Creative Team | Creative Team |
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Hal Davies - Book
In the 1970’s Hal arrived in Perth where he was immediately offered the position of Director of Performing Arts in a large private college. From the beginning of his time in Australia, Hal was able to successfully combine his teaching with professional freelance directing and writing. In the late 80’s he was commissioned by the Sisters of Mercy to research and write the story of their Irish Foundress, Catherine McAuley, and how the order was established in Australia. He spent several weeks in Dublin, Ireland, researching her story and the resulting production Trocaire has subsequently been produced many times on both the West and East coasts of Australia. Hal later directed a short film of Trocaire featuring WAAPA graduates, among them a young Hugh Jackman. Hal has directed and choreographed over seventy productions in all of Perth’s Theatrical venues. His directing credits range from children’s shows to classical theatre, and from musicals to thrillers, these include productions of The Crucible, The Glass Menagerie, Stepping Out, Voices, Godspell, Chorus of Disapproval, The Trojan Women and Relatively Speaking. In the 1990’s he had a very successful working collaboration with composer Mike Eastman which resulted in the musical farce All Above Board which has now been staged by many independent theatre companies and colleges throughout Australia. Hal’s most recent directing credits have been the Australian play Lipstick Dreams for his own company Plumpjack Productions, Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers for the University of Western Australia, and Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. He is currently directing a production of the psychological thriller Dangerous Obsession by N.J.Crisp. Ziggy de Voigt - Music
Previous works include a symphonic ballad, Song of the North, the musical Umbulgurri, three ballet scores and, in association with lyricist and playwright, Jackson B. Sutcliffe, several works for voice including a selection of art songs and the cantatas Kaleidoscope and The Food of Life. Six songs from the poems of A.B. (Banjo) Paterson were completed in 2004 along with drafts for a children’s musical The Invisible Child. De Voight was also musical director for It Was the Lark, Gone with Hardy, Fool on the Hill, No Way, Cowardy Custard, Three’s Company, Happy End, A Toast to Melba, and R.S.V.P. Jackson B Sutcliffe - Lyrics
The Last Maharajah is their latest theatrical work with a libretto by Hal Davies. A monologue by Sutcliffe entitled Portrait of the Maharajah was a finalist in the 2006 Maj Monologues Competition. Other works by Sutcliffe and de Voight include the commissioned cantatas for chorus and keyboard Food of Life and Kaleidoscope. A 2004 international review of their song cycle Where Lies Love referred to “the richness of the poetic imagery [being] mirrored in the smooth, almost orchestral sweep of the piano part under a flowing vocal line”.Their ballad The Return, co-written with Mike Eastman, was premiered at the opening concert of the 1999 Festival of Perth and has been recorded by Australian vocalist Simon Gallagher. Jackson B has written occasional verse for conferences, literary events and corporate functions. He has also contributed vocal arrangements of material for premiere Perth a cappella ensemble Summerhouse. Imperial Productions - Producer
The Eastman Group - Associate Producer
Bernard especially enjoys the creation, development and commercialisation of new ideas. As an example, he formulated and commercialised the Motorcharge “charge card for cars” concept. He then ran the company as its CEO and Managing Director for some nineteen years until January 2002, when it was taken over by a United Kingdom company. As the co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Eastman Group Limited, Bernard has been actively involved in the day-by-day running of the company since its inception. He has also recently been appointed chairman of two groups of Chief Executive Officers for The Executive Connection, an international organisation of CEOs. David Phipps-Davis - Director Leo Nicholson - Musical Director Jenny Perry - Choreographer/Assistant Director Edmund Connolly - Chorus Master Eirian Walsh Atkins - Costume Design Adrian Jeakins - Sound Design Mike Moate - Stage Management Dan Young - Technical Supervision |
Hal was born in Cheshire, U.K. After his theatre training in Liverpool and London he appeared in many provincial productions and in three West End musicals.
De Voight commenced composing at the age of eleven, while studying piano, violin, flute and organ. The major creative work to date is the epic opera/musical Nostradamus which has been performed in concert with the West Australian Opera Company and West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and which was also work-shopped as a music theatre piece in 2005. The most recent work is The Last Maharajah, a musical written in collaboration with book writer, Hal Davies, and lyricist, Jackson B Sutcliffe.
Lyricist and librettist Jackson B Sutcliffe has collaborated with close friend Ziggy de Voight on more than twenty musical works. Their major work, a music drama titled Nostradamus, premiered as a symphonic concert at the Perth Concert Hall in 2002 in a co-production between the W.A. Opera and The Eastman Group. The performance was broadcast nationally on ABC Radio Fine Music. A theatrical version was work-shopped in Melbourne in 2006 directed by leading Australian director Roger Hodgman with musical direction by David Stanhope.
Imperial Productions is one of London's most exciting opera and musical theatre groups. Founded in 1979 as Imperial Opera, they have produced a diverse range of material over the years, from opera and operetta to musicals and revues. They tend to present a diverse programme of new, unusual, overlooked or forgotten works, and encourage creative and innovative interpretations and performances. To date, productions have included the works of Mozart, Gilbert & Sullivan, Offenbach, Shostakovich, Britten, Sondheim, Coward, Porter, Weill, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and many more.
Bernard Eastman is a chartered accountant, a former tax partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Price Waterhouse) where he spent time in the Perth, Sydney, New York and Toronto offices. He comes from a musical family, and for some years was a violinist with the Western Australian Arts Orchestra, which specialised in playing for musicals and operas.