Head Office Staff | Childrens Performing Company of Australia

Patrick Conlan, Founding Director
Patrick Conlan founded the VYT in 1984 to offer students with an interest in the performing arts the opportunity to develop both personal and performing skills. An experienced performer and director, Patrick has had an extensive theatrical career, working alongside many of Australia's leading artists, including Dennis Olsen, June Bronhill, Barry Crocker, Denise Drysdale and Norman Yemm. Patrick has directed countless productions for the Victorian Youth Theatre, in addition to many professional, amateur and school productions.

Robert Coates, Director of Production

Robert Coates began working for the CPCA in 1995. His directorial credits include ‘Rags’, ‘Joseph’s Dreamcoat’, ‘Oliver!’, ‘Man of La Mancha’, ‘Star-Cross’d Lovers’, ‘Godspell’ and all of the YABC Gala Concerts at the National Theatre. Other productions include ‘Back to Bacchus’ (musical director/associate director - Tours of Europe ‘97 and USA ‘99, World Tour 2002, 2004 & 2006) , ‘What a Circus’ (Adelaide Fringe ‘98) and ‘Once On This Island’ (Adelaide Fringe 2010). Robert has directed the world premiere of ‘Devil’s Snuffbox’, the Victorian premiere of ‘The World Goes Round’ (Victorian Music Theatre Guild nomination - Best Director) ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Big River’ and ‘Guys & Dolls’. In 2006 he directed the world premiere season of the Bryant/Frank musical, ‘The Silver Donkey’ which also toured the USA.

Eileen Dunn, Director of Operations
Eileen Dunn commenced her career as a teacher before pursuing her interest in arts administration with the Victorian Youth Theatre. As general manager, Eileen has coordinated rehearsals, workshops and performances for the many thousands of students who have graduated through the ranks of CPCA. As tour and production manager, Eileen has overseen three national and five international Performance Tours, including the CPCA World Tour 2004 of Singapore, Italy, France and England.

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Management Staff

Stephen Game, Business Improvement Manager

Bio coming soon.

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Senior Production Staff

Mathew Frank, Head of Music
Mathew Frank is a graduate of Music Theatre (WAAPA). With writing partner Dean Bryant he composed the musicals ‘Prodigal’ (off-Broadway season, York Theatre Company, Green Room Award – Best Score), ‘Virgins’ (Malthouse, New York, Victorian tour), ‘The People in Your Pocket’ (Centenary of Federation tour, Sydney tour), ‘All Roads Lead to Home’ (Melbourne International Arts Festival) and ‘Once We Lived Here’ (Playbox workshop). They wrote ‘The Silver Donkey’, based on the award-winning book, which toured America in 2006. For the Melbourne Theatre Company, Mathew was Associate Music Director of ‘Urinetown’, ‘The Sapphires’ and ‘25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ (2006 production and the Sydney Theatre Company season). JAY records released the American cast recording of ‘Prodigal’ and ‘Virgins’, both available on Amazon.com.

Jacqui Green, Head of Dance
Jacqui Green is one of Australia’s leading choreographers, adjudicators, dancers and dance teachers. As a choreographer and dancer, Jacqui’s credits include The Don Lane Show, The Ronnie Corbett Show, The Midday Show, The AFI Awards and The Logie Awards. Jacqui played the leading role of Cassie in the 1990s national tour of ‘A Chorus Line’ (Mo Award Nomination), and has also appeared in productions of ‘Funny Girl’, ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘Hello Dolly’ and ‘Cabaret’. Directorial credits include a tour of Asia and New Zealand as the resident director of ‘Joseph’s Dreamcoat’ for the Really Useful Group. As choreographer for ‘Back to Bacchus’, Jacqui toured with the CPCA World Tour 2002.

Beth Thomson, Head of Drama
Beth has a long association with the CPCA. She trained with the YABC for six years, appearing in many productions including the 1999 USA Tour. She has worked for the organisation for the past seven years including the 2002 and 2008 World Tour, in the former she toured as Dance Captain and in 2010 was Tour Director for ‘The BFG’ (Adelaide Fringe Festival). She has a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education from Monash University where she majored in drama and psychology; a postgraduate certificate in applied business; and a Certificate IV in workplace training and assessment. She has taught drama and dance to primary aged children for several years and has been the Head of Performing Arts at Westbreen Primary School. For two and a half years Beth was Communications Manager for Networking World and she has written two books on how to bring drama into the classroom.

Emily Devlin, Head of Beginners OnStage

Emily grew up in Tasmania where she trained in classical voice and ballet. She completed her Bachelor of Arts (Music Theatre) from the University of Ballarat in 2003 and has since been lucky enough to perform with leading Melbourne companies such as Oz Opera, Melbourne Opera, Devanesen Productions and the Entertainment Store. Upon moving to Melbourne in 2004, Emily joined the CPCA as a music and dance director. Emily holds a Graduate Diploma in Education (Music and Drama) from Melbourne University, and teaches singing across several Melbourne high schools. Emily has been head of Beginners OnStage since 2009.

Tony Nikolakopoulos, Principal Guest Director
Tony Nikolakopoulos is a leading Australian director and actor. He has played major roles in the feature films ‘The Wannabes’, ‘Head On’, ‘The Director’ and ‘The Wog Boy’, performed onstage in ‘Courtyard of Miracles’ (State Theatre Co of SA), ‘The Wog Story’ (National Tour) and ‘Roulette’ (Adelaide Festival, Company B Belvoir, Portugal and Melbourne) and was producer/director of ‘The Last Proxy’ (National Tour). Tony taught for many years at Deakin University, Rusden, where he also completed his Bachelor of Education. Tony has directed countless productions for the VYT, including the Adelaide Fringe and USA Touring production of ‘A Well Spun Yarn’.

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Talent Company of Australia Team

Nerissa Jayasingha, Senior Talent Agent

Nerissa completed her Arts degree in Music Theatre Performance in 2005, at The Academy: University of Ballarat. After moving to Sydney in 2006, she completed the Advanced Diploma in Events & Music Management, at Julius Media College, and worked on many professional musicals, special events and awards nights. She has worked in various areas in the industry from ticketing to production, events and artist management. Nerissa has now moved back to Melbourne after working as an Associate Agent for a theatrical agency in Sydney, joining the Talent Company as Senior Talent Agent.

Ally Reynolds, Associate Talent Agent

Ally is a long-standing member of the team after joining in 1998 and enjoying many successful years as a student. Ally is a weekly rehearsal director, teaching YABC and Beginners On Stage, in addition to her role as Associate Talent Agent with the TCA, where she began in 2007 as Senior Agent. Ally also holds a Certificate 4 in Dance from the Dance Factory and her bubbly personality and smile light up the office and rehearsal venues alike! Ally's other projects include reviewing key events in the city, which can be found on her blog http://meanwhileinmelbourne.wordpress.com/

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PR & Marketing Team

Nick Boffa, PR & Marketing
Nick is a new addition to the CPCA and joined the team in February 2010. He is in the final throes of a Commerce degree with a double major in Management-Marketing and, along with Emily and Steve, hopes to guide the marketing strategy of the CPCA to new heights. In his spare time, Nick enjoys surfing, photography, travelling, sport and writing. He also holds a Diploma of Modern Languages (Italian) and is a fanatical Carlton and Liverpool supporter.

Emily Frawley, PR & Marketing
Emily joined the CPCA in 2010 after completing a Bachelor of Arts at The University of Melbourne. She finished her undergraduate degree with a double major in Creative Writing and Italian. Emily also took several theatre studies subjects and was a member of the University of Melbourne Musical Theatre Association (UMMTA), and was secreatry for Queen's College Music and Drama Society (MADS) . Currently she is completing a Masters of Arts Management at RMIT.

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Administration Team

Madeleine Dunn, Finance Administrator
Madeleine joined the CPCA in 1993 and performed in numerous productions as well as two international tours (Europe '97 & Singapore/Disneyland '02). She completed a Bachelor of Arts in 2008 at Monash University. Madeleine began working for the CPCA as the Venue Manager of the western suburbs in 2004. She now works at the head office and is the Finance Administrator.

Seth Rintoule, Office Administrator

A former student, Seth trained with CPCA for nine years, appearing in countless plays including ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (Puck) and ‘Rhinoceres’, two seasons at the National Theatre playing Seymour from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, Emcee from ‘Cabaret’, and two international performance tours (USA ‘96 & Europe ‘04). Seth has appeared in several television commercials and a guest role on Crash Zone. Since 2003, Seth has been working full-time at the CPCA head office as Administrator and IT support. He began teaching at the CPCA in 2005 and was Associate Tour Director for the 2008 USA Tour.

Jacqui Thomson, Operations Manager
Bio coming soon...

Reuben Liversidge, Administrative Assistant

Reuben was a student with CPCA for six years and is currently studying for his BA in Theatre and Cinema. He had a leading role in two seasons of the TV series Round The Twist and roles in Neighbours and Blue Heelers. Reuben's theatre credits ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream' and ‘Macbeth’ during the Adelaide Fringe Festival, as well as the Victorian productions of ‘Rupture’, ‘The Eggman Cometh’, ‘Baby’ and ‘Boxed-In’. He was recently co-director, choreographer and vocal coach at Viewbank College's production of ‘Crazy For You’.

Renee Burns, HR

Bio coming soon...

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Wardrobe Production Team

Jennifer McKenzie, Head of Wardrobe

Jennifer is a graduate of Swinburne's Diploma of Entertainment in Costume. She has worked on major film, TV and stage productions such as ‘Charlotte's Web’, ‘MacBeth’, ‘The Lion King’, ‘Nightmare & Dreamscapes’ and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Jennifer also creates the costumes for CPCA's international tours, including the 2006 World Tour season of ‘The Silver Donkey’.

Alicia Haggar, Wardrobe Assistant

Alicia has been with the CPCA for over ten years and has appeared in many National Theatre Gala shows, playing solo roles in ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’, ‘Cats’ and ‘Crazy For You’. She holds a Diploma in Dance and Performance (Dance Factory). Since then Alicia has appeared in ‘Neighbours’ and various events at Crown Casino. Choreography credits include ‘Footloose’ and ‘Billy Liar’. Stage credits include ‘Shrek’, ‘Madagascar’, ‘Freddo and Caramello’, ‘Silvester and Tweety Show’ and ‘Kung Foo Panda’ with Showtime Attractions.

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Venue Managers

Josh Allen, Venue Manager

Josh was a student with the Young Australian Broadway Chorus from 2001 to 2007 and was a member of the most advanced performing level, Triple Threat. Josh has appeared in numerous television shows including ‘Rush’, ‘Neighbours’, ‘The Elephant Princess’ and ‘City Homicide’.

Kate Conlan, Venue Manager

Kate joined the CPCA as a student in 2000, performing in numerous productions as part of the Young Australian Broadway Chorus until 2004. She was selected as part of the Top Arts 2008, in the category of Best Art 2008 VCE. Currently Kate is studying Nursing at ACU and began working for the CPCA in 2009.

Jan Dixon, Venue Manager

Photo and bio coming soon.

Dean Flanagan, Venue Manager

Dean Flanagan joined the Childrens Performing Company in 1991. During his time as a student he performed in numerous CPCA productions including two international performance tours (USA ’99 and Europe ’02). Dean performed in the premier of ‘48 Hours’ at the Mechanic’s Institute for Melrose Misplaced. Dean was Co-Director/Producer for Mooroolbark College’s ‘Bye Bye Birdie’, ‘Away’ and ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’. Dean has worked for the CPCA for many years in various roles and currently works as a Venue Manager.

Chris Kapiniaris, Venue Manager

Photo and bio coming soon.

Kellie-Anne Kimber, Venue Manager

Photo and bio coming soon.

Lene Kristensen, Venue Manager

Lene has years of management experience in a range of fields as diverse as publishing, video production and foreign affairs. Lene was Project Manager for the Danish Trade Commision from 1999-2005, where she assisted with organization of the official tour of Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik and was the live-to-air commentator for the Danish Royal Wedding. Lene is currently writing her first novel.

Scott Santinon, Venue Manager

Scott has worked as a technician and manager in the live events industry for the past six years and has a long association with the CPCA. Scott is the Managing Director of Prodigy Events and is a qualified St. John Ambulance First Responder. Scott is also currently completing a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at Monash University and has travelled to Italy to study criminology and forensic psychology.

Rory Thomson-Ball, Venue Manager

Rory was a student with CPCA's drama course, the Victorian Youth Theatre, for ten years spending all of his time in the programme’s most advanced performing level groups. In his time with the company he performed in countless plays including ‘Icon Images’, ‘Romeo & Juliet’ (Romeo), ‘School for Scandal’ (Joseph Surface), ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ (Puck) and Ionesco's ‘The Killing Game’. In 2004, Rory was a member of CPCA's International Tour to the USA. Professionally, Rory has appeared on television in ‘Blue Healers’, ‘Last Man Standing’ and numerous TV commercials including ‘Heinz Tomato Sauce’, ‘Honda Civic’, ‘Worksafe’ and ‘GE Money’.

David Venn, Venue Manager

David has trained with the CPCA since 2001 (Triple Threat 06-08) and in classical voice. Performance credits include ‘Oliver!’ (IMG - Regent Theatre), ‘Oklahoma’ (Her Majesty’s), ‘Summer Heights High’ (ABC), ‘You and Your Stupid Mate’, ‘Last Man Standing’, ‘Grease’, ‘Last Night of The Proms’, ‘Retrospect’ (JTC - Rod Laver Arena), ‘Melbourne Gangshow’, ‘Laugh Out Loud’ and ‘The Silver Donkey’ (CPCA Tour 08). David has also represented the Victorian Government as a vocalist at many live events including the Commonwealth Games launch, education galas and official ceremonies. He is currently studying Arts at Monash University and is the assistant production director for ‘Melbourne Gangshow’.

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