Reviewer and devoted theatre enthusiast Simon Parris — better known to many as Man in Chair — and uber publicist and theatre aficionado Ian Phipps return to the podcast to give us an insight into the shows currently playing in global theatres.

They’ve each recently undertaken their annual theatrical pilgrimages to London and New York, where they’ve been filling their days — and presumably their notebooks, phones and heads — with the sights, sounds and sensations of what’s currently playing on some of the world’s great stages.

And there’s plenty to talk about: the productions that dazzled, surprised and perhaps disappointed; the performers and creative teams making waves; the shows generating conversation; and the trends and theatrical ideas that are travelling across the globe.

But this isn’t simply a travelogue of Broadway and the West End. Simon and Ian are also turning their attention homeward — looking at what these international theatre seasons might tell us about the future, and what Australian audiences can anticipate when our stages come alive in 2027.

So, prepare for opinions, observations, discoveries and, no doubt, a healthy dose of theatrical gossip and enthusiasm.

It’s wonderful to have them both back on STAGES…….  Man in Chair Simon Parris and publicist extraordinaire Ian Phipps!

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

STAGES welcomes back the enormously talented Eddie Perfect — composer, lyricist, performer, actor and one of Australia’s most distinctive theatrical voices. Eddie is the Tony-nominated creator of Beetlejuice The Musical, and in 2025 he also donned the iconic stripy suit himself, starring as the mischievous, macabre and thoroughly irresistible Beetlejuice in the Melbourne season at the Regent Theatre.

Now that extraordinary Australian production is being preserved for posterity — and for your headphones — with the release of Beetlejuice The Musical Live at the Regent Theatre Melbourne, arriving this Halloween, October 31st.

The album captures the energy of the live production, with Eddie joined by a stellar Australian cast including Karis Oka, Rob Johnson, Erin Claire, Elise McCann, Tom Wren, Angelique Cassimatis, Rebecca Ordiz, Noni McCallum and Adam Lyon.

But this recording represents something even bigger. It marks the launch of Excited Animal Records, a new label founded by Eddie with a very clear mission: to record, release and champion Australian music theatre and the extraordinary artists who create it.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Jonathan Biggins is one of Australia’s most versatile and distinctive theatre practitioners, with an accomplished career spanning acting, directing and writing. He is also a sought-after corporate speaker, MC and entertainer, bringing the same intelligence, wit and theatrical flair to every aspect of his work.

As an actor, Jonathan is renowned for his versatility and finely observed character work. He has performed with all of Australia’s major state theatre companies, with notable Sydney Theatre Company appearances including Peter Sellers in Ying Tong and Henry Carr in Tom Stoppard’s Travesties. His work with Opera Australia includes the role of Ko-Ko in The Mikado, while his performance career has also extended to musical comedy and touring, including Three Men and a Baby Grand. On screen, his credits include the films Thank God He Met Lizzie and A Few Best Men, among numerous television appearances.

Jonathan’s talents as a director are equally impressive. Since 2000, he was a co-director of the Sydney Theatre Company’s much-loved Wharf Revue, helping shape its distinctive blend of satire, music, comedy and political observation across more than two decades. His other directing credits include Opera Australia’s Orpheus in the Underworld, as well as The Republic of Myopia, Noises Off and Talk for the Sydney Theatre Company. He also directed the Australian touring production of the Broadway musical Avenue Q in 2009–10. His work for younger audiences includes directing the award-winning productions Pete the Sheep, Josephine Wants to Dance and Mr Stink.

As a writer, Jonathan has demonstrated an equally sharp ear for comedy and an astute understanding of Australian life and politics. His fortnightly column for Good Weekend ran for seven years, while his journalism and commentary have appeared in publications including The Age, Australian Traveller and Wine Selector Magazine.

His extensive theatre writing includes collaborations on sixteen editions of The Wharf Revue, among them Pennies from Kevin, Sunday in Iraq with George and Waiting for Garnaut. For Opera Australia, he created a new libretto adaptation of Orpheus in the Underworld, while his musical theatre credits include Living in the 70s and The Republic of Myopia. His first full-length play, Australia Day, premiered in 2012, followed by Talk for the Sydney Theatre Company in 2017 and the acclaimed one-man show The Gospel According to Paul in 2019.

Jonathan is also the author of four books: As It Were, The 700 Habits of Highly Ineffective People, The 700 Habits of Highly Ineffective Parents and The Gospel According to Paul.

He is presently touring in his acclaimed one-man show, The Gospel According to Paul, and later this month releases a new book tiled Near Death in Venice.

Across the stage, page and screen, Jonathan Biggins has built a career defined by versatility, comic precision and an enduring ability to find the humour, humanity and absurdity in contemporary Australian life.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Marney McQueen is one of Australia’s most versatile performers, weaving together a formidable talent for musical theatre, comedy, cabaret and character performance. A graduate of NIDA, Marney has built a career distinguished by its energy, comic intelligence and extraordinary vocal ability.

McQueen made her professional theatre debut as Marion in the original Australian production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical, before going on to play the deliciously devious Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray. She subsequently appeared as Nina in Dream Lover – The Bobby Darin Musical alongside David Campbell, and as Princess Zeena in Moonshadow. Her theatre credits also include Into the Woods, The Dismissal, Scarlett O’Hara at the Crimson Parrot and The Give & Take.

Comedy and cabaret have been equally important to McQueen’s career. She created the outrageous Rosa Waxoffski, a Russian beautician whose adventures have taken her to comedy festivals and stages in Australia and internationally. The character began during her NIDA training and developed into a celebrated cabaret creation, demonstrating McQueen’s particular gift for impersonation, character comedy and audience interaction.

On screen, her credits include Neighbours, Home and Away, Bogan Pride, The Wedge, The Chinaboy Show, The Mule, Matching Jack and Maya the Bee: The Honey Games. She has also worked extensively as a presenter, MC and cabaret artist.

More recently, Marney took centre stage as Céline Dion in the Australian production of Titanique, a role that showcased both her powerhouse vocals and impeccable comic timing.

She returns to musical theatre as The Lady of the Lake, in Monty Python’s Spamalot, bringing her abundant gifts to this gloriously comic musical.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Sharon Millerchip is one of the busiest actor/creatives on the Australian stage with three prestigious Helpmann Awards to her name.

Sharon most recently played Ingrid Treloar in BORN ON A THURSDAY By Jack Kearney at the Old Fitz Theatre for which she was nominated for the 2026 Sydney Theatre Award for Leading Actor in an Independent Play. Sharon was Creative Producer for PUTTING IT TOGETHER at the Foundation Theatre and is set to resume her role as the Associate Director for SIX THE MUSICAL in Australia which begins it’s fourth national tour in July 2026

For the Sydney Theatre Company, Sharon was Assistant Director to Priscilla Jackman in Suzie Miller’s smash hit RBG; OF MANY ONE starring Heather Mitchell and directed the one woman show BECOMING ELIZA starring Anna O’Byrne at the Sydney Opera House. 

Sharon played Caroline in the original company of Yve Blake’s FANGIRLS for Belvoir and QTC and was the Associate Choreographer for it’s return season at the Sydney Opera House

Other recent performances include The Queen Mother in THE QUEENS NANNY, Louise Daley in A BROADCAST COUP, Penny in Melanie Tait’s smash hit THE APPLETON LADIES POTATO RACE all for Ensemble, Simon Phillips’ NORTH BY NORTHWEST, Joan in SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS for Darlinghurst Theatre and acclaimed performances as the eponymous heroine SHIRLEY VALENTINE and Johanna Murray-Smith’s iconic BOMBSHELLS which earned her Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Leading Actress in a Play. 

Sharon is part of an elite group of women worldwide who have played both Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart in CHICAGO. Sharon received Helpmann Awards for both roles as well as the Sydney Theatre Award for Roxie Hart. 

Sharon played Meg Giry in the Australian premier of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES (Sydney Theatre Award nom) the spectacular sequel to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in which Sharon also played Meg Giry in the original Australian production. 

Her other leading roles include Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Mo Award), Columbia in THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Helpmann Award) Anita in WEST SIDE STORY, Demeter in CATS, Catherine in PIPPIN (Helpmann nomination), May in Lippa’s THE WILD PARTY, Sofia in SATANGO (Australian Dance Award), Sonia Walsk in THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG, Charity Hope Valentine in SWEET CHARITY (Helpmann Award nomination) 

For the Sydney Theatre Company Sharon played Cordelia in FALSETTOS and Little Red Riding Hood in INTO THE WOODS for which she received the Mo Award and Sydney Theatre Award for best Supporting Actress. 

Away from the stage Sharon was Resident Director and Resident Choreographer on the Disney Theatricals blockbuster ALADDIN at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney and Resident Director on Baz Luhrmann's extravagant production of STRICTLY BALLROOM at The Lyric Sydney and Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne. 

Sharon comprised one third of the popular cabaret trio COMBO FIASCO who performed extensively throughout Australia and the USA where they received a MAC Award nomination for Best New York Vocal Comedy Act and recorded their live album, HERE. 

Her television credits include Daliance for Roadshow, Home and Away, Spicks and Specks, Cops LAC, The Circle, Willing and Able. Her feature film credits include Gretel Kileen's JIMMY AND GRET DON'T DO SEX and as Wendy Patterson in the Kath and Kim Filum KATH AND KIMDERELLA.

Other recent theatre performances include AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS for Ellis Productions,  A PICASSO and LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS at the Ensemble Theatre, and Nora Ephron's LOVE LOSS AND WHAT I WORE  and MY FIRST TIME, both for Liza McLean at The Sydney Opera House.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Two of Australia’s most accomplished and celebrated operatic performers, soprano Natalie Jones and mezzo-soprano Antoinette Halloran, come together for the highly anticipated world premiere of Jane Hammond and Therésa Borg’s The Spare Room - a production of Monstrous Theatre and Victorian Opera.

Natalie Jones has enjoyed an acclaimed career spanning more than three decades, performing with leading opera companies and orchestras throughout Australia and internationally. 

A graduate of the University of Melbourne, Jones was awarded the Wenkart Singing Scholarship and the prestigious Herald-Sun Aria. Her repertoire encompasses an extraordinary range, from the dazzling coloratura of Zerbinetta, Queen of the Night and Gilda to the lyricism of Manon, Juliette, Violetta, Donna Anna and Konstanze. Her performance of Musetta in La bohème earned a Green Room Award and Helpmann Award nomination, while her creation of Bubba in Richard Mills’ Summer of the Seventeenth Doll demonstrated her commitment to Australian contemporary opera.

Antoinette Halloran is similarly one of Australia’s best-loved and most versatile singers, with an extensive career across opera, concert and contemporary repertoire. Her major roles with Opera Australia include Madama Butterfly, Rusalka, Mimì in La bohème, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus. She has performed leading roles with Victorian Opera, West Australian Opera, State Opera South Australia, Opera Queensland and New Zealand Opera.

Now these two formidable artists share the stage in The Spare Room, bringing their considerable experience, dramatic insight and vocal artistry to a brand-new Australian work. 

As Victorian Opera prepares to unveil the Hammond/Borg compelling new opera, Jones and Halloran promise to make this world premiere a significant addition to the Australian operatic landscape.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

In 2022, STAGES presented a series of ‘live’ conversations at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, as a part of the IDEAS program for the annual VIVID Festival. We were delighted that our first guest in that series was Director/CEO of GLOBAL CREATURES; the dynamic and divine Carmen Pavlovic.

Carmen is also the Executive Producer for the global theatrical juggernaut Moulin Rouge! – The Musical.

Inspired by the Baz Luhrmann film, Moulin Rouge! opened on Broadway in July 2019, recently completing a run of 2,297 performances at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. On Broadway the show garnered 10 Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and has been staged in cities around the world.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical will return to Australian stages in 2027.

To celebrate the Broadway run of Moulin Rouge! – the Musical, we present this spotlight episode of the STAGES podcast. An episode in which Carmen Pavlovic details the challenge and ultimate triumph of developing the show, and subsequently conquering stages around the world.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Troy Sussman has spent more than 40 years doing what he dreamed of as a child — living the life of a professional performer and becoming one of Australia’s most prolific musical theatre artists.

His extraordinary career has taken him across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the West End, with a repertoire that spans classic musical theatre, opera, comedy and contemporary productions. His credits include the original Australian production of Les Misérables, as well as the 10th Anniversary production and the West End production in London; The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, City of Angels, Passion, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Pirates of Penzance, Guys and Dolls, Mame, Sweet Charity, Mack and Mabel, The Drowsy Chaperone, We Will Rock You, The Witches of Eastwick, Noises Off, Jolson, Miss Saigon, The Secret Garden, Hair, Honk!, Chess, Aida and Carmen.

More recently, Troy has appeared as Babkak in Disney’s Aladdin, understudying Genie, Curveball in Who’s Your Baghdaddy, the 25th Anniversary Concert of Jekyll & Hyde, and in the VO production of Candide. He also returned to The Phantom of the Opera in the Opera Australia production.

Among his many international engagements, Troy performed in Donmar Warehouse’s Guys and Dolls and has worked extensively throughout Asia, including Honk!, Chang and Eng and Masterpiece: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in China. His screen credits include Les Misérables at Windsor Castle, Forensic Investigation, Denise, Good Morning Australia and Saturdee. He can also be heard on Australian cast recordings of Mary Poppins and Hair, the South Pacific soundtrack and on solo vocals for Rob Guest’s Standing Ovation.

Troy’s passion for musical theatre is matched by his commitment to the next generation of performers. He speaks passionately about the importance of passing on the knowledge and legacy of those who came before while embracing change and adaptation within the art form.

For Troy, there is still nowhere quite like the stage. As he puts it, happiness is “standing on a stage and being in my element” — a fitting description for an artist who has spent more than four decades making theatre his happy place.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

PJ Lane has ‘showbiz’ in his genes.

At 11 PJ attained a Performing Arts Scholarship at The Scots College, Sydney. He went on to minor in music at college in Connecticut where he received a full basketball scholarship and he was a star off the court as well, being on the Dean’s Honours List and a lead performer in the college’s plays and musicals, PJ was setting the ground work for what would lie ahead.

PJ studied classical piano for 11 years and was later tutored for another 2 years by Mike Meros, the keyboard player for the Beach Boys. Although PJ turned to professional basketball after college (Greece 2005 – 2008) he would always revert back to his love of music and the entertainment industry.

On his return to Australia and in a relatively short time in ‘the business’, PJ Lane has appeared on many TV shows, he’s been the subject of a featured story on A Current Affair, appeared and sang live on Mornings with Kerri-Anne, performed in front of 90,000 people at the 2009 Woolworths Carols In The Domain and was a presenter and performed at the 2010 TV Week Logie Awards. 

PJ was a regular presenter on the Seven Network’s Sydney Weekender and he is the ‘face’ of Lux Luminosity (Asia). He had a featured guest role on Neighbours, starred in the thriller 6 Plots and played the real life character of Michael Christianson in the top rating production, Underbelly: Badness. PJ also starred opposite Don Hany in the drama series Serangoon Road.

As an entertainer, PJ is an ACE Award winner and has thrilled audiences in some of Australia’s top venues and corporate events, with “evident showbiz chutzpah”. He has quickly established himself as a most sought after entertainer and Master of Ceremonies.  His MC/Hosting clients include an international banking corporation, government departments, charity organisations, international concerts and many other corporate clients.

PJ is proud to be an ambassador and spokesman for CHeBA (Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing) He is the producer and host of The Memory Lane Concert, a gala fundraiser featuring Australia’s finest performers, raising funds for research into a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

He is presently hitting the road with “I Love Your Faces - The Don Lane Story”. It’s a celebration of The Don Lane Show, but also something much more personal: a son’s exploration of his father, his family, identity, ambition and the enduring magic of entertainment.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

Lynne McGranger is one of Australia’s most beloved television personalities, best known for her iconic portrayal of Irene Roberts on Home and Away. A fixture on Australian screens for more than 30 years, Lynne became the longest-serving female cast member of any Australian television drama in 2014, cementing her status as a true TV icon. In 2025, after more than three decades on the series, Lynne made the difficult decision to farewell the much loved character and embark on an exciting new chapter in her career.

That same year, Lynne was awarded the prestigious Logie Awards Gold Logie and Silver Logie for Best Actress in a Drama, recognising her extraordinary contribution to Australian television and her enduring connection with audiences nationwide.

Born and raised in Sydney, Lynne originally trained as a primary school teacher, graduating from the Riverina College of Advanced Education in 1975. During her studies, she also won the college’s Best Actress award at the annual drama festival, an early sign of the successful performing career ahead. After several years of teaching, Lynne chose to pursue acting full-time and quickly established herself as a versatile performer across television, theatre, cabaret and musicals.

Beyond drama, Lynne has become a familiar and much-loved face across Australian entertainment television. She was runner-up on Dancing with the Stars on the Seven Network and regularly appeared as a guest host on The Daily Edition. In 2019, she starred alongside some of Australia’s favourite leading ladies in the television special Ladies Night. During the COVID lockdowns, Lynne turned her focus to writing, releasing her memoir Acting Up through Echo Publishing in 2021.

In 2026, Lynne returns to our screens in the brand-new series SHARK on Channel 9, appearing alongside five other well-known Australian personalities.

In 2024, Lynne stepped away briefly from Home and Away to star in the hit comedy musical The Grandparents Club, reprising the role again in 2025. She returns to the Club from November as ‘Christmas in the Grandparents Club tours along the East Coast.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).

The darkest, funniest and most debauched kabarett star East of Berlin. 

Bernie Dieter has cemented herself as one of the standout cabaret artist of her generation “when it comes to cabaret, few can match the decadence, and brilliance, of Bernie Dieter” (The Herald, UK). 

She has stunned, aroused and terrified audiences from Berlin to Hong Kong with her gin-soaked lascivious charm, blending dangerously funny original songs, sequins and satire with a cut-throat wit, and a deviant eye for debaucherous mayhem! The Queen of Weimar punk kabarett can mesmerise with a hauntingly beautiful ballad one moment and bring the house down with raucous laughter the next.

Born in Köln, Germany she grew up listening to her Oma’s (Grandmother) many stories of life in a travelling circus in East Germany and the time her family smuggled her into the West, in a caravan hidden under piles of sequinned costumes. Inspired by the Weimar republic’s dens of iniquity, gender bending sexual freedom and celebration of difference at a time of political turmoil, Bernie is a world-class example of a modern Weimar kabarett diva, in all of her dangerously satirical, gin-drinking, promiscuous glory.

Bernie has performed for sold out audiences from London’s West End as the host of infamous Olivier Award Winning variety show ‘La Clique’ to the Melbourne Art Centre. Toured shows around Europe, created mayhem in Spiegeltents all over Australia. She’s headlined BBC’s TV show “Live at the Electric” appeared on ABC Australia, and NBC America and has been heard on the airwaves of BBC 1,2 & 4, and has toured her acclaimed solo show ‘Weimar Punk’ to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

She has taken the world by storm with her notorious variety shows Little Death Club, Berlin Underground and Club Kabarett, winning a string of awards and phenomenal critical acclaim. Bernie’s shows have sold out seasons in London’s West End, Sydney, Japan, Budapest and Auckland to name a few. 

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett plays Carriageworks Sydney from October 8th to November 8th.

The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).