Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holley was an American singer-songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. His style was influenced by gospel music, country music, and rhythm and blues acts, which he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school.
William Gary Busey is an American actor. As a character actor, he portrayed Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), for which Busey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor.
Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., known as The Big Bopper, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and disc jockey. His best known compositions include "Chantilly Lace" and "White Lightning", the latter of which became George Jones' first number-one hit in 1959. Richardson was killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa in 1959, along with fellow musicians Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, and the pilot Roger Peterson. The accident was famously referred to as "The Day the Music Died" in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie".
Robert Mills is an Australian actor, television host and singer-songwriter. He was one of the finalists from the first season of Australian Idol. He co-hosted the late-night quiz show The Mint, and was a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network. Mills took part in the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars, and appeared on Celebrity Apprentice. In 2008, Mills won the lead male role of Fiyero in a production of Wicked, and continued the role when it moved around Australia. He has since starred in a number of popular large scale musical theatre productions. In 2012, Mills was announced as the host of Network Ten's revamped Young Talent Time. He played teacher Finn Kelly on Neighbours from 2017 until 2021.
City of Angels is a musical comedy with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel, and a book by Larry Gelbart. The musical weaves together two plots: the world of a writer trying to adapt his novel into a screenplay, and the world of the film he is writing. The musical is an homage to the film noir genre of motion pictures that rose to prominence in the 1940s.
Thomas Douglas Allsup was an American rockabilly and swing musician.
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical based on the songs of British rock band Queen with a book by Ben Elton. The musical tells the story of a group of Bohemians who struggle to restore the free exchange of thought and fashion, and live music in a distant future where everyone dresses, thinks and acts the same. Musical instruments and composers are forbidden, and rock music is all but unknown.
Side by Side by Sondheim is a musical revue featuring the songs of Broadway and film composer Stephen Sondheim. Its title is derived from the song "Side by Side by Side" from Company.
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story is a musical in two acts written by Alan Janes, and featuring the music of Buddy Holly. It opened at London's Victoria Palace Theatre on 12 October 1989. An early example of the jukebox musical, Buddy ran in London's West End for over 12 years, playing 5,140 performances. Janes took over the producing of the show himself in 2004, and Buddy has been on tour extensively in the UK since then, having played Broadway, five U.S. National Tours and numerous other productions around the world. The show was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Musical.
Justin Smith is an Australian actor, best known for his AFI nominated performance as barrister 'Josh Bornstein' in the ABC mini-series Bastard Boys. He is also known in Australia for his TV, film, theatre and television commercial work.
Drew Anthony is an Australian performer, director, choreographer and producer. He was the Director/Choreographer for the critically acclaimed reimagined 2021 production of The Boy From Oz, starring Ethan Jones as Peter Allen, at Crown Theatre, Perth. From 2019 to Covid he was the Creative Director for Flash Entertainment in Abu Dhabi. In 2017 and 2018 he was the Creative Director for Kaleidoscope, Perth's light and illumination festival, before which he spent 6 years as Associate Artistic Director/Producer for David Atkins Enterprises (DAE),. He was the Associate Artistic Director/Producer for the 2017 edition of White Night Melbourne and White Night Ballarat and was the Associate Artistic Director for the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games, the Ceremonies of the 12th Arab Games, Doha 2011, Rugby World Cup 2011, and the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, in Vancouver. Anthony directed the Sony IFA event in Berlin, Germany and the Olivia Newton-John and Friends charity gala event at the State Theatre in Sydney.
Tetje Mierendorf is a German comedian, musical theatre, and voice actor.
Bunny Bop! was a children's web series created and directed by Cheryl Wagner. The series bible and webisodes were written by Cheryl Wagner and Harmony Wagner. The theme song was written by Harmony Wagner.
Matt Lee is an Australian dancer and actor. He has starred in Bootmen, We Will Rock You, Rent, Grease, and Mary Poppins for which he won a Helpmann Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He was a motion capture principal for the Oscar winning film Happy Feet where he brought to life the loveable tap dancing penguin Mumble. He has choreographed for, and worked alongside Paula Abdul, Ricky Martin, Human Nature, Samantha Jade, Hilary Duff and Christine Anu. He was also a judge and choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance.
Christopher Scalzo is an Australian-born actor, singer and musical theater performer. He has been part of many major National and International musicals.
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Forster is a British actor and singer. He won ITV's Superstar competition in 2012. As a result, Forster played the lead role of Jesus in the revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in its 2012 arena tour. Forster returned to the role at the end of May to tour Australia through 2013.
Nancye Lee Bertles AM billed under her maiden name as Nancye Hayes is an Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director and narrator. She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre since the 1960s. Although her roles have been almost exclusively in theatre, she has briefly worked in television in series and mini-series, as a character actress including filling in for an Judy Nunn in the series Home and Away.
Alex Andreas is an English actor/singer. He trained at the London School of Musical Theatre (LSMT), and is probably best known for his portrayal on stage of The Big Bopper in The Buddy Holly Story, between 1996–2001, in Hamburg, Germany, and on tour in the UK. He is currently playing Tony Scibelli in The Bodyguard Musical UK No. 1 Tour.
John Edward Frost (AM) is an Australian theatrical stage impresario. He is co-founder and CEO of Sydney-based production company The Gordon Frost Organisation (GFO).In December 2020, he sold the company to Crossroads Live Company (CXL) but continues in the role of CEO.
