Peter Cousens | |
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![]() Cousens in 2018 | |
Born | Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia | 2 November 1965
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | present |
Website | petercousens.com |
Peter Cousens AM (born 2 November 1965) is an Australian actor and singer born in Tamworth, New South Wales. He is the former artistic director of the Talent Development Project. [1] He attended The Armidale School in Armidale [2] where he was Senior Prefect, and then Gordonstoun School, Scotland. He then spent a year reading Arts at St Paul's College, University of Sydney, before studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)[ citation needed ] Cousens was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queens Birthday Honours in June 2019 for services to the performing arts and the community. [3]
Cousens is the former artistic director of the Talent Development Project. He has worked in television, both as an actor and presenter. In the 1980s he guest starred in a number of major Australian television productions, including The Timeless Land , Earth Watch, The Sullivans , The Young Doctors , Sons and Daughters and The Restless Years . He then went on to take leading roles in Under Capricorn and Return to Eden .
Cousens is also known for his work in musical theatre. Major roles include The Phantom in London's West End production of The Phantom of the Opera ; he also portrayed Marius in Les Misérables , Alex in Aspects of Love , Tony in West Side Story , Bobby in Company, Nanki Poo in The Mikado , Anthony Hope in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , and Chris in Miss Saigon in the Australian productions. Cousens appeared in the 2015 television opera The Divorce . He has received a number of Variety Club of Australia awards for his work.
Cousens has been featured on a number of cast albums, including as Chris on the International Symphonic Recording of Miss Saigon, and as Charles Makin on the original cast album for Australian musical The Hatpin .
In September 2006 he launched Kookaburra: The National Musical Theatre Company, a non-profit theatre company based in Australia, dedicated to musical theatre. The company closed in 2009.
In 2012–13, Cousens produced and directed Freedom , starring Cuba Gooding Jr, William Sadler and Sharon Leal.
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
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AUS [4] | ||
Corner of the Sky |
| 32 |
From a Distance |
| 39 |
Are We Nearly There Yet? (with Noni Hazlehurst) |
| – |
Are We There Already? (with Noni Hazlehurst) |
| – |
A Life on Earth |
| – |
Love Changes Everything |
| – |
Evening Star (with Jane Rutter) |
| – |