The Actor’s Life: Building and Sustaining a Career with Anthony Brandon Wong, Queenie van de Zandt and Darren Gilshenan

Host(s)

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  Anthony Brandon Wong

  Anthony Brandon Wong is a multi-award winning actor who for more than 40 years has worked in film, television and theatre around the world. His screen credits include: The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, The Twelve S2, The Family Law (3 time Equity Ensemble Award winner), Queen of Oz, NCIS, Glee, Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, Guns, Girls and Gambling (opposite Gary Oldman and Christian Slater), Hemingway and Gellhorn (opposite Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen) and Little Fish (opposite Cate Blanchett). Anthony is also one of Australia’s most in-demand acting teachers and coaches, who has mentored thousands of actors at NIDA, WAAPA, Actors Centre Australia, 16th Street Actors Studio, ATYP, QUT, TrueScreen and The Warehouse Workshop.
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  Queenie van de Zandt

  Queenie van de Zandt is a towering force in the world of Australian musical theatre, cabaret, and comedy. She has the unique ability in all her work to make people feel deeply, and to awaken laughter, empathy and awareness in equal measure.Her ability to seamlessly transition between various genres of entertainment sets her apart as a truly versatile performer, with a career spanning musical theatre, plays, cabaret, recording, film, and television, as well as acclaimed work as a comedian, writer, and arts educator.Her career highlights include: on television: Upright II (Foxtel/BINGE), Safe Home (SBS), The Newsreader - Seasons 1, 2 & 3, Very Small Business and Da Kath & Kim Code (ABC), and Five Bedrooms (Network 10); in theatre: Face to Face (STC), Women of Troy (Malthouse/STC), Rabbit Hole, Absent Friends and Abigail’s Party (Ensemble Theatre), Secret Bridesmaid’s Business and After January (La Boite) and The Road to the She-Devil’s Salon (QTC); on film: Scooby Doo and Girl Clock; in musical theatre: Next to Normal (James Terry Collective), Thoroughly Modern Millie (TDP), Into the Woods (Victorian Opera), Follies (Storeyboard Entertainment), Funny Girl (SSO), King Kong Live on Stage (Global Creatures), The Full Monty (IMG/David Atkins) and Oliver (Cameron Mackintosh/IMG); and in cabaret - Smoke & Mirrors (Sydney, Melbourne and Edinburgh Festivals), Moments in the Woods, BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell, CABARET - In 12 Easy Steps, and The Best (and Worst) of Queenie van de Zandt (Adelaide Cabaret Festival).As the driving force behind her boutique production house, Amazon Woman Enterprises, Queenie has: released 5 albums(Amazon Woman, Queenie van de Zandt – Live in Cabaret, Other Stories..., Singing & Vocal Warm Up Exercises and her new album coming out soon - BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell - Live); created award-winning theatre shows such as her multi-award-winning show BLUE: The Song of Joni Mitchell which has toured throughout Australia and internationally; and created a cult-following for her comedy alter-ego, Jan van de Stool, twice co-hosting The Helpmann Awards (Foxtel/ABC), and performing in Jan’s multi-award-winning comedy show I GET THE MUSIC IN YOU, an evening with Jan van de Stool (MICF) and most recently performing her newest show Jan van de Stool in PARTING THE RED CURTAINS at the Brisbane and Sydney Comedy Festivals.Queenie’s newest venture is the creation of Middle Raged, a bold, hilarious and empowering theatre show, co-written and co-produced with her best friend and longtime collaborator Tiffany Noack. Premiering with a short tour in mid-2026 with a national tour planned for 2027, the work is built from hundreds of real stories shared by middle-aged women across Australia and features music by Missy Higgins, Gillian Cosgriff, Laura Murphy, Tim Minchin and Sia.Beyond her performance work, for over two decades, Queenie has also been recognized as one of Australia's most respected arts educators, and in 2015, after holding teaching positions at NIDA, VCA & Federation University in Ballarat, she co-founded The Australian Musical Theatre Academy (AMTA). AMTA brings together top-tier industry professionals to give gifted students the tools to live creative, passionate and fulfilling lives. Queenie has been called a “star-maker” in the media due to the high success rate of children and adults who, having learned her unique audition technique, go on to gain entry to acting schools and be cast in professional musicals. AMTA’s and Queenie’s former students have played lead roles in shows such as: Annie, Pretty Woman, Beetlejuice, The Lion King, Book of Mormon, Wicked, Chicago, Beauty & the Beast, Frozen, Dear Evan Hansen, TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, Wicked, & Juliet, and RENT, to name just a few recent ones.With a lifelong passion for social justice and equality, and as a true champion of the arts who joined Actors Equity, MEAA in her very first professional show in 1989, Queenie has become a powerful advocate for performing artists, sexual assault survivors and refugees throughout Australia’s arts and social justice landscape, amplifying voices that are too often unheard.Drawing on all this wealth of experience, Queenie infuses every venture with clear, engaging communication, boundless passion for the arts and humanity, an inviting warmth, and her brilliantly infectious humour.With a staggering 22 award nominations and 9 well-deserved wins under her belt, Queenie van de Zandt's talent continues to be recognized with each new achievement. To stay connected with her latest projects and performances on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok follow @QueenievdZandt | @JanvandeStool | @AMTAcademy.
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  Darren Gilshenan

  After graduating from NIDA in 1988, Darren began his career in musical theatre before spending 10 years with The Bell Shakespeare Company. He followed this up with three years on the sketch comedy Full Frontal, and along with starring in high-profile roles on Australian television.Darren’s television credits include: Fortitude Valley (ABC/Moving Floor Entertainment), Gnomes (Total Fiction/ Stan/ Disney + UK/ AMC Spain & Portugal), Two Years Later (Hoodlum/Paramount Plus), Sunny Nights (Stan, Jungle Entertainment), Ten Pound Poms S2 (BBC, Stan), Bay of Fires S2 (Fremantle), Thou Shalt Not Steal (Stan), Colin from Accounts S1-3 (Easy Tiger Productions/ Bing/ BBC UK/Paramount Plus USA), Population 11 (Stan), Nautilus (Disney+), Upright S2 (Lingo Pictures), Darby and Joan (Acorn), Joe vs. Carole (NBC, Matchbox Pictures), Troppo (Playmaker, EQ Media, Beyond), The Science of Harrow S1-2 (Hoodlum Productions), Harrow S1-3 (Hoodlum Productions), Stateless (ABC, Matchbox Pictures), How To Stay Married S1-3 (Princess Productions, Network Ten), Get Krack!n S2 (ABC), No Activity S1 (US Version) (Jungle Entertainment), True Story with Hamish and Andy (Nine Network), Here Come the Habibs! S1-2 (Jungle Entertainment), No Activity S1-2 (Jungle Entertainment), Maximum Choppage (Matchbox Pictures), The Killing Field (Seven Network), Devils Playground (Matchbox Pictures), The Moodys (Jungle Entertainment), Rake S3 (ABC), The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting (Jungle Entertainment), Janet King (ABC), Top of the Lake (See-Saw Films), A Moody Christmas (Jungle Entertainment) and Chandon Pictures S1-2 (Movie Extra).Darren’s film credits include Audrey, Take My Hand, A Savage Christmas, The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race, Carnifex, Never Too Late, June Again, Dying for a Laugh, A Few Less Men, Women He’s Undressed directed by Gillian Armstrong, Save Your Legs and Dark City. He also starred in the web series Plausible Deniability produced by Random Pictures. For his work he won Best Actor at IndieX Film Festival. The web series also won the Outstanding Achievement: Best Web Series / TV Pilot at IndieX Film Festival.Darren most recently starred in Job at Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre. Other select theatre credits include Hamlet (fortyfivedownstairs), The Caretaker (Ensemble Theatre), The Hypochondriac (Darlinghurst Theatre Co.), Who’s Afraid of Viginia Woolf? (Ensemble Theatre) for which he received a Best Actor nomination at the Sydney Theatre Awards, Tartuffe (Black Swan State Theatre Co.), Machu Picchu, Fool’s Island, Loot and Our Town (Sydney Theatre Company), Elling, Don Parties On (Melbourne Theatre Company), Mother and Son (national tour) and Strictly Ballroom: The Musical directed by Baz Luhrmann.Darren won the 2020 AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama Series for Stateless. He won the Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play for The Servant of Two Masters. The Moodys and A Moody Christmas both won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy at the 5th and 3rd Annual Equity Ensemble Awards respectively.