Creatives
Neil Simon
Author
Neil Simon, born 4th July, 1927 in The Bronx, New York City, is widely regarded as the world’s most successful playwright. His career began as a radio and television comedy writer before his debut Broadway play Come Blow Your Horn. He has had dozens of plays and nearly as many major motion pictures produced, with his humorous stories often focused on the trials and tribulations of the middle class. Simon often used the stories and experiences of friends and family as inspiration. His most famous play, The Odd Couple, premiered in 1965 and went on to be become a hit movie and television series. He was married five times and the character of Felix was based on his older brother, Danny. He wrote more than 30 Broadway plays and musicals including Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple (original and female versions), Sweet Charity, Plaza Suite, Promises Promises, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Sunshine Boys, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Chapter Two, They’re Playing Our Song, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound, Lost in Yonkers and Rumours, along with such films as The Goodbye Girl, Murder by Death, The Out-of-Towners, and The Heartbreak Kid. He received 17 Tony nominations (winning three), a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Kennedy Centre Honours, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Comedy. In 1975 he was presented with a special Tony Award® for his contributions to theatre and, until recently, he was the only living playwright to have a Broadway theatre named in his honour. Simon died in New York City in 2018, aged 91.
Mark Kilmurry
Director
Ensemble Theatre: THE GREAT DIVIDE, MIDNIGHT MURDER AT HAMLINGTON HALL, BENEFACTORS, RHINESTONE REX AND MISS MONICA, BOXING DAY BBQ, A DOLL’S HOUSE, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, OUTDATED, KENNY, CRUNCH TIME, THE ODD COUPLE, THE LAST WIFE, MURDER ON THE WIRELESS, THE BIG TIME, THE NORMAN CONQUESTS, SHIRLEY VALENTINE, TAKING STEPS, NEVILLE’S ISLAND, TWO, ODD MAN OUT, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, BETRAYAL, GOOD PEOPLE, MY ZINC BED, EDUCATING RITA, ABSENT FRIENDS, OTHER DESERT CITIES, THE ANZAC PROJECT, RICHARD III, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, FRANKENSTEIN, MANAGING CARMEN, RED, THE SPEAR CARRIER and HAMLET. Film: Co-writer and co-director of BEING GAVIN. Literature Illustration: CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS. Awards: North Sydney Community Award.
Justin Nardella
Designer
Justin Nardella is a graduate of NIDA and an award winning multidisciplinary designer working in set, costume and video for live events. Set & Video Designer: Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show (Round House London and International Touring), Priscilla The Party (London, Co-Designer Brian Thomson). Set, Costume & Video Designer: Metamorphosis and Showmanism! (Ustinov Theatre Royal Bath), The Sugar House (Finborough Theatre). Set & Costume Designer: Engine Onegin (Buxton Festival), Acis and Galatea (ENO Studio Live), Le Grand Mort (Trafalgar Studios), Proud (Kings Head), Youth Without God (Coronet Theatre), The Tap Pack (Peacock Theatre), Depths of Dead Love (Coronet Theatre), Tender Napalm (Brisbane Festival), Where Do Little Birds Go? (Longsight Theatre), The Hunting of the Snark (RGM), Hansel and Gretel (Opera in Space), Before and After (STC), Silent Disco (Griffin Theatre Company), Orfeo (Brandenburg Orchestra). Set designer: Arcadia (Manchester International Festival), Songs For Nobodies (West End), La Traviata (Theatre Des Champs-Elysées, Co-Set Designer with Chloé Obolensky & Jean Kalman). Video Designer: Peter Grimes (Royal Opera House & Opera Garnier), Gianni Schicci (iSing Festivals Asia), La Bohéme (iSing Festivals Asia).
Associate Set Designer: War Requiem (ENO, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Liceu Opera Barcelona, associate to Wolfgang Tillmans),Tristan and Isolde (ENO, associate to Anish Kapoor ), King Lear (The Old Vic, associate to Deborah Warner & Jean Kalman), and The Testament Of Marie (Collaboration with designer Tom Pye for Comedie Français and Odeon Theatre, Paris).
Film: Production Designer: Andy X (Dir. Jim Sharman), Spoilers (Dir. Brendon McDonall), Could Be Bad MPV (Dir. Tom Noakes).
Events: Private Wedding (National Theatre), Brisbane Festival Launch, Van Clef & Arpels Private Event at Royal Opera House, GHD Hair Expo, GHD Hair Fashion Festival, Audi A8 Launch Sydney and Melbourne, Audi Lighthouse Sydney Launch, Cloud 9 Vogue Lunch, Shiseido 140 Years Anniversary Party Sydney, Southwark Charity Lord Mayors Ball, Sydney Film Festival Members Space.
Awards: APDG Award Winner – set design for Live Performance (Fashion Freak Show), OFFIE Winner – Costume Design (The Sugar House), BMW Young Artist Award. Nominations: UK THEATRE Best Design Nomination (Showmanism), OFFIE Nomination – Set Design and Video Design (Fashion Freak Show), OFFIE Award Nomination – Set Design (Where Do Little Birds Go?), / Bursaries / Grants: STAGE ONE Bursary for Producing, William Fletcher Design Grant and Arts Council England Development Grant for video design.
Trudy Dalgleish
Lighting Designer
One of Australia’s most sought-after lighting designers, Trudy Dalgleish’s awards include a Helpmann Award for White Devil (Best Lighting Design), an Entech Award for Best Lighting Designer (Live Events), the John Truscott Design Award for Excellence, and Green Room Awards for Eureka (Music Theatre Technical Design) and Hairspray (Best Lighting). Trudy has also been nominated for a Helpmann Award for Dead Man Walking and Green Room Awards for Orlando (Opera Australia), The Boy from Oz (Production Company) and The Cunning Little Vixen (Victorian Opera).
This year Trudy will design the lighting for the Australian tour of Grease (Crossroads Live) Eucalyptus (Victorian Opera), McMuffin Park for Ensemble Theatre and The World Of Wearable Art in Wellington, New Zealand for the third year .
Recent lighting designs include The Mousetrap (Crossroads Live), The Woman in Black (Ensemble Theatre), The World of Wearable Art (Wellington NZ), A Little Night Music (Victorian Opera), Cunning Little Vixen (Victorian Opera, WA Opera and SOSA), Macbeth (WA Opera), In the Heights (Hayes Theatre Co and Sydney Opera House), Cat Stevens’ Cat in an Attic tour (Australia and New Zealand) and Melba (Hayes Theatre Co).
Michael Waters
Sound Designer
Original sound designs include Grease, Mamma Mia!, Muriel’s Wedding, Fangirls, Hairspray, Shrek, The Woman In Black, My Fair Lady, Hugh Jackman’s Broadway to Oz, Doctor Zhivago, Saturday Night Fever, The Tap Pack (US Tour 2020), Dream Lover, Chess, The King And I; Anything Goes; The Time Machine; Ladies In Black, Atomic (Sydney & Off Broadway), Anthony Warlow with Faith Prince, We Will Rock You, Annie, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert and Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage. Operas include The Rabbits, Dead Man Walking, Orpheus In The Underworld, and Placido Domingo & Katherine Jenkins in Concert. Australian Associate Sound Design credits include Hamilton, The Lion King, Aladdin, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast and Jagged Little Pill.
Awards include Helpmann Award for Best Sound Design for Muriel’s Wedding, The King And I, The Woman In Black and Dusty – The Original Pop Diva; Green Room Awards for Best Sound Design for My Fair Lady and Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage; DAPA Award for Best Sound Design for Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (Italy).
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