As a theatre artist, Billy contributes to the theatre community as a performer and as a creative. He has performed in The King and I at Lincoln Center, Here Lies Love for the Public Theater, on Broadway in Miss Saigon and will appear this season in a new David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori musical called Soft Power. Billy also creates and captures images as a photographer through his business Billy B Photography and teaches at the Jen Waldman Studio. In our conversation we talk about being an a...
Jun 27, 2019•59 min•Ep. 30
Bradley has performed his show "The Fastest Piano in the West" around the world as a headline cruise ship act, his musical "Becoming Bill" will have a brand new production at Brisbane's Powerhouse Arts this August, and he is about to launch the first season of his podcast "Making Musicals" which he recorded in a very intense ten day trip to New York. Bradley and I talk about how the belief and encouragement of just one person can alter the trajectory of your career, we talk about the true value ...
Jun 12, 2019•47 min•Ep. 29
Lyndy's experiences on the road and then on Broadway in The Little Mermaid and the 2006 Revival of A Chorus Line inspired her to collaborate with Austin Eyers to write a book that would celebrate the unsung heroes of theatre - the 'swings'. These are the performers who are ready to step into almost any role as required when another actor is unwell or injured, always without fanfare and often without recognition. Broadway Swings also serves to prepare first time swings for the roller coaster ahea...
Jun 05, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 28
In both her consulting practice and through her work at institutions such as the Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory and Indiana University, Angela has helped musicians at all levels overcome obstacles, book more performances and build the lives they desire. Her book Beyond Talent is full of advice, examples and practical tools to advance a career in music. Notes and Links from this episode: Why Angela decided to compile the answers to the questions she was most commonly asked by...
May 27, 2019•51 min•Ep. 27
Born in the hills of Arkansas, Dobbs has performed all over the world and currently resides in Melbourne, Australia. He recently wrote “ So You Want to be a Musician…unsolicited advice for aspiring musicians ” a book filled with invaluable lessons and professional insights from a life devoted to the art of making music. Dobbs earned a masters degree from Julliard, and has enjoyed a career spanning six decades conducting symphony, opera, ballet, music theatre and chamber ensembles. He has trained...
Mar 27, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 26
Though the lens of a system she knows very well, Health Care, Mary is teaching people about compassion. How to offer compassion to the people around you, the people you seek to serve and to yourself. She was the engine behind the social movement Change Day Australia which reached 146 000 people who all pledged to do one thing that could make a difference for the people they worked with. Whilst Mary works with more health care professionals than artists, she can teach us how making intentional sm...
Mar 18, 2019•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 25
If Richard’s name sounds familiar it’s because he is the first child of the actor and comedian whose name he bears. Richard Jr’s story of how he grew up amidst many of the same challenges that haunted his father - including abuse, an absent parent, alcohol and drug addictions - and yet somehow survived, is a tale that will inspire and give you hope that you can overcome just about anything. In a Pryor Life is an incredible book - Richard introduces readers to the larger than life characters who ...
Mar 11, 2019•56 min•Ep. 24
How To Date a Narcissist is available to watch on YouTube from March 5 at youtube.com/swearycanary You’ll find a link in the show notes of this episode. In this conversation Kristy explains how she came to leverage her hard earned experience in the world of dating into the concept and script for her first web series. She explains how quickly the writing and filming was done and then how she raised the funds and support to invest in proper post production and a well planned marketing roll out. We...
Mar 04, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 23
In this conversation we track Kirsty’s journey from university, through her time in the camera department on film sets, to her realisation that she could have more influence on the stories that were being told on film by taking on the role of producer. Just some of those stories include a post apocalyptic adventure series, a comedy series about an uber driver on the autism spectrum who’s looking for love and a transgender student’s first day at high school. Kirsty describes how she has reverse e...
Feb 25, 2019•52 min•Ep. 22
With radio plays already under her belt, Xira's latest milestone is having Sleep Talker added to Spotify’s Pop Edge playlist alongside songs by some of her favourite artists. In this conversation we talk about how Xira released her first single only 18 months after she began songwriting, how important it is to get over yourself and share your ideas sooner rather than later, the benefit of surrounding yourself with the right team and how embracing something brand new and having the courage to sta...
Feb 21, 2019•49 min•Ep. 21
Michael has embraced lifelong passions for learning, teaching and performing that stem from his earliest days growing up in New Zealand. We learn how his grandfather introduced him music and performance in a somewhat unconventional manner, how the encouragement of a series of teachers inspired him to step up his fascination in literature, poetry, theatre and music. Michael tells the story of how his afternoons playing badminton got him arrested in Zurich, and how changing his planned research at...
Feb 14, 2019•58 min•Ep. 20
If you’re in New York you’ll find Drew at his Wednesday evening residency at Marie’s Crisis Cafe , or working with another friend of the show as the resident musical director at the Jen Waldman Studio. Later this month you’ll find him in Houston as Musical Supervisor of the new musical “For Tonight”. Since moving to New York, Drew has become the first call vocal coach and music director for many artists and projects who are already working on Broadway or Broadway bound. In this wide-ranging conv...
Feb 04, 2019•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 19
Though well known for his witty and emotional work on the hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance , Al is perhaps best known for his original narrative style which blends dance and his own brand of theatrical storytelling. Al talks about walking away from your comfort zone to throw yourself into something new, which is what he did when he made the transition from Broadway dancer to choreographer. We talk about what happens when you outgrow your dreams and how Al uses his work to bring people toge...
Jan 28, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 18
Timothy is an alumni of the Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop at BMI and is a past Dramatists Guild Fellow. In this episode we talk about the artist’s obligation to contribute to important conversations, how he transformed a news report into a musical and the importance of finding someone who believes in you and the work you do. Find Timothy's published sheet music online at newmusicaltheatre.com and contemporarymusicaltheatre.com and listen on soundcloud or at his website timothyhuang.net F...
Jan 21, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 17
Peter co-hosts The Long and The Short Of It - a podcast for the curious, with another Studio Time guest Jen Waldman. He is Head Coach of Seth Godin’s altMBA leadership and management workshop and he is the creator of REVEAL - a program for artists and creatives who are looking to make a change in the world, their work, their audience or themselves. Instead of talking online, Peter and I recorded this episode face to face in Melbourne - which was a first for me - so you might notice that the audi...
Jan 14, 2019•50 min•Ep. 16
Bonnie built her business by demystifying the casting process and illuminating the business side of pursuing a creative career. Her most popular book is Self-Management for Actors , which has been named one of The Top Ten Best Books on Acting Ever Written. In this conversation Bonnie describes the path that brought her LA (twice), and how her actor survival job grew into a career and business that has helped thousands of professional actors navigate their way through a notoriously competitive in...
Jan 06, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 15
On Em’s website is the statement “I am passionate about work that challenges audiences, shifts paradigms, and serves to increase empathy in our culture.“ In this conversation you’ll hear how representing the truth of our own humanity in all its nuances as artists we can create space for others to do the same. There are lots of fun stories here, including those about pixie dust and Meryl Streep. But the thing that has stuck with me from this conversation is the idea of the artist as advocate. I t...
Dec 31, 2018•1 hr•Ep. 14
Michael has appeared in the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park and on Broadway in Rent, The Wild Party, Big River, Next to Normal and Sunday in the Park with George. In this episode we learn how Michael’s family introduced him to the power of Gospel music from an early age and how he wrote and produced his first musical when he was in high school. He explains what it was like moving to New York City as the city and the theatre community was being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic and how he and...
Dec 23, 2018•59 min•Ep. 13
One of the big themes that comes up in this episode is something that a lot of people struggle with as artists and creatives… ”accepting that it’s okay to say no.” Erin has been part of the Broadway and US Tour productions of some musicals that I’m sure you’ve heard of or seen, but to step into the next phase of her career she’s making the decision to say no to many of the opportunities that she previously would have accepted. This is the story of a smart, talented and engaging human who I think...
Dec 16, 2018•46 min•Ep. 12
As the Artistic Director of the Slingsby Theatre Company , Andy is making an incredible contribution to the cultural life of his hometown community in Adelaide, South Australia and developing shows that will be seen in 8 countries and 40 venues around the world in 2019. While he focuses on cultivating and supporting his community at the most local level, his work is developing a loyal audience around the globe. In this episode we discuss: How Andy and I shared childhoods that were similar in man...
Dec 09, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 11
Getting to know Barb and spend some time working with her transformed the way I think about arranging and performing music. She and her work have had a tremendous influence on me and so I’m really thrilled to share with you this episode of Studio Time with Barb Jungr. In this episode we discuss: Barb’s introduction to music via the family radio The story of her parents moving to Britain after WW2 to build new lives The course she studied as an undergraduate - it certainly wasn’t music! How jazz ...
Dec 03, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 10
One of the reasons I really wanted to talk to Eddie now is because he’s at a key moment in his career. He’s composer and lyricist for TWO major musicals - one that has just opened on Broadway and the other is set to open in the new year. He describes the challenge of preparing two projects simultaneously, and as can be expected, it took us some time for to find a moment in his crazy schedule to record this interview. I’m very grateful to Eddie for making time on his Thanksgiving Weekend to speak...
Nov 26, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 9
Tash gives us a behind the scenes look at her most recent performance on James Corden's Late Late Show as well as life on tour with Paula Abdul. Hear how she made the decision to step away from a very successful career in Australia to pursue her dream of living and dancing in the United States, and then how a serious injury threatened to bring her career to an early end. Along the way enjoy Tash's infectious enthusiasm for life and her unwavering spirit of generosity. In this episode we discuss:...
Nov 19, 2018•37 min•Ep. 8
I've come to know Scott over the past year or two as we travel journeys that are similar in many ways. Although I learned more about Scott's history in this conversation, we share a musical background - mine as a pianist and Scott's as a guitarist. As we talked about his philosophy and approach to teaching guitar, I could see how he has transferred and transformed his strengths and success in the teaching studio to his online platform, becreativeonpurpose.com where he welcomes all types of creat...
Nov 11, 2018•56 min•Ep. 7
Liz and I studied jazz together at the University of Adelaide before she and her husband Andrew moved to LA to write and produce music for records, television, films, games and more. Her work in the studio has contributed to the success of hit albums and her songs have been featured in hundreds of tv shows and films. Liz and Andrew recently took to the stage of the world famous Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood at the debut live performance of their new band All Good Things. In this episode we discuss...
Nov 05, 2018•48 min•Ep. 6
My guest on this episode is the soprano, cabaret performer and one of the stars of Victorian Opera's Lorelei, Ali McGregor. Ali trained as a classical soprano and performed as a Young Artist with Opera Australia before she was lured into the world of cabaret. Her credentials on that circuit are held in such high esteem that she was appointed as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival - for two years she steered the ship alongside Eddie Perfect and for a third she took the wheel on her...
Oct 28, 2018•33 min•Ep. 5
My guest on this episode, Jen Waldman, is a theatre coach and Executive Director of her own acting studio in New York City, a speaker and official optimist with Simon Sinek's Start With Why team, and co-host of The Long and The Short Of It podcast. Our mutual friend Peter describes Jen as a human stethoscope - suggesting that she's an expert at getting to the heart of a matter. As you'll hear in our conversation, she trained as an actor and made her Broadway debut in Maury Yeston's musical, Tita...
Oct 21, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 4
My guest on this episode is is the author of MotivatedMastery.com, co-creator of The Observers and Head of Content at CreativeMornings, Paul Jun. I first discovered Paul when I signed up for Seth Godin's altMBA program in January 2016. As its website says, the altMBA is an intensive, 4-week online workshop designed by Seth for high-performing individuals who want to level up and lead. When I applied I certainly didn't think I was performing as highly as I could, and I was excited about surroundi...
Oct 14, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 3
You know it seems to me, that as a rule, people don’t pay a lot of attention to viola players. If I asked you today, there’s a fair chance you could name a couple of violinists and a cellist or two, but viola players rarely get noticed. Which is why, when I saw that an instagram account called That Viola Kid had 120,000 followers, I sat back and took notice. The thing is, not only is this guy a boss on instagram, the kid can play. As a lapsed viola player myself, I was really curious to see what...
Oct 07, 2018•56 min•Ep. 2
My guest on this episode is guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer Tim Henwood. I got to know Tim while working with him in musicals like Kinky Boots and Mamma Mia, but most of the world knows him from his hit songs and string of successful Australian bands. He’s been a key player in The Superjesus, The Androids, Rogue Traders and is now the front man of Palace of The King. In this episode we discuss: Tim’s beginnings as a classical guitarist Playing Kiss songs in the garage with his cousin ...
Sep 30, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 1
