2023 Artists

David Hobson

Australian tenor and composer David Hobson is one of Australia’s best known operatic and recording artists. He has sung many roles for Opera Australia including his award-winning performances as Rodolfo (La Boheme) and the title role in Orphee.

Todd McKenney

Festival Headliner

One of Australia’s most versatile performing artists, Todd McKenney is an award winning and critically acclaimed performer on stage and screen. As an actor and the leading man of song and dance in musical theatre productions, he has entertained Australians for over 30 years from the main stage to intimate venues.

Elenoa Rokobaro

Festival Headliner

Elenoa’s career began when she was discovered after her first year from AIPAH (Australian International Performing Arts High), at the end of year school performances. Her debut was in the rewritten role of 16 year old Grace Kelly in 'Respect' The Musical 2007.

Rachael Beck

Festival Headliner

A highly skilled concert performer, Rachael appeared with Todd McKenney and Tommy Tycho in Broadway to Hollywood with the National Symphony Orchestras’ in Australia. Her other concert credits include the tour of War Of The Worlds, Broadway Hits for Queensland Pops Orchestra, Goodnight Hamer Hall for The Arts Centre, More Than Words at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and QPAC’s Christmas in Concert and Spirit of Christmas.

Robin McLeavy

Robin graduated from NIDA with a Bachelor of Drama in 2004 and has an international career on stage, television, and film.

Amanda Hodder

Described as “magic” by esteemed pianist and accompanist Malcolm Martineau, Amanda has worked as accompanist, vocal coach, pianist and music director with Opera Australia, OzOpera, VCA, Opera Queensland, Adelaide Cabaret Festival and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Tyran Parke

Tyran is a director, singer, producer, educator who runs his own company, Clovelly Fox Productions, is the Head of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Musical Theatre Program and is the new Executive Producer of the Australian Musical Theatre Festival, in Launceston.

Maria Lurighi

Maria Lurighi has over 45 years’ experience as a Singer and musician. Maria is in her 23rd year of teaching at the Conservatorium of Music and is currently the coordinator for Voice at the Hedberg, UTAS.

Andrew Hallsworth

Andrew has won three Helpmann Awards, two Sydney Theatre Critics and a Green Room Award for ‘Best Choreography in a Musical’.

Pussay Poppins

Pussay Poppins is the Tasmanian Queen with 2 heads....and one of them is tucked away.

Queenie van de Zandt

Queenie van de Zandt, a towering force in the world of Australian musical theatre, cabaret, and comedy, has a career that has left audiences in awe.

Matt Heyward

Matt most recently appeared in the play Ghost Stories at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre playing the role of ‘The Others’. He was also resident director for the production.

Ylaria Rogers

Ylaria Rogers is a Canberra based director, actor, dramaturge and producer in the early stages of her career. Ylaria has collaborated across Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and London, this includes working with The Street Theatre, Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centre, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, National Capital Orchestra, National Capital Opera, Hayes Theatre, Victorian College of the Arts, and her own production companies, Heart Strings Theatre Co and Freefall Productions.

Naarah

Young, Aboriginal and full of soul & sunshine, Naarah is a performer and creative originally from the Kimberley, WA but has spent most of her life in her island home lutruwita/Tasmania.

Shanice Osita Chuku

Song-singing Soulstress, Shanice Osita Chuku hails from the sweet soil of Tasmania, Australia, with African roots stemming from Nigeria.

Jodie Harris

Jodie Harris is an Australian Actress, Singer and Voice Artist. She is also an Audie nominated Audiobook Narrator and Vocal Coach working from her studio in Nowra on the NSW South Coast.

Vicky Jacobs

Vicky Jacobs has developed a reputation for her ability to get anyone singing at their best - from Australia's top music theatre stars to the most nervous new singers.

Loren Hunter

Loren Hunter is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), where she was awarded the Finlay Award for Music Theatre. 

Lisa Crosato

Australian soprano, Lisa Crosato, first took to the professional stage when she was only seven in The King and I in the USA. Since then, she has trained in all facets of theatre, including singing, drama and dance. In 2008, she completed the Post-Graduate Opera Course at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Mia Palencia

Mia Palencia is a singer-songwriter and educator. Born in Malaysia, she has written, recorded and released seven albums in jazz and popular music genres, and has performed extensively throughout Asia and Australia.

Vicki Madden

Vicki Madden is a Producer, Writer and Showrunner with over 25 yearsexperience in the television Industry both in Australia and overseas. She hasworked as Writer and Show-runner on such shows as Halifax fp (AUS), The Bill,(UK), Trial & Retribution with Lynda La Plante (UK) The Clinic (Ireland), WaterRats, Stingers (AUS) and K9 (UK) to name a few. She was also the writer of the90-minute true crime telemovie for the 9 Network and Playmaker media BloodBrothers.

Andrew Morrisby

Andrew Morrisby is a musical director, choral director, and freelance musician based in Hobart, Tasmania. After completing a BMus in classical piano at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, Andrew has worked in many different musical genres, ranging through classical, jazz, rock, funk, gospel, folk, and improvised music.

Miranda Middleton

Miranda Middleton is a director, writer, and choreographer with a Master of Fine Arts (Directing) from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). She is particularly interested in the intersection of text, music, and movement on stage, and aims to create theatrical events which spark joy and connection.

Rod Anderson

Rod has worked extensively as a professional theatre and television performer, writer and director.

Adam Wheeler

Adam is a Tasmanian-born, Stompin and Victorian College of the Arts Alumni.

Karen Klaus

Clare Chihambakwe

Clare is currently rehearsing the play Is God Is playing the role of Angie (Melbourne Theatre Company) and recently understudied and performed the role of Aseni in The Heartbreak Choir (Melbourne Theatre Company), prior to this she was a cast member of the original Australian production of the acclaimed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Michael Cassel Group).

Henry Jaksetic

Henry Jaksetic is a Melbourne based performer and writer, whose credits include assistant choreographer on As You Like it & Fun Home (Melbourne Theatre Company), and co-choreographer on The Boy from Oz (Patrick school of the Arts).

Phoenix Jackson Mendoza

Phoenix was apart of one of the final groups of Foundation students to attend The Victorian College of the Arts in their Musical Theatre foundations program.

Nicole Simms-Farrow

Nicole is a trained singer and performer with over 30 years experience. One of Hobart’s favourite Theatre performers, some of Nicole’s performance highlights include Elphaba in Wicked, Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, the revue shows One, and the follow up One More, (all for The Show Company Tasmania.)

Dean Cocker

Dean’s roles at the Theatre Royal in Hobart include Enjolras in Les Miserables, Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Gerald in Me & My Girl, Freddy in My Fair Lady, Dr Craven in The Secret Garden, and Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Christopher Bryg

Chris is a versatile singer and actor working in diverse forms of theatrical performance including opera, plays, musicals and concerts. In 2016, he graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with a Master of Music Studies (Opera Performance).

Natalie Hillar

Natalie is passionate about The Arts, and has been working in Launceston as a music teacher and performer for many years. She has been the repetiteur and keyboard player for many Encore Theatre Company productions, and is an accompanist to a wide range of performers.

Meg Hoult

Meg has a huge passion for theatre & performing and has worked in many different facets of the industry for over 20 years. As well as having an extensive career as an actor, her experience includes presenting work, teaching singing & drama, co-founding a highly successful children’s theatre company, working as a casting director and most recently, as a Talent Coordinator for a top children’s talent agency.

Travis Hennessy

Travis is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (PG Dip Voice) and has a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Theatre (UTAS). He is the recipient of two Tasmanian Theatre Awards for Acting (Outstanding Supporting Actor -Killer Joe, 2018; Outstanding Lead Actor - 1984, 2019).

Gerard Lane

Gerard Lane is Artistic Director of Studio Space Inclusive Arts and is a Launceston based performer with 25 years of experience and credits in theatre, music theatre, comedy, cabaret, opera, film, and TV. Gerard has toured Australia and Southeast Asia with several new Australian musicals including My Gramdma Lives in Gooligulch,Wizard Powers and Witch-Witch is Which! and The world premiere of The White Rose.

Samantha Hammersley

Samantha is known to Tasmanian audiences through her exciting and varied work within the community musical theatre scene. She has performed lead roles in Chicago (Encore Theatre Company), Carrie (Bijou Creative), 9 to 5 (Launceston Musical Society) and We Will Rock You (Encore Theatre Company), to name a few.

Rob Dawson

Rob is returning for a second year playing drums at the Australian music Theatre festival (AMTF) and is thrilled to once again be a part of one of the highlights of the AMTF Calandar.

Emily Paddon-Brown

Emily (she/ her) trained at NASDA prior to gaining a Bachelor ofArts in Music Theatre from WAAPA. There she starred in Pal Joeyas Vera.

Brooke Targett

Brooke is a Launceston local and is fresh from her appearance in Encore Theatre Company's production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert where she played one of the Diva's. By day Brooke is a local Bank Manager, but music performance and teaching has always been her first love and passion. 

Erica Collis Oates

Erica is the principal 'cellist of the St Cecilia Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Obscura. She studied under Eugene Canning (Hobart), Madeleine MacKenzie (London) and Derek Aviss (London).

Sarah Morrisby

Sarah is a ‘hobbyist’ performer who graduated from her voice studies in 2008 at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music. Although originally studying classical voice, Sarah soon moved into a more music theatre and jazz-based repertoire and it is here that she feels most at home. 

Nathan Wheldon

Nathan made his musical theatre debut back in 2003 in Launceston College’s production of Copacabana (Tony). Since then, Nathan has performed lead roles in Footloose (Reverend Shaw), Launceston Musical Society’s Rent (Roger), Encore Theatre Company’s productions of Jesus Christ Superstar (Judas), We Will Rock You (Galileo), and just recently, Nathan played Tick/Mitzi in Encore’s 2023 production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Deklan Hass

Ellie Baker

Peter Waddle