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AussieTheatre.com thanks its loyal advertisers and the following sponsors:










AussieTheatre.com launched in 2003 in a "web magazine" format, updating monthly and providing general news and reviews on Australian theatre. It originally launched under the name BroadwayAustralia.com, a title it maintained until a massive overhaul in 2006.

In 2004, TDE (the original publishers of AussieTheatre.com) made the site a major priority, dumping the "web magazine" feel and moulding the website on successful similar initiatives internationally.

Since then, AussieTheatre.com has become the premier source for news and information on Australian theatre, leading the way in breaking major news stories, getting reviews online first and providing the experience, passion and energy needed for such a task.

The website has grown from a small fan-based concept to a professionally driven business that has an aim to educate, inform and ignite the artistic bones in every individual's body.

AussieTheatre.com
, now published by the Aussie Theatre Network, has the strong support of actors, producers, directors, publicists and other members of the theatre industry itself, allowing it to be on the ball when it comes to major news and information.

Over the years, AussieTheatre.com has broken some of the biggest stories in Australian theatre history, and has followed them up with expert opinion and analysis, something often rarely afforded to readerships of newspapers due to space restrictions.

In 2007, AussieTheatre.com, despite added competition, broke visitor records and increased advertising revenue substantially. In 2008, it again confirmed its dominance of the market, breaking records and consistently ranking above its rivals according to the Alexa Ratings. In 2009, AussieTheatre.com is aiming for its most successful year yet.


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Website Management and Administration

Troy Dodds - Managing Editor
Troy is a former theatre publicist who has worked on many shows and with individuals such as David Campbell, Tim Draxl, Hayden Tee, Sarah O'Hare, Lucy Durack and Kate-Maree Hoolihan. In 2004, he worked extensively in New York with Australian shows involved in the New York International Fringe Theatre Festival. Originally a sports journalist, Troy spent 2008 hosting the Drive Show on radio station Kick 87.6 and has worked at a range of media organisations including the Western Weekender, the Blacktown Guardian, The Weekly View, The Australian Acreage & Property Review and NextGen Sports. Troy is a member of the Helpmann Awards Musical Theatre Voting Panel, and has been involved with AussieTheatre.com since its inception in 2003.

Erin James - Deputy Editor
Erin graduated from WAAPA in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theatre and achieved her ATCL in voice, 2002. She also holds a Diploma of Education (Music) and works for the NSW Arts Unit as a drama/dance tutor and on the major events production team. A winner of the 2007 Bound For Broadway TDP Scholarship, Erin has performed in New York, New Zealand, Europe and Hong Kong as well as various tours in Australia. She made her professional music theatre debut in Fiddler On The Roof (2007 Australasian Tour), and toured with the Australian Theatre of the Deaf in 2006. Erin is accredited as a sign language interpreter (Auslan) and most recently starred in an international tour of Cats.


Sydney Editorial Team

Maz Dixon
Maz is a landscape painter, installation artist and drawing teacher. She recently participated in an exchange program in Berlin as part of her postgraduate studies at Sydney College of the Arts. Maz’s other career achievements include reviewing DVDs, freelance writing and editing, and working in a dodgy Amsterdam call centre that claimed to be located in England.

Rochelle Fernandez
maz.jpg (19113 bytes)Rochelle has a combined degree in Communications and International Studies from the University of Technology, Sydney. This means she spends her time writing, travelling, and dreaming of ways to combine the two into a single existence. She has written reviews, feature articles and interviews for various publications and has also worked as a sub-editor for a television magazine, a series of cookbooks and the 2006 UTS Writer's Anthology.

Caitlin Wright
Growing up, Caitlin performed in a wide range of theatrical and television productions before deciding to pursue journalism at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. Since then she has written Arts articles for the Daily Telegraph, reviewed Sydney’s best restaurants for the Deck of Secrets guides, spread gossip for New Woman, Video Hits online and ABC Radio and had a brief foray into PR. She is an online editor and has worked as the managing editor for SheSaid.com in Sydney, as a web producer at Skype and Teachers TV in London and most recently as a Producer at Yahoo!7.

Benita de Wit
Benita is currently in the final semester of her Performance Studies degree at the University of Sydney where she has been an active performer and director with the Sydney University Dramatic Society for the past 4 years. As a singer, actor and comedian she has performed with a variety of companies, filmed clips for Fairfax Media, and taken a show to the Cracker and Melbourne Comedy Festivals. She also currently teaches music and speech & drama.

Felicity Burke
Felicity has been involved with various theatre and film companies acting, directing and writing. She has been around the traps for a while… directing for Riverside Theatres, Short and Sweet (including National Tours), New Mardi Gras, club shows, pantomime and has received several awards. Felicity was originator and Festival Director for the Short Fuse FilmFest and has written and directed for short film, plays, pantomimes, radio productions, magazine articles and screen plays.


Melbourne Editorial Team

Anne-Marie Peard
Anne-Marie has worked at arts and community festivals throughout the country, including Moomba Waterfest, the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Adelaide Fringe and Floriade. Highlights included directing the 2001 Festival of Contemporary Art (ceremony FoCA5) in Canberra and appearing as a sock fish in the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. She has now abandoned bureaucracy to work as a freelance writer.

Josephine Giles
Josephine trained in Music Theatre and Opera at WAAPA and the Qld Conservatorium of Music. She has performed with Opera Australia, the Lyric Opera of Qld and the WA Opera Co, but specializes as a soprano vocalist in independent cross-genre music theatre collaborations. She has worked as an Events Coordinator and Administrator for the Artrage Festival, and in the production side of theatre as Musical Director and Assistant Director. She has previously written as an opera critic for the Brisbane Review newspaper.

Kym Davies
Kym has a Bachelor of Arts-Drama from LaTrobe University and since then has been heavily involved in all facets of theatre, both on and off stage. Her Directing credits include King Oedipus, Popcorn, Lottery for the Melbourne Fringe Festival and Short and Sweet Communities Festival. Her extensive acting credits include Belinda in Noises Off, Farrah in Popcorn, Truvy in Steel Magnolias, Mavis in Dimboola, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Susan in Dons Party. Kym’s talents extend to Production, Set and Costume Design with many credits including Lottery, Sweeney Todd, Fame, The King and I, Dinkum Assorted, Gypsy, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Steel Magnolias, Popcorn and Noises Off.

David Crofts
David is an experienced journalist, editor and reviewer. He started his career at the Herald & Weekly Times in 1991, and has written for many of Australia’s leading newspapers and magazines. For three years he was publicist with the Victorian Arts Council, developing promotional campaigns for companies such as Circus Oz, Bangarra Dance Theatre and Opera Australia. David was theatre reviewer at the Melbourne Times for nine years between 1998 and 2007 and has also reviewed for Melbourne’s gay press and on radio JOY94.9. David runs his own business as a professional writer and editor and also captures the stories of diverse people and communities for a variety of oral history projects, exhibitions and books.

Laura Hamilton
Laura was introduced to the stage from a very young age both as a performer and an audience member. Being heavily involved in both theatrical, musical and dance productions and companies since her school years, Laura has developed an appreciation for an extensive range of theatrical genres and loves nothing better than getting out to see the Melbourne arts scene's latest offerings. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne where she worked with Union Theatre as well as several smaller student-run companies. Since graduating, Laura has worked in event management and public relations, including time as a publicist for Gasworks Arts Park, and is currently the editorial assistant for the news department at The Age newspaper in Melbourne.


Adelaide Editorial Team

Rohan Shearn
Rohan’s background in theatre administration and event management dates back many years and has included the Wangaratta Art Centre, Victorian Arts Council, and as General Manager for the Riverina Theatre Company, Northern Rivers Performing Arts and Feast Festival. He has had the opportunity to work on a diverse range of productions from intimate theatre through to large-scale warehouse events. In 2006 he was engaged as one of the Precinct Operations Supervisors for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Currently, he is the Creative Producer for Byte Media.


Brisbane Editorial Team

Kellie Scott
Kellie Scott reviews performing arts in Brisbane for her website www.BrisbaneCritiques.com. Her reviews can also be found at Theatre People and Absolute Theatre. Previously her critiques for theatre, music, and film have been published in The Queensland Times, The Catholic Leader and The Satellite newspapers. She is currently studying Journalism at university, and hopes to use this to further develop her writing skills, focusing on becoming a professional critic in the future.


Other Contributors

Wayne Tunks
Wayne is an award winning playwright, who has written and produced many successful shows including The Subtle Art Of Flirting, We’ll Always Have Wagga, The Bridesmaid Must Die!, Go West, Birthdays, Christmas & Other Family Disasters, Beyond The Door, Hell Hath No Fury, Unrequited, Silvertop Ash, The Girl From The West Of The City and The Rules Of April. His work has been performed in a variety of diverse venues right across Australia. Wayne is also the morning announcer on radio station Kick 87.6fm.

Regular Columnists: Skye Crawford, Kate Walder
History assistants: Leann Richards
Video Editor: Peter Meredith