Vicki Larnach, composer, lyricist and music producer studied classical and jazz piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Music Theatre Composition under Philip Seward of Chicago University. She was Musical Director for The Rocky Horror Show in Caracas and toured nationally as keyboard player for singer/actress Maria Conchita Alonso in South America. Vicki's four contemporary instrumental albums sell worldwide through iTunes and her CD Relax was featured as a cover mount on Family Circle Magazine selling 52,000 copies. She was a member of the ABC Advisory Panel for the 'SING' Publication and several of her children’s songs are published in the ABC catalogue. Her work has been described by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) as “very original… exciting for the listener.” Vicki is a member of AWG, APRA and AMCOS.
Jim Hare is a writer, producer and director. Musical Theatre is not new for Jim, who started performing in orchestra pits professionally at the age of 14. Having grown up seeing and studying every major show he possibly could, he now wants to bring some new and exciting aspects to the live stage. With film production credits that include The Matrix and The Great Gatsby, Jim's true passion lies in comedy, directing TV and film projects and composing music for Australian comedy greats such as Carl Barron, The Umbilical Brothers, Akmal and Kitty Flanagan, as well as international artists such as Wayne Brady, Jason Alexander and Stephen K. Amos. He also worked with other great Australian bands such as Crowded House, Silverchair, Delta Goodrem, Powderfinger and AC/DC. Jim received a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Electro-Acoustics and Film Scoring from San Jose State University, studying with Dan Wyman who helped create iconic musical scores for Apocalypse Now, Halloween and The Lawnmower Man.
Jay is an award-winning actor, director, writer and producer. He is the creator and Artistic Director of Squabbalogic Independent Music Theatre and was a founder of Sydney’s Hayes Theatre Co. Performance credits include The Book of Mormon, A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Smurfs Save Spring, Of Thee I Sing, Man Of La Mancha, Bye Bye Birdie, The Drowsy Chaperone (2014 Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Actor & Best Director), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Ordinary Days, A New Brain, [title of show] and Reefer Madness; A Year With Frog and Toad, The Kangaroo Gang, Magical Tales, The Venetian Twins,You're A Good Man Charlie Brown and Spelling Bee, Lucky Stiff, She Loves Me, and On The Twentieth Century, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Jerry Springer The Opera. Directing credits include Bring It On, The Original Grease, Grey Gardens, Hello, Dolly!, Triassic Parq, Man Of La Mancha (2015 GLUG Award, Best Musical), Bye Bye Birdie, Sondheim on Sondheim, The Drowsy Chaperone, Carrie, [title of show], Thrill Me, Forbidden Broadway, Reefer Madness, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Tick… Tick… BOOM!, The Great American Trailer Park Musical and LadyNerd.
Terence David John Pratchett grew up to become the UK's best-selling author of the 1990's and is known globally as the author of the Discworld fantasy novels, a series numbering 40 volumes. He was also a famous campaigner for Alzheimer’s research and for the human right to choose a 'good death’. Terry's collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, was published in May 1990. Late in 2007 the Costa Book Awards carried out a survey of the most re-read books, and Good Omens came fifteenth, ahead of The Bible and The Hitchhiker's Guide. During his life, Terry authored 59 books of which 52 were novels, and co-authored 30 more. 22 published stage adaptations, 8 television series, about 20 BBC radio adaptations and readings, 2 musicals, 4 graphic novels, and 4 TV documentaries have been based on Terry’s works. He passed away in his home with his cat sleeping on his bed, surrounded by his family on 12th March 2015.
Prolific author Neil Gaiman was born and raised in England and moved to the United States in 1992. He is well known as a master storyteller working in a variety of mediums who mixes modern reality with the fantastic. Gaiman began his career as a freelance journalist, later moving into many other areas of writing including graphic novels, screenplays, fiction, young adult novels, children's books and nonfiction. Gaiman's critically acclaimed graphic novel series, The Sandman, ran for 75 issues and sold over 30 million copies. His young adult novel Coraline was made into a feature-length stop-motion animated film and his novel Stardust later become one of the most beloved movies of all time. The many awards Gaiman has won give evidence of his talent and popularity. His young adult novel The Graveyard Book won the Newberry Medal. In 2009 Coraline won the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella and the 2OO2 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers. In 2000, The Sandman: The Dream Hunters won a Bram Stoker award for Best Illustrated Narrative. Issue #19 of The Sandman, entitled A Midsummer Night's Dream, won the 1991 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. His novel American Gods was most recently made into a major television series for Starz