Cast & Creatives

STEVEN LEVENSON

Steven is a Tony Award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and television writer and producer. His plays include If I Forget, Core Values, Seven Minutes In Heaven, and The Language of Trees. He wrote the book for the musical, Dear Evan Hansen, which won six Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Musical, as well as the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. He co-created and executive produced the FX series “Fosse/Verdon,” which was nominated for seventeen Emmy Awards, including Best Limited Series and Best Writing for a Limited Series, as well as for Critics’ Choice Association and Producers Guild Awards, in addition to winning the Writers Guild Award and an AFI Award for Outstanding Series. Other honors include the OBIE Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and the John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award. He adapted Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…boom!, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, for Netflix. He is a graduate of Brown University.

BENJ PASEK & JUSTIN PAUL

Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek & Justin Paul are best known for their work on Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman. Their songs “City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land (with collaborator Justin Hurwitz) were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and “City of Stars” garnered both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture. Pasek & Paul won the 2018 Golden Globe for Best Original Song for “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman, which was also nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Original Song and most recently for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Upcoming projects include the live-action movie musicals Aladdin and Snow White at Disney, and an original animated musical at Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.

On Broadway they composed the score for the six-time Tony Award-winning Dear Evan Hansen, their highly acclaimed original musical for which they received an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award, and the Tony Award for Best Score.

Their albums for Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman appeared in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, the latter of which held the #1 spot for multiple weeks in a row. The Dear Evan Hansen Original Broadway Cast Recording won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and The Greatest Showman Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, which was recently nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, is certified Platinum in over a dozen countries, including Double Platinum in the US, Australia, and Taiwan, Triple Platinum in Ireland and Singapore, and Quadruple Platinum in the UK and Korea.

Pasek & Paul had their Broadway debut in 2012 with their Tony-nominated score for the Broadway musical A Christmas Story, an adaptation of the classic holiday film, further adapted into a live telecast for FOX in 2017. Their new song written for the telecast, “In the Market for a Miracle,” was nominated for the 2018 Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. In 2013, they contributed several songs to NBC’s Smash, and received great acclaim for their musical Dogfight which was awarded Off-Broadway’s highest honor, the Lucille Lortel Award for Best New Musical. Their earlier theater credits include the children’s musical James and the Giant Peach and the popular song cycle Edges. Pasek and Paul went on to receive a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Special Class – Short Format Daytime Program for the song “Unlimited,” featured in an Old Navy YouTube campaign. In 2017, the songwriting duo composed a song for the CW’s musical episode of The Flash, and also wrote “Get Back Up Again” for the DreamWorks animated film Trolls. Among their numerous honors, in 2007 they became the youngest winners ever of the famed Jonathan Larson Award for most promising musical theater songwriters.

Both are graduates of the University of Michigan Musical Theatre Program and currently serve on the Board of Directors for the Dramatists Guild Foundation.

DEAN BRYANT

Dean Bryant is an award-winning writer/director who recently won the Sydney Theatre Award for his direction of A Little Night Music (also Best Musical, Hayes Theatre) and steered the winner of Best New Australian Work, Lewis Treston’s Hubris & Humiliation (Sydney Theatre Company).

Recent credits include The Laramie Project (AAA/Tectonic), Candide (VO), Bloom (MTC), Giustino (Pinchgut), The Normal Heart (STCSA), Show People and It’s A Sin: Songs of Love and Shame (both Sydney Festival) and Fun Home (STC/MTC, Sydney Theatre and Green Room awards).

Dean was Associate Director at Melbourne Theatre Company 2016-2019 where his other credits include Torch the Place, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Lady in the Van, An Ideal Husband, Wild, Vivid White, Born Yesterday, Skylight, I’ll Eat You Last and Next to Normal. Other credits for Hayes Theatre include Merrily We Roll Along, Assassins, Little Shop of Horrors  (Sydney Theatre Award) and Sweet Charity (Helpmann Award). For Opera Australia, Two Weddings, One Bride and Anything Goes (and GFO) as well as directing for Darlinghurst Theatre, Red Stitch, VCA and The Production Company

With composer Mathew Frank he wrote Green Room Award-winning musicals Prodigal and Once We Lived Here, and Virgins: A Musical Threesome, The Silver Donkey, songs for Mr & Mrs Murder and, with Sheridan Harbridge, an adaptation of My Brilliant Career which premieres at MTC this year. Dean created many solo shows, including smash-hit Britney Spears: The Cabaret, as well as verbatim plays Gaybies and Well…That Happened and made his film directing debut with short Rhyme Time.

JEREMY ALLEN

Jeremy Allen is a designer for stage and screen.  He is a graduate of the NIDA Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and holds a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from the University of South Australia. Jeremy has worked with directors including: Shari Sebbens, Mitchell Butel, Dean Bryant, Alex Berlage, Priscilla Jackman, Zindzi Okenyo, Dino Dimitriadis, Jim Sharman, Warwick Doddrell, Jessica Arthur, Craig Baldwin, Constantine Costi, Anthea Williams.

His recent theatre designs include: for Sydney Theatre Company, FENCES, THE GOAT OR, WHO IS SYLVIA set (with State Theatre Company of South Australia), WHITE PEARL (co-produced by National Theatre of Paramatta, toured to Queensland Theatre, Canberra Theatre and the OzAsia Festival); for State Theatre Company of South Australia, THE NORMAL HEART; for Griffin Theatre Company, THE LEWIS TRILOGY, ORANGE THROWER; for Ensemble Theatre, SUMMER OF HAROLD, IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT LADY, SUMMER OF HAROLD; for The Hayes Theatre Co., A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC set, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG set, THE RISE & DISGUISE OF ELIZABETH R; for Red Line Productions, CLEANSED and ANGELS IN AMERICA set, 4:48 PSYCHOSIS; for Darlinghurst Theatre Company, SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS, SAVAGES; for Outhouse Theatre Co., GLORIA, JOHN;  for Pinchgut Opera, DIDO AND AENEAS, GIUSTINO, ORONTEA, THE LOVES OF APOLLO AND DAFNE set; for Sydney Chamber Orchestra, FUMEBLIND ORACLE, THE DIARY OF ONE WHO DISAPPEARED; for Kings Cross Theatre, IF WE GOT SOME MORE COCAINE I COULD SHOW YOU HOW I LOVE YOU and IRONBOUND set; for National Theatre of Paramatta, FLIGHT PATHS; for New Theatre, STUPID FUCKING BIRD.

View Jeremy’s work at jeremyallendesign.com

ISABEL HUDSON

Isabel Hudson is an award-winning set and costume designer. Isabel holds a Bachelor of Design from NIDA and a Bachelor of Arts (Screen and Sound) from the University of New South Wales.  She is a lecturer at NIDA in Design for Performance.

Design credits include: A FOOL IN LOVE, CONSTELLATIONS, HUBRIS AND HUMILIATION (Sydney Theatre Company); TORCH THE PLACE set (Melbourne Theatre Company); MASTER CLASS (Ensemble Theatre); JAILBABY, PONY (Griffin Theatre Company); BLESSED UNION, WINYANBOGA YURRINGA, EVERY BRILLIANT THING (Belvoir); MAUREEN: HARBINGER OF DEATH (Sydney Festival/Rising Festival); YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN set, AMERICAN PSYCHO set (Hayes Theatre Co); THE MOUSETRAP costume (Crossroads Live).

For Global Creatures Isabel is associate set designer for MOULIN ROUGE Australia, Korea and Japan; for Opera Australia, Isabel was assistant designer for MERRY WIDOW and MY FAIR LADY; and for Sydney Theatre Company, she was associate designer on FUN HOME directed by Dean Bryant.

Isabel has won four Sydney Theatre Awards for her outstanding designs; best set design for CONSTELLATIONS, AMERICAN PSYCHO, and CRY-BABY, and best costume design for HUBRIS AND HUMILIATION. She also won an APDG award for best set design for AMERICAN PSYCHO.  Nominations include: an APDG Award for best set design, and two more Sydney Theatre Award nominations for best set design. She was awarded the Kristian Fredrikison Scholarship in 2022 and The Thelma Afford Award for Costume Design in Stage and Screen in 2022.

MATT SCOTT

Matt is one of Australia’s leading lighting designers with 30 years’ experience in theatre performance industry designing more than 300 productions for Theatre, Opera, Dance and Music Theatre. Based in Melbourne, Australia he has worked for majority of Australia’s leading performing arts companies including Sydney Theatre Company. Opera Australia, Belvoir Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, Qld Ballet, Opera Queensland, Malthouse Theatre, Victorian Opera, State Opera of South Australia, West Australian Opera as well. His work has also been seen overseas with notable productions touring to the US, UK, Europe, New Zealand, and Japan. He has collaborated with a varied list of directors, choreographers, and designers across all performance genres. His work is regularly recognized both within the industry and in the media for its atmosphere, attention to detail and collaborative empathy. His most recent work includes Medea, Drizzle Boy (Queensland Theatre); Jacky, The Heartbreak Choir, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Shakespeare in Love (Melbourne Theatre Company); Fun Home (Sydney Theatre Company /Melbourne Theatre Company) Candide, The Who’s Tommy and Parsifal (Victorian Opera). Matt recently received a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Lighting Design of a Mainstage Production for Fun Home. He has also received two Helpmann Awards for Best Lighting Design and one Green Room Award for Best Design for an Opera. He is currently a Lecturer in Production (Lighting Design) at the University of Melbourne (Victorian College of the Arts).

ANDREW POPPLETON

Andrew has spent numerous decades working within the events and theatre industry in Australia and Internationally. Andrew’s recent experience includes: as Assistant Sound Designer: Rocky Horror Show West End/Live Broadcast (Gareth Owen Sound); as Australian Associate Sound Designer: The Rocky Horror Show (Crossroads Live); as Production Sound Engineer: &Juliet (Michael Cassel Group), Tina – The Tina Turner Musical (TEG Dainty), Chicago: The Musical (Crossroads Live).

Andrew has also had significant experience on other productions in Australia and around the world as Production Sound Engineer. Selected credits include: Hamilton (International Tour; Michael Cassel Group), The Lehman Trilogy (Australian Tour; National Theatre), SIX (Australian Tour; Louise Withers) Mary Poppins (Australian Tour; Cameron Mackintosh & Michael Cassel Group), Frozen (Disney Theatrical Australia), and Miss Saigon (Opera Australia & GWB).

DAVID BERGMAN

David is an award-winning composer, video and sound designer for theatre, dance, opera, installation and film.

David’s theatre credits include video designer for the ground-breaking productions of STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE, and THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY for Sydney Theatre Company for which he won a Sydney Theatre Award for best Stage Design of a Mainstage Production and which toured to London’s West End and won 2 Olivier Awards in 2024.

For Victorian Opera and Opera Australia, David designed video for Opera Australia and Victorian Opera’s acclaimed production of IDOMENEO which tours to San Francisco Opera in 2025. Other projects in 2024 include: video design for The Opera Conference’s production of RUSALKA (West Australian Opera, Opera Australia, State Opera of South Australia and Queensland Opera); video designer for The Australian Ballet’s new ballet OSCAR; video designer for DEAR EVAN HANSEN produced by Michael Cassell Group and Sydney Theatre Company; and video designer for Bangarra Dance Company’s new dance work KULKA.

David was video designer for Sydney Chamber Opera’s BREAKING GLASS and Musica Viva’s national tour of WINTER’S JOURNEY. Other design for Sydney Theatre Company includes: sound design for PLAYING BEATIE BOW, video and sound design for A CHEERY SOUL and THE WHARF REVUE (from 2009-2018); and video design for JULIUS CAESAR, MURIEL’S WEDDING: THE MUSICAL, THE HANGING, THE EFFECT and THE LONG WAY HOME.  For Griffin, David was sound designer for GREEN PARK for which he won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Sound Design of a Mainstage Production; composer and sound designer for SUPERHEROES; and composer, sound and video designer for FIRST LOVE IS THE REVOLUTION for which he was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award. For Bell Shakespeare, David was the sound designer for TWELFTH NIGHT and THE LOVERS. For Belvoir, he was composer and sound designer for SCENES FROM THE CLIMATE ERA, sound designer for INTO THE WOODS, video designer for BLUE, sound designer on AT WHAT COST?.  David designed video and sound for Soft Tread’s national tour of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PAUL including for State Theatre Company of South Australia. For the Sydney Opera House, David was the sound designer for RENT. For Bangarra Dance Company, David was video designer for KULKA, SANDSONG, SPIRIT and KNOWLEDGE GROUND.  For Monkey Baa Theatre, David was video designer for POSSUM MAGIC and THE PEASANT PRINCE and sound designer for JOSEPHINE WANTS TO DANCE.

Other credits include: for Ensemble, composer and sound designer for MEMORY OF WATER; for Seymour Centre, composer, sound and video designer for MUSEUM OF MODERN LOVE, composer and sound designer for MADE TO MEASURE; for Darlinghurst Theatre Co, composer and sound designer for MAGGIE STONE; for NIDA, composer and sound designer for SALEM and ANOTHER COUNTRY; for Hayes Theatre Co, sound and video designer for MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, sound designer for DUBBO CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING, THE RISE AND DISGUISE OF ELIZABETH R., CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and SPRING AWAKENING (ATYP).

David is a National Institute of Dramatic Art graduate and now teaches at NIDA.

SHANNON BURNS

Shannon Burns is an Australian creative specialising in choreography and movement direction across opera, theatre, film, television, and major events.

In Opera, Shannon has worked on high-profile productions with Opera Australia, choreographing HOSH La Traviata on Sydney Harbour (2021) and Carmen on Cockatoo Island (2022). She was Movement Director for Victorian Opera’s Melbourne Cheremushki (2023) and Assistant Director for Il Tabarro, a co-production between Sydney Festival and Victorian Opera (2024). Internationally, she choreographed Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire for the Berlin Philharmonic at the Kammermusiksaal, Berlin (2024). She has worked extensively with Pinchgut Opera, making her directorial debut with the company on Pleasures of Versailles (2023) and creating choreography and movement for Dido and Aeneas (2024), Giustino (2023), Orontea (2022), Platée (2021) and the award winning film A Delicate Fire (2020).

Her theatre choreography credits include Ride the Cyclone (2024), A Little Night Music (2023), and Murder For Two (2023) for Hayes Theatre Co. A Kurt Weill double bill of The Seven Deadly Sins and Mahagonny Songspiel (2022) for Red Line Productions and Ratburger (2024) for CDP Theatre Producers.

Shannon choreographed Inferno (2023) The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Send For Nellie (2024) Sydney Festival. Her work on large-scale events includes choreography for the Netball World Cup Opening Ceremony (2015) and she was a choreographic team member for the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup Opening Ceremony (2020) with Newground Collective and The Michael Cassel Group.

Before transitioning to choreography, Shannon had an extensive dance career in stage, film, television, and major events. She trained in ballet at the Queensland Dance School of Excellence and in Performing Arts at ED5INTERNATIONAL. Shannon’s diverse experience and innovative approach make her a sought-after talent in the performing arts world.

LAURA TIPOKI

Laura Tipoki is a proud Maori and mother and was raised in a very musical family. She is a highly
sought after musician, conductor and Music Director throughout Australasia. Laura was Music
Director of the Australian and New Zealand productions of Hamilton and is the Australian
Associate Music Supervisor for the International Tour and Sydney return season. Laura recently
made her conducting debut at the Sydney Opera House as Music Director for Cameron
Mackintosh’s Miss Saigon which then toured to Melbourne. Laura is Music Director for
Crossroads and RUG’s Australian Production of Jesus Christ Superstar and also OA and Jones’
upcoming production of Hadestown.

Laura worked as Music Director of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s School Of Rock throughout Australia
and then supervised the production into it’s China tour, the Australian tour of Wizard Of Oz
with Anthony Warlow, Julie Andrews’ My Fair Lady and Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Miserables
International Tour and Associate Music Director for the Australian tour. Other credits include
Wicked, Mary Poppins, Chicago, Love Never Dies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Dr Zhivago, as
keyboardist or Associate Music Director. Laura was Music Director for her sister Patrice Tipoki’s
debut album A Musical Heart. Laura was keyboardist on the Love Never Dies DVD recorded
and filmed in Melbourne in 2012.

Laura is thrilled to be Music Supervisor for Dear Evan Hansen.

LIAM MCILWAIN

Liam is thrilled to be working on Dear Evan Hansen.

Liam graduated from NIDA with a Master of Fine Arts (Directing). Recent credits include the Australian productions of Groundhog Day (Resident Director), Rent (Associate Director), Mary Poppins (Resident Director) and Come From Away (Resident Director & Choreographer).

From 2014 to 2019, Liam toured the world extensively with Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Misérables. He was Resident Director for productions in the USA, Canada, UAE, Singapore & Philippines; while also staging multiple productions in the UK, Japan and Brazil. Other directorial credits include And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens (NIDA), Me and the Sky (Music Video, NY Times), Catch Me If You Can (CQU), Les Misérables 30th Anniversary Gala (Toho, Tokyo) and Moving On – Telescreen (Music Video, Triple J). Liam was also Assistant Choreographer for Shakespeare in Love (MTC).

An advocate for improved mental health practices within the entertainment industry, Liam co-produced the benefit concert Out From Under. He was also founding co-chair of the MEAA Wellness Committee, a position he held for four years.

A past performer, Liam appeared in many theatrical productions across Australia and internationally. These included Les Misérables, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Pirates of Penzance, Gypsy, Mary Poppins, High School Musical, Shout!, Cats, Dusty, Sunset Boulevard, Grease – The Arena Spectacular, Saturday Night and Bye Bye Birdie.

ZARA STANTON

Zara Stanton (she/her) is an award-winning Music Director, Composer, Arranger and Performer. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Most recently, Zara has been Music Supervisor/Vocal Arranger/Orchestrator for the UK premiere of FANGIRLS at The Lyric Hammersmith. Zara’s previous work on FANGIRLS in Australia has yielded an ARIA award nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album, and a Green Room Award nomination for Best Music Direction.

Other credits as Music Director include Send For Nellie (Sydney Festival), BLOOM (Melbourne Theatre Company), The Boomkak Panto (Belvoir St. Theatre), Bonnie & Clyde (Joshua Robson Productions) and The Deb (Australian Theatre for Young People). Zara was also Associate Music Director for A Chorus Line (Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Sydney Opera House) and the Australian premiere of Choir Boy (National Theatre of Parramatta).

Zara is the Composer, Orchestrator and Music Director for Metropolis (Little Eggs Collective), which had its world premiere season at the Hayes Theatre in April 2023. For her work on the show, Zara received the Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Music Direction and Best Composition for an Independent Production.

Zara also earned a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Music Direction for the Hayes Theatre Co. production of HMS Pinafore.

Zara is incredibly passionate about promoting representation in musical theatre, particularly for artists of Asian heritage and for female and non-binary musicians and creatives.

ALEX LACAMOIRE

ALEX LACAMOIRE is a four-time Grammy, three-time Tony, three-time Olivier, and Emmy award winner for his work on Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, In The Heights, and FX’s mini-series Fosse/Verdon. Alex was also the recipient of a first-of-its-kind Kennedy Center Honors for his contribution to Hamilton. Other credits as music director, arranger, &/or orchestrator include: Sweeny Todd (2023 Broadway Revival), Bring It On, Wicked, Bat Boy, & Godspell. He served as the Executive Music Producer for the films: The Greatest Showman, In The Heights, VIVO, Dear Evan Hansen, & Tick, Tick…Boom!