently rehearsing for Marie Clark’s Little Shop of Horrors in the role of Crystal.

Maisy Jo is 16 years old and attends classes in dance, music and drama at SA Performing Arts. She also attends Inspire School of Arts, where her training is extended throughout a full time high school program. Her previous performing highlights include: The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy), The Addams Family (Wednesday), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Veruca), The Little Mermaid (Ariel), Grease (Sandy), Oliver! (Nancy), Les Misérables (Eponine), Legally Blonde (Brooke Wyndham), Annie (Duffy), Matilda (Matilda), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Jemima) and The Sound of Music (Brigitta). Maisy recently won a TASA Award for Best Female Youth Performer for her role of Nancy in Oliver! with NOW Productions. She is also a keen dancer and choreographer, she has also completed her Certificate III in Dance.

Mark’s passion for Education has lead him to the role of Head of the Arts at St. Peter’s Woodlands Grammar School. His favourite onstage role was playing Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors where he met his wife Fiona. Mark also had the opportunity play his favourite character role Amos in Chicago for Emma Knights Productions. He is a well known Musical Director working with many musical companies across Adelaide. Favourites include Curtains, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sweeney Todd, Crazy For You, The Drowsy Chaperone and Company.

Mark produced the sold-out Adelaide premiere of The Musical of Musicals - the Musical! for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Adelaide Fringe Festivals (also playing Bill). Mark made his debut as guest conductor of the Norwood Symphony Orchestra presenting the Australasian premiere of The Trumpet of the Swan in the 2014 and 2015 Adelaide Fringe Festivals. Recently Mark musically directed the award-winning Big Fish for Therry, Spring Awakening and Side Show for Hills Musical Company. He was also the musical director for Oklahoma, performed outdoors on Four Oaks Farm for Emma Knights Productions. Mark performed the role of Brian in Avenue Q fulfilling all his muppet dreams.

Mark’s greatest production to date is his son Bryce who keeps his parents extremely busy.

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!

Matilda Boysen is 21 years old, and a recent graduate from Adelaide College of the Arts. Throughout her younger years, Matilda has performed at various festivals and events as a musician, dancer, and a singer. These passions introduced her to the acting world in 2018 when she performed in her first musical, 'Wicked'. She then went on to play Wendy Darling in 'Peter Pan', Scaramouche in 'We Will Rock You', Margot in 'Legally Blonde', Heather Duke in 'Heathers the Musical', and Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical. She has most recently performed in plays such as 'Spring Awakening' directed by David Mealor, 'The Rover' directed by Nescha Jelk, 'Meta-Metamorphosis' directed by Jo Stone, and 'Three Sisters' directed by Nicholas Garsden. She is now starting to explore her passion for film, and hopes to have a long, and exciting career in the arts.

Michelle has been involved with the performing arts since the age of eight. Some of her favourite shows and roles include Rosie in Mamma Mia!, a Laker Girl in Spamalot, Ellie Greenwich in Leader of the Pack and Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain with NLTC, a rebel in Urinetown, Kate/Chutney in Legally Blonde with the Hills Musical Company, Little Red in Into the Woods, Urleen in Footloose, Marcy Park in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray with Matt Byrne Media, and an Alabama Lamb in Big Fish, and Helen in The Hello Girls with Therry. Michelle has taught Musical Theatre for years and directs youth musicals for companies across Adelaide. Currently she is rehearsal with the Hills Musical Company for their production of Urinetown and feels very lucky to be a part of such an amazing cast and team!

Nikki is an Adelaide raised performer. Last year she graduated from the Bachelor of Music Theatre degree at Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre. Before ECMT she completed her Certificate IV in Dance at Australian Company of Performing Arts. In 2019 she played Heather Chandler in Segue Productions Heathers. In 2021 she made her Adelaide Fringe Festival debut in Friendly Feminism for The Mild Mannered and was also part of the choir in Chess: The Musical (dir. Tyran Parke). Nikki appeared in the second year production of Urinetown (dir. George Torbay) as Mrs Millennium. She was also the Josephine “Old Ma” Strong and Soupy Sue cover, and performed as Josephine “Old Ma” Strong for two performances. While at ECMT she performed in the third year production of In Pieces (dir. George Torbay). Nikki performed in the ensemble of ECMT’s third year production of Les Miserables (dir. Erin James) and she performed as Kate/Ensemble in the graduation production of Legally Blonde (dir. Nikki Snelson) Nikki has just finished a tour with Echelon Productions performing Way Too Cool for children’s book week in schools and will be moving to Sydney in January.

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).

Oscar, 17 years old, has been performing since he was 7. He's performed in over 25 musical theatre productions, including the London Palladium's national tour of The Sound of Music, as Kurt at 10. Oscar's most recent musicals include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as Wonka, Matilda as Miss Trunchbull and Mamma Mia as Sam. He also just performed as 'Jesus' in Jesus Christ Superstar with Pulteney Grammar School. Oscar sings at the Studio and Star Factory with Kirsty Roberts. Oscar has just been cast in the Australian national tour of Grease the Musical in the Ensemble and cover Roger, starting later this year. Oscar is looking forward to performing once more at Broadway Sessions.

This is Sam's first time singing solo at Broadway Sessions, after performing promos for Jersey Boys and The Producers over the last couple of years. Sam most recently performed as Nick Massi in Jersey Boys with NLTC last year, as well as Max Bialystock in The Producers with MCMT. Other roles include: Peter in Jesus Christ Superstar, Papa Ogre/Papa Bear (Shrek The Musical), The Witch’s Father (Wicked), Sketch (Hairspray), Newcomer & Ricky (Avenue Q), Skip Snip (Little Shop of Horrors) and Lou Adler (FlowerChildren).

Ensemble roles include: Legally Blonde the Musical, Monty Python's Spamalot, Les Misérables and a variety of Gilbert & Sullivan productions such as Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore. Recently Sam has enjoyed being “behind the curtain”, providing video and projections for Catch Me If You Can earlier this year, and the upcoming Singin' In The Rain for NLTC, as well as stage managing a number of youth theatre shows directed by his wife Michelle.

Simon has been a regular on Adelaide amateur stages since appearing in the ensemble of HMC's Sideshow (2018), appearing in both plays and musicals. Highlights include Kurt in Heathers (Segue Productions, 2019), Charlie Marlow in She Stoops to Conquer (Blue Sky Theatre, 2020), Warner in Legally Blonde (The Met, 2021) and Boland in Dogfight (St Judes Players, 2022). Simon will next be appearing as Tommy in Carrie with HMC. Simon tries to balance theatre with his other hobbies of cycling and running, usually without success.

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.

Paul specialises as a repertoire coach, accompanist and music director. He has worked as a pit musician, accompanist, choir leader and music director in musical theatre and cabaret shows throughout South Australia. He is currently a resident Music Director and Repertoire Coach for the Elder Conservatorium Bachelor of Music Theatre at the University of Adelaide. Paul is also the Choir Director for the ACH Group Sing for Joy Choirs, a social program for older people in the community.

Previous show credits include Music Director for ‘This Girl’ Cabaret - SA Regional Tour (Rachael Beck), Songs for a New World and Spring Awakening (ECMT), Kinky Boots (The G&S Society of SA), Avenue Q (Hills Musical Company), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Northern Light Theatre Company), Bye Bye Birdie (The MET), Wicked (Matt Byrne Media) and Mary Poppins (Whyalla Players). Paul has worked as eyboard Deputy on touring productions of The Sound of Music, Singin’ In The Rain and Mamma Mia and played in numerous Adelaide based productions.

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.