Musical Theatre - Independent Panel

Panel Chairs

Cameron Steens

(Chair)

Cameron (they/them) is a queer, neurodivergent theatre maker based in Naarm, originally from Boorloo. A WAAPA graduate, they work as a creative producer, director and performer. Antipodes Theatre Company’s New Work & Marketing Manager, credits include the Winter Labs, Storked, Death to a Butterfly, Back to Te Maunga, 月を見る夜 Moongazing, Ghost Quartet (Hayes Theatre season), Orlando, Guys & Dolls, Silver Tongue, Little Squirt and the Festival of the Unseen. Other credits include: The Last Sunday in June, MIMMA, James Terry’s RENT & BSSTC’s Assassins (Performer). This is Living, Pops, If We Got Some More Cocaine… and FourPlay (Associate Director). www.cameronsteens.com

Jennifer Dean

(Deputy Chair)

Jennifer (she/her) trained at the Globe Theatre in London and Guildford School of Acting. She is the Artistic Director of the Melbourne Shakespeare Company and has directed 12 productions for the company. Her other recent credits include Resident Director on Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Global Creatures); Hadestown (Opera Australia); and Pretty Woman (Jones Theatrical). Director on Love & Reparations (MTC); Ghost Stories (Prince Moo Productions); The Haunting (Prince Moo Productions); Festen (Play Dead Theatre); Low (Victorian Theatre Company), Travesties (Bloomsday in Melbourne) and Assistant Director of The Almighty Sometimes (MTC). Jennifer is also an award-winning writer and Diversity Liaison for Opera Australia.

Ashley Taylor Tickell

(Deputy Chair)

Ashley (she/her) is a producer, dramaturg, director and advocate for new Australian musical theatre. Originally from Toronto, Ashley’s career bridges Australian and international markets. Alongside producing, she enjoyed a career as a performer overseas, working with Really Useful Group, Mirvish Productions, and the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, across theatre, television and animation.

As Associate Producer & Head of New Works Development at Stoddart Entertainment Group, Ashley helps shape the company’s strategy for commissioning, developing and exporting Australian works, while supporting commercial productions in Australia and abroad.

Ashley is CEO of award-winning Salty Theatre, which has delivered Australian premiere productions and launched Hatch Lab Writers Initiative, championing writers and composers through mentorship and industry-aligned development opportunities.

Panellists

Erica Browne

Erica (she/her) is an experienced arts manager based in Naarm Melbourne. She hails from Ōtautahi Christchurch in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is currently the Producer at Malthouse Theatre. Previous roles include Associate Producer (Arts Centre Melbourne), Programming Administrator (Brisbane Powerhouse), Stage Manager / Deputy Production Manager (The Court Theatre, NZ), and Stage Manager (The Fortune Theatre).

Lilly Cascun

As a recent high school graduate, Lilly (she/her) is relatively new to the professional musical theatre scene, having made her professional debut in Salty Theatre's The Grinning Man, playing the role of Young Dea in 2024. She is a performer who is passionate about growing the diversity of people on stage and screen and especially wishes to see a growing disabled presence on the stage.

Trudy Dunn

Trudy (she/her) coordinated and taught the Diploma of Acting at WAAPA before moving to Melbourne in 2020. Recent directing credits include One Day In September (director and contributing writer), Guys and Dolls (co-director Antipodes Theatre Company), Urinetown (VCA), 2025 Cybec Electric series (MTC), When There Was Forever (Fringe 2025). She was the touring resident director for Tick Tick Boom! (Storeyboard Entertainment), Annie (Crossroads Live) and Grease (Crossroads Live).

Trudy grew up in a theatrical family and both her children pursue careers in the performing arts. She is the Artistic Director for the newly-formed Perryman Theatre Company.

Jodi Hope

Jodi (sher/her) is a costume, textile, and set designer whose practice draws on colour, composition, and symbolism to explore character identity, relationships, and context.

She earned Green Room Award nominations for costume design on The Grumpiest Boy in the World (Victorian Opera, 2023), Bright Star (Pursued by Bear, 2020), and bare – The Musical (StageArt, 2019). Jodi was awarded the Trina Parker Scholarship for postgraduate study at VCA (2022) and a Design Placement within the Malthouse Artist Development Program (2025).

Recent design highlights include Gag Reflex (LaMama Courthouse), Specials (ArtsHouse), Storked (Antipodes Theatre), Tick, Tick… BOOM! (Storeyboard Entertainment), Next to Normal (James Terry Collective), Into the Woods (Watch This), and Ghost Quartet (Antipodes Theatre).

Lauren McKenna

Lauren (she/her) is the proud Artistic Director of Stars and the Moon, Melbourne’s only all-abilities music theatre company. A Green Room Award–nominated director, Sydney Theatre Award–winning performer and experienced acting coach, Lauren is passionate about inclusivity, authentic storytelling and empowering emerging artists.

Her directing credits include the acclaimed Songs for a New World at Chapel Off Chapel, which received nine Green Room Award nominations, as well as Legally Blonde, Shrek and The Addams Family (Stars and the Moon), Spelling Bee (Patrick School of the Arts), Courtney Act's FLUID (Associate Director) and Puffs (TEG Live, Resident Director).

Lauren is a graduate of VCA’s inaugural Bachelor of Music Theatre class (2011) and a dedicated theatre educator for VCA, PSA and more.

Fraser Orford

Fraser (he/him) has spent the past decade working across the commercial theatre sector in Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the UK.

He has held roles at Ambassador Theatre Group, GWB Entertainment, Michael Cassel Group, Opera Australia, The Everywhere Group, and London’s National Theatre. Fraser previously sat on the board of Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival and spent seven years as a Curator for TEDxSydney.

Benjamin Samuel

Benjamin’s (he/him) career spans performance, direction, music direction, production, and creative leadership across Australia and New Zealand. Originally from New Zealand, Ben has built a rich performance career throughout Australia, appearing in musicals, concerts, cabarets, and music festivals. Beyond performing, Ben is a creative and theatremaker, having worked on numerous projects as a Music Director, Director, and Producer. As a producer, Ben works with Soundworks Productions, and he co-founded Conscious Casting, a casting consultancy dedicated to championing diversity across Australian stages and screens. Ben is the Head of Acting, Music Theatre, and Stage Management at JMC Academy, bringing together his passions for performance, leadership, and industry development to empower the next generation of performers.

Mark Taylor

Mark (he/him) is a Green Room Award-nominated director, producer and performer working across theatre, film and advertising. He directed and produced American Psycho – The Musical for See You Sunday Inc., the independent theatre company he co-founded.

Other directing credits include Parade, Urinetown, Into the Woods, Mother Courage and Her Children, Next to Normal, RENT, Bright Star, John & Jen, First Date, Nice Work If You Can Get It, The History Boys, Age of Stephen and La Vie Bohème.

His screen work includes directing and producing music videos for Kimbra and Vera Blue. As a performer, his credits include Guy in Once, Playing Rock Hudson, Neighbours, Underbelly and The Pacific.

Sarah Tulloch

With a Bachelor of Interior Architecture, combined with a passion for theatre and landscapes Sarah’s (she/her) love for visualising story through environment has led to work both internationally and across Australia as both a scenic and landscape designer. Sarah has worked in many roles around the theatre as a set and costume designer as well as a stage manager. Sarah is one of the three producers at Green Room Award winning production company, Pursued By Bear and takes her place setting skills outside as a Landscape Designer when not working in theatre.

Rhys Velasquez

Rhys (they/them) is an award-winning casting director and creative. A graduate of the Arts Academy, Ballarat, Rhys started their career as a performer and choreographer touring in shows such as Shrek the Musical (GFO), Once On This Island (Altitude Theatre) and choreographing musicals and events around the globe.

Rhys is the founder of Evolution Casting and current resident casting director for Malthouse Theatre. They have won two CGA Awards and was named one of IF Magazine’s Rising Stars of 2025.