Swings and Understudies: A Day in the Life of Music Theatre with Stephen Mahy, Shewit Belay, Julian Kuo and Ashton Lash

Host(s)

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  Stephen Mahy

  Stephen Mahy graduated from WAAPA in 2006 and was already cast in Cameron Mackintosh’s “Miss Saigon” Australian tour in 2007-2008. He has had an expansive career on stage with his credits including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Wedding Singer, Donating Felix, Electric Dreams, Jekyll and Hyde, The Beautiful Game, Mamma Mia, The Rocky Horror Show,Grease, Jersey Boys, Little Women, and Follies. He was most recently seen on screen in popular kids series, Barrumbi Kids. His other television credits include Love Ya. Not So Much, Spotlight, Mr & Mrs Murder, City Homicide, and Out of the Blue. In film he has appeared in the horror, Fragmentary, as well as short films such as Ava, Somewhere Between Now & Then, Repentance, Hoax, Abraxas Project, The Crate, Channelling the Echo,Warriors,What I See, and PerfTech
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  Ashton Lash

  Ashton’s professional debut was in the original Australian company of Hamilton in 2021 as a swing. From there, she worked her way up to be Dance Captain for the Australian & New Zealand tour from 2022-2023. Since then, she has continued on with her Hamilton journey and is currently a swing in the Hamilton International Tour.
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  Julian Kuo

  Julian Kuo is a multi-disciplinary performer from Sydney, Australia. Working professionally since the age of 11, he has worked in Opera, Contemporary Music, Cabaret and Musical Theatre. He is also a passionate music educator, working privately, for The Arts Unit, The Australian Performing Arts Grammar School, amongst others. Kuo holds a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus) majoring in Musical Theatre from The Australian Institute of Music (AIM), graduating in 2010. Julian has produced and starred in several Cabarets including Broadway Bard(Written and dir. Melvyn Morrow) and his own work, Interpretations: The Music of Cole Porter, and He Said. She Said. (co-written by Holly Summers-Clarke) as part of Sydney Fringe Festival. Independent stage credits include;  Spring Awakening (dir. Mitchell Butel) for ATYP, Bernado in West Side Story (dir. Craig Stewart) for Packemin Productions and Craig McDermott in American Psycho (dir. Alexander Berlage) for BB Arts and Two Door Productions. Main Stage credits include; Margaret Mead in HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (dir. Cameron Menzies) for David M. Hawkins, and the Australian and International Touring Production of the Broadway Blockbuster, HAMILTON: An American Musical (dir. Thomas Kail) for Michael Cassel Group.
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  Shewit Belay

  A proud Eritrean woman, Shewit Belay is a multi-talented writer, singer and actor hailing from Lutruwita/Tasmania. Shewit made her stage debut in the Naarm season of Hamilton, covering and performing the lead female roles of Eliza Hamilton and Angelica Schuyler, as well as the roles of Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds. Shewit is currently playing the role of Nessarose in the Australian production of Wicked as she records her debut EP. She also holds a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from James Cook University and continues as a practicing doctor.