Who Are We: Starlight Theatre was established by Artistic Director Jack Bradford in 2006 by co-producing the critically acclaimed Queensland premiere of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize winning "Rent" by Jonathan Larson. This production was followed by the Schonell 2006 production of "Godspell" and then in 2007 Starlight co-produced the Qld premiere of "Witches of Eastwick" with Turkish Delight Box. In 2007 plans began to emerge for Starlight's and Brisbane Junior Theatre's development of a new theatre space "Centre Stage" in Spring Hill Qld at 25 Quarry St.
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Starlight Theatre Coop - Team

 

Jack Bradford (Artistic Director) and also founder of BJT in 2000. Jack has a wealth of theatre experience with over 80 productions under his belt. Jack has directed all of the BJT productions to date. He lives with his family, Debbie, Zac, Jacob and Jesse in Strathpine Queensland where the whole family are constantly involved in artistic ventures and projects.
Click here to visit Jack's web page.

 

 

Debbie Bradford (Co-Producer) Graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 2003 with Bachelor of Music, majoring in Jazz and Contemporary piano. Debbie has music directed and played in over 20 shows as well as having music directed at church. Debbie plays and sings for “Gracenotes” a local Jazz band and performs in duo with Zac who is currently at the Conservatorium focusing on voice and guitar.

 

 

George Canham (Choreographer) has been dancing and acting since he was 3. He has studied both the RAD and ISTD syllabus to vocational level. He has performed in over 20 musical theatre productions and straight plays. George's love for performing in theatre is evidenced in his commitment to productions like Hello Dolly, Oklahoma, Die Fledermaus and West Side Story. George has been a vital part of Brisbane Junior Theatre and has studied many different dance styles with several dance instructors including Trevor Green. George has been involved in teaching juniors to dance for the last 2 years.

 
 

 

 

Zac Bradford (Music Director) has a love for musical theatre, having performed on stage in over 30 musicals with such companies as Harvest Rain Theatre, Starlight/Schonell, Savoyards Theatre, Oscar Theatre Company and Brisbane Junior Theatre. Highlights of on stage performance include Baby John in "West Side Story", Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls", The Baker in "Into the Woods" and Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof". Over the past few years Zac has taken an interest in playing music in orchestral and band positions for such shows as Godspell, Rent, Children of Eden and most recently The Last 5 Years. Zacs musical direction credits include Band direction for Godspell at Starlight Theatre, Music/Vocal for Cinderella at Brisbane Junior Theatre and Music/Band direction for the Oz Music Competition 07. Zac is in his 3rd year of studies at the Qld Conservatorium majoring in Jazz voice and Guitar. In 2006 Zac performed at the Australian Gospel Music Festival with his group Starlight Jazz - he will be playing there again this April and releasing an album consisting mainly of his original compositions. He also performs regularly with a handful of bands including "Gracenotes", "5th Corner","Boyz 4 U", "Raphael and Zac Duo", "Raised Voices". Zac is excited to be Music Directing both Starlight musicals this year - "Songs for a new world" and "Suds".

 

Artistic Residents 2008

 

Tim Wallace (Production/Stage Management) Tim is beside himself to be involved with Starlight. As a performer, Tim has been involved in theatre variously around the place — the ubiquitous high school musicals and 'drama productions' with Bunbury Theatre Company of which he is artistic director, Vena Cava Theatre Company, Schonell-Starlight Productions, Monash Players (Melbourne) and Stagedoor Dinner Theatre.

 

In a technical capacity, Tim stage managed Bunbury Theatre Company's production of Wit (2004). Assistant to the director and lighting designer for The Ipswich Cambrian Youth Choir's Whistle Down the Wind (2005). Production manager for Marat/Sade staged by Vena Cava Theatre Company.Assistant to the designer for Schonell-Starlight's RENT (2006). Tim has a degree from Queensland University of Technology Theatre.

 

 

Cienda McNamara (Acting/Directing) Cienda directed Life for Arts Sake, CaBUGaret, Over Coffee, Tablecloths, Love Puke and The Return for Underground Productions. Cienda was the assistant director for Bastidian's production of Snow White and The Merchant of Venice. In 2002 she was the artistic director for Brisbane Underground Festival (Bugfest). Cienda was the technical director on Love Us or Leave Us productions' Sandgrabs project as a part of QPAC's Stage X festival 2003. She also directed The Cell Block Tango for the Straight out of Brisbane Festival Comedy and Cabaret Evening in 2003. In 2005 she directed Elizabeth Coleman's This Way Up for Theatre Any Place at the Powerhouse. In 2006 Cienda directed The Fool's Journey for the Emerge project at Judith Wright and Historia for Shesaid productions at Metro Arts.

 

 

Shane Rodwell (Designer) Shane Rodwell has had over 30 years of theatrical experience in design, directing and performance teaching at the Kempsey and Kingaroy Tafe. He studied at the Queensland School of Film and Television and has graduate diploma of Art from Riverina College. Some of his focus was also on Short Film Production, Scriptwriting, Directing Camera Techniques. Shane has also been active in Community Arts Projects, Co-ordinating Workshops for Youth Arts, Art Exhibition and Workshops for Theatrical Productions. Shane won the coveted 4MBS perform award for production design for Harvest Rain Theatre's "Importance of being Earnest".

 

Administration

 

Jenny Munns (Publicity and Marketing) Jenny, a graduate of Jubilee College with a certificate in Performing Arts has recently moved down to Brisbane from the Sunshine Coast where she was part of the theatre world directing and acting in several productions. Jenny also assisted Jack on the Harvest Rain productions “Oliver” and “The Importance of Being Earnest”.

 

 

Karen DeAndrade (Graphic Design/Production/Front of House) is a valued member of our team. She has been the set coordinator for BJT productions since the end of the 2006 season. Karen is a talented graphic artist and has great people skills. She has two great children, Jose and Rosie who are also part of her theatre world.

 

 

Cynthia Cliff (Publicity) As well as being a talented theatre Mum who takes photos for BJT and is a valued member of the BJT Board, Cynthia is also Health Projects Manager with Queensland University of Technology. Prior to this she spent 11 years with Technology at Work and the Centre for Technology and Social Change, consulting to private and public sector clients in the areas of research management and technology change.

 

 

Steve Williamson (Business Manager) is BJT’s website manager and friend. Steve began in Mainframe & Mini Computers in 1971, designing and writing business programs. In 1984 Steve began writing financial software and data base systems on PCs, developing a client base of church and community businesses in Brisbane and beyond. In 2001, Steve helped BJT develop a web presence and he has been helping us ever since.