Cast
Hayden hails from Maungaturoto in Northland but has made a name for himself globally with his stunning portrayal of Javert in Les Misérables on Broadway, London’s West End, Australia, Dubai and New Zealand. His extensive musical theatre work has also seen him play Marius in Les Misérables, and wow audiences as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda on London’s West End and around the globe.
- See More
Akina has gained recognition across the ditch with her powerful voice, joining the cast of major Australian tours of Buddy Holly the Musical, Avenue Q, Hairspray, An Office and a Gentleman, Children of Eden, The Lion King, Beautiful; The Carole King Musical and Sister Act the Musical where she played the starring role of Deloris van Cartier. In 2019, Akina took to The Voice Australia stage where she worked with Guy Sebastian and Boy George and progressed through to the Battle rounds.
- See More
With a career spanning three decades, Paul has performed extensively throughout New Zealand, Australia and internationally. He performed in the international tour of Les Misérables, the original Australia, New Zealand and Asia touring production and the 10th anniversary Australian tour of Mamma Mia!, as well as Cats, My Fair Lady, The Pajama Game and SHOUT! He has recently been a headliner solo artist at various festivals, concerts and events on the international stage. - See More
After beginning her career as a jazz musician, Verity Burgess’ love of music and dance drew her to the world of musical theatre. Beginning her journey with a role in The Royal Shakespeare Company/North Music Trust’s UK production of West Side Story, Verity has performed in Cats, Children of Eden and the UK tour, West End production and international tour of Evita.
- See More
Jack Fraser has a string of impressive musical theatre credits on his resume both here and overseas. He has performed as Che in Evita, Dr Dillamond in Wicked, Enjolras in Les Misérables and Khashoggi in We Will Rock You. Jack has also performed in The Sound of Music, Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, Mary Poppins, Aladdin and Our House. - See More
Having performed in musicals since she was 8 years old, Emily Burns tackled some spectacular roles within New Zealand before taking her talents overseas. She has been seen as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins, Eva Peron in Evita, Little Red in Into The Woods and Sophie in Mamma Mia. She has toured alongside the late Rob Guest in his Heartland Tour and currently performs on luxury cruise ships around the world.
- See More
Creatives
Stephen Robertson - Staging
Stephen is a freelance Director, spending much of the year touring New Zealand directing, staging and designing musical theatre productions, corporate events and cabaret. He has amassed an impressive resume of directing credits throughout the years as Director / Choreographer and Costume Designer.
These include Chess, A Chorus Line, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Avenue Q and Evita. In 1993, Stephen directed the New Zealand première of Les Miserables (Wellington) followed by the national premières of 42nd Street (Wellington); Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Wellington); Cats (Christchurch), Miss Saigon (Christchurch) and more recently Wicked (Christchurch).For the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art, Stephen has directed Cats; Beauty and the Beast, Hair, Spring Awakening, Cabaret and Little Women.Other productions include: Grease / Blood Brothers / The Mikado / Mary Poppins / Legally Blonde / Jesus Christ Superstar / End of the Rainbow / Me and My Girl and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.He also holds a Diploma in Piano Associate from Trinity, College, London.
Richard Marrett - Musical Director
Well-known for his work in music as a musical director, vocal coach, arranger and pianist, Richard previously also worked at Ara Institute of Canterbury where he was manager of the degree programmes offered by the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) and Ara Music Arts.
He has conducted and arranged for production companies, choirs and orchestras throughout New Zealand and he has a busy schedule working as producer and arranger on a number of recording and theatrical projects. His most recent work conducting the CSO included The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Magical Music of Disney as well as numerous Starry Nights in Hagley Park.
His musical direction credits for theatre include Mame, The King And I, Sweet Charity, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, West End To Broadway I, II and III, Les Miserables, My Fair Lady, 42ND Street, Fiddler On The Roof, Annie, Grease, Into The Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, Urinetown, Beauty And The Beast, The Witches Of Eastwick, Cats, Chicago, Curtains, Hair, Pippin, Buddy, Avenue Q, Spring Awakening, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Mamma Mia!, Hairspray, Evita, Wicked, Priscilla, and We Will Rock You. With The Court Theatre he has been musical director for My Fair Lady, South Pacific, The Rocky Horror Show, The Sound Of Music, Jerry’s Girls, Oliver!, Guys And Dolls, The Producers, La Cage Aux Folles, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!, Anything Goes, Cabaret, Grease, Side By Side By Sondheim, End of the Rainbow and Blood Brothers, Mary Poppins, Songs for Nobodies, Legally Blonde, Chicago and Jesus Christ Superstar. He has designed and supervised the musical solutions for the current New Zealand tours of Hairspray, Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, Sister Act, We Will Rock You and Evita.
In September 2019, Richard was appointed as Artistic Director of the Christchurch choir, The Vocal Collective.
Sarah Buchanan - Company Manager
Sarah has over 30 years’ experience working in theatre, not only as a performer, but behind the scenes in hair, make up, styling and production. She manages teams of artists in wigs, hair and make-up, and takes workshops around the country for other
creative teams in theatre. Sarah has managed tour wardrobes for Wicked, Sister Act and We Will Rock You for the New Zealand
Musical Theatre Consortium groups.
In 2012 Sarah had the privilege to work for the First Lady of Musical Theatre, Elaine Paige as her P.A and dresser for her Australasian tour. She has since continued to support Elaine Paige on her tours through Australia, New Zealand and around the globe, most recently in the UK and Ireland.
Sarah was a hairstylist finalist in the Prestige L'Oréal Colour Trophy Awards in 2002 and worked as an Education Manager for Schwarzkopf for 5 years, taking numerous workshops and seminars across all aspects of hairdressing.
In 2018, Sarah studied at the Design and Art College of Make Up Artistry where she graduated with a Certificate in Level 4 Make Up and Special Effects and saw her achieve as 'Student of the Year."
An entertainer herself, Sarah has performed in various lead roles in theatre throughout New Zealand, tying all the strings of her bow together and giving her excellent exposure to what it means to perform on both on and off stage.
Glen Ruske - Producer/Sound
Since the early 90s Glen has been designing and operating sound for orchestras, theatre shows and corporate events. He is sought after worldwide and his talents have seen him tour with numerous professional and amateur theatre companies, orchestras and international artists throughout NZ.
He has designed and operated sound for productions as diverse as “The Rocky Horror Show” in Singapore, “Maui”, “The Merry Wives of Winsor”, “Les Miserable”, “Sweeney Todd”, “Miss Saigon”,“Phantom of the Opera “, “My Fair Lady”, “Macbeth”, “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Mary Poppins” to name a few.
In 2007 Glen Purchased Redd Acoustics and formed BounceNZ, who with a staff of 15 in Auckland and Christchurch, specialize in sound reinforcement for theatre, orchestra, outdoor festivals and corporate work.
Bounce NZ are regular suppliers, designers, consultants and Sound Engineers in the NZ Theatre scene. Bounce NZ are also the Preferred Suppliers for Musical Theatre New Zealand, Auckland Theatre Company, Auckland Music Theatre, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, The Court Theatre, New Plymouth Operatic, and Showbiz Christchurch to name a few.
See www.bouncenz.com for more.
Dave Spark - Producer/Visuals
Dave is a professional lighting and video designer with over 20 years of experience in the industry.
He has designed and production managed an extensive amount of large scale corporate and theatre events all over the country.
Dave is highly sought after for his creative, innovative high end video and production design and technical solutions.
He currently runs his Christchurch based company Pixel, which designs and supplies a impressive variety of large video displays and visuals for events and stage productions.
See www.pixel.co.nz for more.
Sam McConnell- Marketing
Born and raised in Christchurch, Samantha developed her love of theatre as a child at Original Scripts Theatre School and knew immediately she wanted to direct her career into the performing arts.
Samantha spent time living and working in New York where she wrote for a Broadway publication – Theaterhound, and further developed her skills in digital marketing. She returned to christchurch for a year where she worked for the 2013 Christchurch Arts Festival and The Court Theatre before making her way to London.
During her time in London, Samantha worked on the West End at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Really Useful Group marketing each of his licensed titles on a global scale. She was involved in the revival of Cats on the West End and Broadway, marketing the touring, Broadway and West End productions of The Phantom of the Opera, global tours of Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Wizard of Oz and the opening of ALW’s latest musical, School of Rock.
She returned to Christchurch to run the marketing department at The Court Theatre where she oversaw the marketing of shows such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Legally Blonde the Musical; Chicago; Mum’s Choir; Steel Magnolias; In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play); Elling and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Adam Eastmond - Technical Manager
For the last 15 years Adam has been involved in both Musical Theatre and Live Events, his passion for live events was established early and he set out to make a career in the industry. Lighting caught his eye and he hasn’t looked back, he has since designed lighting for multiple theatre productions and corporate events.
Adam joined Electro-Tech Services (ETS) in 2014 to become an Electrician, but that didn’t stop his passion for Lighting and he continued to work on shows and further his technical production skills, putting together a wide range of shows over recent years. During his time at ETS the company has grown from 5 to 12 staff across Auckland and Christchurch, Electro-Tech Services continues to support the Arts and Event Industry.
Adam continues to work on live shows and events, both indoor and outdoor concerts, his solution based attitude continues to get the job done!
See www.ets.co.nz for more.
Hamish Oliver - Music Production
Hamish has enjoyed a two-decade-long career as a composer, sound designer, musical director, arranger and performer for television, film, video games and theatre and has a Master’s degree in composition. He lectures in music composition/arranging/production and game audio at Canterbury University, and has previously taught at Ara Music Arts, NASDA, and MAINZ.
As a performer Hamish has toured Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand with Elaine Paige, Aled Jones and Hayley Westenra and has performed in New Zealand with Serj Tankian, Shapeshifter, Bic Runga, Julia Deans, Anika Moa, The Adults, and Michael Barrymore among others.
He plays piano and celeste for the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and has had several composition commissions from them. His arrangements have been performed by orchestras around New Zealand as well as Aled Jones, The Phoenix Foundation, Shapeshifter and other artists. He features on live concert DVDs from Elaine Paige, Hayley Westenra, and Serj Tankian.
Awards include the APRA Professional Development Award, given to further Hamish’s research into video game composition. See for more
© 2020 The Touring Company Ltd
Disclaimer - The Promoter reserves the right to withdraw, replace, add or substitute artists or performers without notice.