John O’Hara is one of Australia’s most versatile and in demand personalities.
He most recently played Annas and alternate King Herod in the Australian anniversary production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Hailing from Perth and a graduate of WAAPA, John notably earned critical acclaim for his portrayal of Dr Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. He played Ned Schneebly in the original Australian production of School of Rock, Bernadette in Priscilla – Queen of the Desert, Rodney in Dusty, Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Roscoe Dexter in Singin’ In The Rain, Peter in the South African production of Jesus Christ Superstar, The Father in Wicked and Henry Etches in Titanic. He played Phil Spector/Terry Britten in the original Australian production of Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.
Further highlights include The Who’s Tommy for Victorian Opera, Songs For A New World, Company, Rock of Ages, The Boy From Oz, Hair, Shout!, Leader Of The Pack, High Society, Oklahoma!, Grease, Cinderella, and Peter Pan. John was a featured vocalist for internationally esteemed Queen tribute act Rock Rhapsody and is a founding and current touring soloist for Fernando – The Music of Abba Orchestrated.
As a broadcaster, John is a regular, well known and respected presenter for ABC Radio Hobart and ABC Northern Tasmania. He also provides content at ABC Sydney for nationally broadcast program, Nightlife. John was a regular traffic and weather announcer in Victoria and Tasmania for the Australian Traffic Network, being heard on stations including KIIS, Triple M, Nova, Smooth, and Gold. He provides the male voice for popular singing warmup app Warm Me Up.
John is an established and sought after cabaret artist. Artistic Director, Alan Cumming selected John’s solo show #VAL – A Campfire Kiki With Mother for his 2021 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. An invitation subsequently followed to perform with Alan at Australia’s Club Cumming. #VAL has toured festivals extensively since 2019. Other solo works include Dedications, premiering at Adelaide Cabaret Festival and That’s Not Your Light, John! for the inaugural Perth International Cabaret Festival and Cabaret at the Italian Forum in Sydney. John has continued relationships and makes regular appearances both hosting and performing for The Festival of Voices and The Australian Musical Theatre Festival in Tasmania.
John creatively directed the 2020 Crown Christmas Spectacular at Crown Theatre Perth which subsequently led to his main-stage directing debut, Legally Blonde in the same theatre. John was engaged as the 2022 Festival of Voices Ambassador in Tasmania. He wrote and directed the 2023 50th year anniversary celebration, Come Play Cabaret for Wrest Point Casino in Hobart and directed the world premiere of Finding The Boy Beyond The Rainbow as part Theatre Royal Hobart’s 2025 season.