Backstage

Richard Piper BACKSTAGE

Backstage with Richard Piper.
Richard joins Regina Botros to talk about his life in the theatre.

Richard has spent almost his entire 43-year career on stage.  Trained in London, he was soon performing on the West End in Grease and Elvis, and came to Australia in 1985 with cult cabaret band The Bouncing Czecks.  MTC: The Lady in the Van, Twelfth Night, Born Yesterday, Double Indemnity, Ghosts, Music, Queen Lear, The Gift, Drowsy Chaperone, Rockabye, Entertaining Mr Sloane, The Give and Take, Dumb Show, The Daylight Atheist (Green Room Award), Betrayal, Man the Balloon, Life After George, Measure for Measure, Comedy of Errors. Malthouse:  The Black Rider, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. STC: The Secret River, Gross und Klein, Great Expectations, Moby Dick.  Bell Shakespeare:  A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The War of the Roses, Henry V, Henry IV.  STCSA: Moby Dick, Marat Sade, Restoration.  Musical Theatre: Come from Away, Oklahoma!, King Kong, Billy Elliot, Rocky Horror. TV:  Wentworth, Underbelly.  Films:  Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Shane Placentino BACKSTAGE

Shane goes Back Stage with Regina Botros to talk about Aida the Opera and his life on the stage.

OPERA AUSTRALIA- AIDA

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER

Adelaide born Shane Placentino graduated from The Australian Ballet School in 1990 and was accepted into the Australian Ballet in 1991. As a member of the Ballet, Shane danced in the entire classical and contemporary repertoire. He also worked with Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon appearing in Murphy’s Nutcracker and Beyond Twelve. After ten years with The Australian Ballet, Shane left in 2000. He joined Sydney Dance Company in 2002. Sydney Dance Company repertoire: Ellipse, Air and other invisible forces, Salome, Free Radicals, the role of ‘Jack’ in Tivoli, Underland, Random Play, Some Rooms, Grand, Hua Mulan, Berlin and Ever After Ever. Other credits: The Australian Ballet: full classical and contemporary repertoire including Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, The Merry Widow, Jiri Kylian’s Sinfonietta, Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat, Stanton Welch’s Red Earth, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet and Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. In 2008 Shane has assisted and performed in Meryl Tankard’s Inuk2 and was appointed the stage manager for Rafael Bonachela’s recent work with Sydney Dance Company.

 

Melita Rowston BACKSTAGE

Backstage with Melita Rowston.

The gorgeous and articulate Melita Rowston joins Regina Botros in this episode to dig deep into her life as a theatre maker and the stories behind her work.

Melita is a writer, director, painter and performer. 

Melita's in her happy place writing and directing plays, painting, telling stories about Australia's Shit Tourism, performing poetry, writing about travel (while travelling) and she delights in interviewing interesting people.

​Melita started writing for theatre because she wasn’t seeing the voices of Australian women represented on our stages. She's passionate about giving voice to those left in the shadows, on the sidelines of history. She finds the stories that fall through the cracks are the most compelling. They shed light on the forgotten social narratives of this country and offer us an opportunity to better understand the depth and diversity of our culture, our shared histories and ultimately, ourselves.

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Katrina Retallick BACKSTAGE

Katrina Retallick is back stage with Regina Botros to talk about how she came to the stage and her life in the lime light.

Katrina trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Her phenomenal music theatre career includes roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Ruthless! The Musical, Falsettos, The Addams Family, Every Single Saturday, No Way to Treat a Lady, A Little Night Music, Wind in the Willows, Jekyll and Hyde, Songs For a New World, Company and South Pacific, with Katrina garnering wins and nominations for Sydney Theatre, Helpmann and Glug Awards.

Recent performances include the Hayes Theatre Company’s Big Fish and the Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Revue.

In film, Katrina appeared in Accidents Happen and The Eternity Man and will soon be seen in June Again. On the small screen, credits include Love Child, Comedy Inc, The Chaser’s CNNN and Backberner.

Catherine Ryan BACKSTAGE

Catherine joins Regina to talk theatre writing and her inspirations and process.

A VCA graduate Animateur, Catherine works as a writer, dramaturg, director, community theatre maker, producer and performer, with a range of experiences across several media including stage, radio, published prose and documentary film. Her practice is inspired by questions about empathy, interconnectedness, the dynamics of relationships and the spaces and obstacles between us.

She lives in Dja Dja Wurrung country (Central Victoria), just outside a town with a name, but no shop, pub, tennis court or public phone (there are, however, magnificent eagles and a gorgeous river). In 2001 she co-founded Castlemaine’s Barking Owl Theatre, co-creating many original and community-based works in their 8 years of activity. In 2009 Catherine won an AWGIE for Best Radio Adaptation for Aurora Calling: The Results of a Joint Observation, which was then the Australian nominee in its category at the Prix Italia International Media Awards. Her work has also won a George Fairfax Award (Precipice - 2009) and 2 Inscription Awards (Precipice and Getting Away From It All - 2009, 2006), along with several other national (Patrick White, Griffin and Hal Porter Short Story Awards) and international (Perishable Theatre International Women’s Playwright) short-listings. She has been an Affiliate Writer at the Melbourne Theatre Company, a Resident Playwright at Griffin Theatre, Sydney, and commissioned by the Malthouse Theatre (2013) and ABC Radio National (2008, 2004). Catherine’s work has appeared at/in the Castlemaine State Festival, ABC Radio National, La Mama Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Overland, and will be seen in the journal Antipodes. In 2017 her work, Dogged, received a National Script Workshop at Playwriting Australia.

Imogen Sage BACKSTAGE

Imogen Sage has studied in London as well as here and has been in roles from Woyzeck to The Three Sisters and A Street Car Named Desire to Romeo and Juliette and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  She has performed around the country as well as overseas and has also starred in many films, as well as voicing many audio books.
Currently she is on stage in the titular role of Claudel at the Sydney Opera House. And she joins Regina Botros to traipse through her life so far and the world of the theatre.

Moreblessing Maturure BACKSTAGE

Moreblessing talks with Regina about theatre, women of colour and making a difference on the stage.

Moreblessing Maturure is a Zimbabwean/Australian inter-disciplinary artist, TEDx Speaker and the Creative Director of FOLK Magazine.

The award-nominated actor has appeared in a suite of projects pre-Rona, most recently ‘THE RETREAT’ (Victoria Zerbst) and CH 9’s ‘SEACHANGE: REBOOT’ (Wayne Blair) as well as on various stages across Sydney. Moreblessing also works with various theatre companies as dramaturg, outreach producer and cultural advisor, which supports the advocacy practice Moreblessing carries out within the arts for accurate and diverse representation. She’s an Equity Member and sits as Co-Chair of MEAA’s Equity Diversity Committee.

Most recently she appeared in Yana Taylor’s sold out season of LEADING IS FOLLOWING IS LEADING for Liveworks 2020 and can be seen in the SELL OUT season of seven methods of killing kylie jenner at Darlinghurst Theatre Company .

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Recent credits include:
THEATRE: Leading Is Following Is Leading (Liveworks 2020)// A Little Piece of Ash (Jack Rabbit Theatre, KXT Bakehouse)//Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (House of Sand, Old 505)//Fallen (Sport for Jove, She Said Theatre)// Undertaking, The Bee and the Tree, Like Me, Age of Entitlement, The Way of the Wall (Mongrel Mouth)

SCREEN: (TV)- Back To The Rafters, SeaChange, Deadly Women (FF)- Akoni (WS)- The Retreat, Ang Wilson, Afro Sistahs (SF)- (W)hole, STIGMA, Prelude, I am Black and Beautiful and. Searching for Babel

 

Melanie Tait BACKSTAGE

Melanie Tait joins Regina Botros to talk about her life and it's trajectory to the stage.

Melanie Tait is an innovative and prolific theatre-maker, audio storyteller and digital journalist with a proven record in Australia and the UK. Her work and ideas consistently reflect the zeitgeist and she makes those ideas come to life with the help of talented teams.

Returning to Australia after her play The Vegemite Tales won critical and popular acclaim, Melanie trained as a journalist with the ABC. She has worked for the past twelve years creating radio and digital content. 

Now a recognised storyteller and broadcaster, she has created  popular podcasts like A Country Podcast, Now Hear This and Tall Tales and True. Her play The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race premiered at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney in March 2019 and will tour nationally in May-June 2021. Another play, A Broadcast Coup, was set to premiere at Ensemble Theatre in April 2020, but was cancelled due to Covid19. 

Melanie was previously Executive Producer of Podcasts at Mamamia Women's Networks overseeing their two most popular podcasts No Filter and The Quicky.

For ABC TV, she has guest hosted and reported for One Plus One and The Mix.  

Melanie has written many features, op-ed and reportage for local and international mastheads including Guardian UK, Guardian Australia, news.com.au, The Australian.

Shannon Burns BACKSTAGE

Choreographer Shannon Burns talks with Regina about her life as a dancer.

Shannon grew up in the Central Queensland town of Gladstone which is where her love of dance began. At the age of 15 she moved to Brisbane where she studied ballet full time at Queensland Dance School of Excellence before completing a Diploma of Performing Arts at ED5 International in Sydney. She has since obtained a diploma in Professional Pilates Instruction through PITC. With a technical and gymnastic background, Shannon is drawn to strong, athletic, dynamic and stylized movement from a range of genres and styles.

A versatile performer, Shannon has had the privilege of working with many of Australia’s leading choreographers including Kelley Abbey, The Squared Division, William Forsythe, Keith Hawley, Matt Lee, Leanne Cherny, Marko Panzic, Jason Coleman, Sarah Boulter and Stephen Baynes. Stage credits include Fame the Musical (Australian tour), Grease the Musical (Australian tour), previous Opera Australia productions including La Traviata and Carmen on Sydney Harbour, Le Gand Cirque, Ben Veitch’s production of Blood, Swart and Dance and the Shorter, Sweeter Dance tour.

Shannon has had international contracts in Macau (Dance Captain) and with Princess Cruises and has made regular television appearances on The X Factor, The Voice, Australian Idol, Australia’s Next Top Model and more. She has worked with both Australian and International artists including Ricky Martin, Jessica Mauboy, Ricki Lee, Red Foo and Sneaky Sound System. She has also appeared in films and music videos and performed at countless events including the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony.

Since the birth of her two gorgeous children, Shannon has enjoyed the shift in both her personal and professional life. Stepping out of the spotlight and into more creative roles, Shannon was assistant choreographer to Kelley Abbey for Opera Australia’s 2019 production of Salome. She has choreographed for a number of award ceremonies and events including the Netball World Cup Opening Ceremony and has had the pleasure of creating work for Grayboy the Agency, Kermond Creative, Lovegrove Entertainment and ED5 international .

Shannon had a magical experience dancing in the 2012 production of La Traviata on Sydney Harbour.

 

Elizabeth Gadsby BACKSTAGE

Designer Elizabeth Gadsby joins Regina to talk about the art and craft of staging a show.
She has designed multiple Sydney Theatre Company shows as well as other stages around town. She's also designed for Opera, Film and television.

Elizabeth is a set and costume designer, whose background in installation and performance art influences her approach to her design work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) from National Art School and a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts (Design) from NIDA.