Lisa Gormley
"My time at Huon Valley Theatre was an inspiring and joyful time. I learnt so much from the cast and crews of the shows I was involved in. I was involved in the chorus of Calamity Jane, Cast of Mort and stage crew for Annie. It created an all round respect and love for all facets of the theatre. Not to mention the life long friends I found!"
Lisa was born in North England on September 24 1984 and moved to Barossa Valley age three, then relocated to a farm in Tasmania at 12. A country girl at heart, Lisa was immediately at home spending her formative years on the 50- acre property.
Lisa started appearing in youth community theatre, with a vivid memory of her first play Oliver. Lisa explains the attraction: "I am an only child, and was really excited to have people around me. Community theatre was how I fell in love with acting."
After completing high school Lisa travelled and worked in the UK as a flight attendant for Qantas and realised in many ways it was the same as performing: "I love people watching and psychology. I learnt a lot about people and their behaviour as a flight attendant."
On her return to Australia Lisa was accepted into NIDA, graduating at the end of 2009. She secured the role as Bianca Scott in Home and Away in March 2010.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bonnie Sveen
Bonnie Sveen began acting as a child at the Huon Valley Theatre Company in Tasmania.
There, she appeared in many plays and at 18 was accepted into NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) in Sydney.
During 2009, in her final year at NIDA, she played the lead role of Violet in NIDA's first feature film and co-production with AFTRS (Australia's Film, Television and Radio School) - Before the Rain.
In 2010, the first segment of the feature - titled Violet - did a world tour, screening at the Cannes Film Festival, the Saint Tropez Film Festival and the Dungog Film Festival.
Bonnie's TV debut was as Hayley Dovers on Home and Away in 2010.
In 2011 she landed the role of Chadara in Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ben van Tienen
Ben graduated from Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2007, earning first class honours and the university medal.
In the last four years, Ben has toured Australia and Asia as Associate Music Director on Wicked, Doctor Zhivago, West Side Story and Chicago. He was also Assistant Conductor on the Brisbane and Sydney seasons of Phantom of the Opera. Other credits in music theatre, opera and oratorio include The Light in the Piazza, Topol in Fiddler on the Roof, Titanic, Orpheus in the Underworld, The Gondoliers, Richard Mills' Love of the Nightingale, Puccini's La Rondine, John Adams' El Nino, Britten's War Requiem and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms.
He has regularly appeared as a pianist with Sydney Symphony, Gondwana Choirs, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Opera Australia, and as guest principal keyboardist for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
In 2012, Ben continued his association with West Side Story, conducting performances at the Deutsche Oper (Berlin), Hamburg Staatsoper, and the Theatre du Châtelet (Paris). He is currently Music Director of the UK tour.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Christopher Waterhouse
Christopher Waterhouse first appeared with Huon Valley Theatre in the title role of 'Oliver' in 1997 when he was only 13. He became part of the HVT family in the coming years and appeared in many of our shows including South Pacific, Calamity Jane, Annie, Annie Warbucks and finally as Timothy in Salad Days in 2003. Christopher also worked regularly with other Tasmanian theatre companies, and appeared in (among others) Cats for Exit Left, Trial by Jury for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Our Town, West Side Story and The Venetian Twins for Hobart Rep. Other performances include Big River for Summerstock, Hydrogen Jukebox for the Conservatorium of Music, Tesla for IHOS Opera and Ten Days on the Island; for Pierrot Productions Australia, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar and Grease; and for Big Monkey Productions in Pinnochio in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.
As well as his on stage appearances, Christopher worked as Musical Director of the Tasmanian Song Company, the ABC Giving Tree Children’s Choir, as a music teacher for Geoff Long Music, as a speaker and compere for various events around Tasmania and won several awards for public speaking through Toastmasters International and Rostrum Australia. He went on to become a member of the national committee of the Rostrum Voice of Youth.
Christopher studied voice with Helen Todd and organ with Geoff Long, and has served on the board of Mainstage Theatre, Old Nick Theatre Company, The Theatre Organ Society of Australia in Tasmania and New South Wales - and was a founding committee member and the inaugural Production Manager of the Friends of Music at St James’ Church in Sydney, which boasts one of the finest liturgical choirs in Australia.
He worked for Tasmanian radio station ultra106five on air between 2000 and 2008, including presenting and producing ‘Sunday Edition’, a program dedicated to supporting and promoting the arts around Tasmania.
Christopher moved to Sydney in 2008 to take up a position as the Operations Coordinator of Sydney Theatre. While in Sydney, he founded and produced the Walsh Bay Jazz Festival, which premiered in 2010 and featured a wide range of Australian jazz legends including Vince Jones, James Valentine and Mark Isaacs - and also showcased Tasmania musicians Tom Vincent, Kelly Ottaway and Cary Lewincamp.
In 2012, Christopher left Sydney for London, fulfilling a lifelong ambition to work on the West End. He was appointed as Operations Manager to the brand new St James Theatre, which opened in September 2012 and at Christmas was promoted to Acting General Manager. He made a happy return to radio in June and is now a presenter for the brand new Jemmthree - a London based radio station dedicated to Musical Theatre.
