Eileen Dunn

Owner/Managing Director

Eileen Dunn commenced her career as a teacher before pursuing her interest in arts administration. She joined the Victorian Youth Theatre (then known as the Victorian Children’s Theatre) in 1987 which was based in a small hall in Kew and offered Drama classes for 8-12-year-olds. The success of this program and the enjoyment the children had in class has been the ongoing inspiration for the company to build young people’s performing and personal skills through the performing arts. Since then, over the past 30+ years, Eileen has overseen the growth of Stage School Australia to offering a wide range of classes for 4-18-year-olds at locations across Melbourne, while still maintaining the company as a family-run organisation. The Victorian Youth Theatre has continued to grow since its humble beginnings and is now one of the largest performance-based drama programs in Melbourne.

In 1996, a musical theatre component was introduced as part of the Victorian Youth Theatre (VYT) and three years later in 1999, the Young Australian Broadway Chorus (YABC) was born. Given her original training in education, Eileen supported the introduction of Beginners OnStage in 2003 for 5-7-year-olds. In 2017 Beginners OnStage ~

Foundation opened up to 4-year-old pre-school children. Eileen has also supported the creation of the Australian Boys Dance Academy, the Talent Company of Australia and the growth of The Costume Dept. As tour and production manager, Eileen has overseen many national and international performance tours to Asia, Europe and the USA.

Robert Coates

Artistic Director/ Co-CEO

Robert began working for Stage School Australia in 1995. Most recently he directed Spring Awakening and Oliver JR (2023), CATS (2020), the sell-out seasons of Les Misérables (2019) and Wicked (2018) at the National Theatre and The Wizard of Oz ~ Young Performers Edition at the Union Theatre (2019).

His many other directorial credits include Rags, Joseph’s Dreamcoat, Oliver!, Man of La Mancha, Star-Cross’d Lovers, Godspell and all of the Young Australian Broadway Chorus Gala Concerts at the National Theatre, Back to Bacchus (Musical Director/Associate Director – Tours of Europe ‘97 and USA ‘99, World Tour 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008), What a Circus (Adelaide Fringe ‘98), Once On This Island (Adelaide Fringe 2010), Spring Awakening (National Theatre 2011), Conference of the Birds and Seussical TYA (Adelaide Fringe 2013), Guys & Dolls 2013, The Wizard of Oz 2014, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Malthouse & Adelaide Fringe 2014), Disney Alice in Wonderland and Conference of the Birds (Melbourne Fringe 2014), This Is Australia USA Tours 2015, 2016 & 2018, Disney Aladdin Jr. 2015, Disney The Little Mermaid Jr. 2015, The Secret Garden – Spring Version 2016, Disney Alice in Wonderland Jr. 2016 and Disney Beauty and the Beast Jr. 2016 and the 2017 seasons of HONK! Jr – the musical tale of the Ugly Duckling and Chicken Licken at the Lawler Theatre, Southbank Theatres – home of the MTC, which also toured to the Adelaide Fringe Festival and Madagascar – A Musical Adventure Jr. 2018.

Robert directed the world premiere of Devil’s Snuffbox, the Victorian premiere of The World Goes Round (Victorian Music Theatre Guild nomination – Best Director) and the world premiere season of the Bryant/Frank musical, The Silver Donkey which also toured the USA.

Kristie Hollow

Chief Financial Officer

Since 2010, Kristie has been a pivotal force at Stage School Australia, skilfully guiding the company's financial trajectory. Possessing a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) with Distinction, she is poised to complete her CPA this year. With a rich professional background, including seven years in various accounting roles at Ford Motor Company, Kristie's expertise adds depth to her role. As a member of the executive team, Kristie's leadership spans aligning business and finance strategies, nurturing the growth of the finance team, and overseeing both financial and management accounting. Her commitment to excellence is evident in ensuring compliance, monitoring cash flows, and proficiently managing company budgets—all of which have been instrumental in driving the financial success of Stage School Australia. Beyond her financial acumen, Kristie's love for the arts infuses a unique passion into her contributions to the company's overall success.

Elysia Krstevski

Producer/Co-CEO

Elysia has worked for Stage School Australia for over 10 years. In addition to bringing her expertise to the business management of the company, Elysia had produced many of the Young Australian Broadway Chorus’ theatrical productions and international tours. Her credits include the sell-out seasons of Cats (2020), Les Miserables (2019), The Wizard of Oz (2019), Wicked (2018), Madagascar – A Musical Adventure JR (2018), Honk! JR and Chicken Licken at Southbank Theatre and Adelaide Fringe Festival Tour (2017), Shrek JR (2017), The Secret Garden (2016), Disney Aladdin JR (2015), Disney The Little Mermaid JR (2015) and the Australian Youth Theatre regional tour of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2016). Elysia was instrumental in the production of Stage School’s last three international performance tours of This Is Australia to the USA, where the troupe performed in five cities across the country. Elysia holds a Bachelor Degree (Performance) from JMC Academy and is also a dancer, singer and composer.

Seth Rintoule

Director of Operations

A former student, Seth trained with Stage School Australia for nine years, appearing in countless plays including ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (Puck) and ‘Rhinoceres’, two seasons at the National Theatre playing Seymour from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, Emcee from ‘Cabaret’, and two international performance tours (USA ‘96 & Europe ‘04). He began teaching at Stage School in 2005 and was Associate Tour Director for the 2008 USA Tour. Seth has appeared in several television commercials and a guest role on Crash Zone. Since 2003, Seth has been working full-time at the Stage School head office as Administrator and IT support, and now brings over 20 years of company knowledge to the role of Director of Operations.

Josh Mulcahy

Creative Director

Joshua has Production Managed many Young Australian Broadway Chorus and Australian Youth Theatre productions including Les Misérables and The Wizard of Oz (2019), Wicked (2018), Honk! JR at both Southbank Theatre and the tour to the Adelaide Fringe (2017), Disney Beauty and the Beast JR (2016), Disney Alice in Wonderland JR (2016), The Secret Garden ~ Spring Version (2016) and Babe the Sheep Pig (2015 & 2017) amongst others. He has also been the Director of Production for Mordialloc College for the past five years and co-wrote One More Year which had its debut performance in 2012. Josh is also a performer having begun dancing at a very young age. He grew up as a student of the company training with both the VYT and the YABC. With the YABC, Josh toured on multiple occasions to both the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the USA playing a range of characters including Pascal in The Silver Donkey and The Cat in the Hat in Seussical. He also plays percussion for shows across Melbourne.

Jacqui Green

Resident Choreographer

Jacqui Green is one of Australia’s leading choreographers, adjudicators, dancers and dance teachers. Most recently she choreographed the 2018 season of Wicked at the National Theatre. As a choreographer and dancer, Jacqui’s credits include The Don Lane Show, The Ronnie Corbett Show, The Midday Show, The AFI Awards and The Logie Awards. Jacqui played the leading role of Cassie in the national tour of A Chorus Line (Mo Award Nomination), and has also featured in productions of Funny Girl, The Sound of Music, Hello Dolly and Cabaret. Directorial credits include a tour of Asia and New Zealand as the resident director of Joseph’s Dreamcoat for the Really Useful Group. She has toured internationally with numerous Stage School Australia productions including the 2015 and 2016 This Is Australia tours of the USA. Jacqui has choreographed the sell-out seasons of Stage School Australia’s productions of Seussical TYA at the Malthouse, Disney The Little Mermaid Jr., Disney Beauty and the Beast Jr. and Disney Aladdin Jr. at the Union Theatre, Disney Alice In Wonderland, The Secret Garden ~ Spring Version in 2016 at Southbank Theatre and the 2017 season of HONK! Jr – the musical tale of the Ugly Duckling at the Lawler Theatre, Southbank Theatres – home of the MTC, which also toured to the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Roby Favretto

Resident Director - Drama

Roby holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre Practice) from the VCA. His credits include ‘My Life Is Murder’ (Network 10), ‘Rostered On’ (Netflix), the ‘Sleep with Kip’ series (Story Box Library) and ‘Cactus & Mime’ (Short Film) for which he won Best Actor at Canberra Short Film Festival and Best Writer at Canada Shorts Film Festival. Roby directed AYT’s production of 'Peter Pan in Neverland’ and produced two Best Performance nominated plays at Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Chelsea Plumley

Resident Director - Voice

Chelsea Plumley is a five-time Green Room Award nominated musical theatre performer, GLUG award-winning cabaret artist, musician, host, teacher, producer, playwright and television actor. Television appearances include seven seasons as the ‘Queen of the Fairies’ in the Nine Network’s William & Sparkles' Magical Tales, Offspring, Shaun Micallef’s The Ex PM, I Will Survive and producer, actor and assistant director on Australian Pop Duo “Bachelor Girl’s” film clip, Speak. Her musical theatre credits include Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins, Deidre Chambers in Muriel's Wedding, Margaret Johnson in The Light In the Piazza, Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers, Rizzo in Grease, Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Betty in Sunset Boulevard, Amy in Company, Jolene Oakes in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Marge MacDougall in Promises, Promises, Lalume in Kismet, and Gabby/Bobbi in City of Angels. Chelsea has written, produced & toured her one-woman shows nationally & internationally to the UK, USA and India. She has hosted global phenomenons Sing-A-Long-A Sound of Music and Love Actually in Concert. Her play, Beautiful Highness, had its world premiere in Melbourne in 2023. Chelsea is a Master Teacher, conducting master classes and workshops in universities and drama schools in Australia and the UK.

Georgia Carrigan

Associate Artistic Director

With 9 years as a mentor and 16 years as a performer, Georgia prides herself in her ability to empower young actors to unlock their potential and embody the same principals as an actor. Using her training from QUT, Trinity College and local schools, Georgia has worked as an actor, director and performance creator. Recent directional credits include: ‘We Need to Talk… Period’ (Self & Milne), 'Fear & Chaos' (Self & Milne); and acting include: 'Temperance' (Milne), 'The Twits' (Kade Tyler). She is now preparing for a reboot of non-verbal one-woman show ‘Temperance’

Victoria Morris

Curriculum Coordinator - Dance

Victoria holds a Diploma of Dance from Dance World Studios, and graduated as Dux of her class. Upon graduating, she was cast in the Australian and New Zealand Tour of Mary Poppins (Disney/Cameron Mackintosh). Victoria’s other  credits include West Side Story (The Production Company), Nice Work If You Can Get It (The Production Company), Hollywood Honky Tonk (Michael Ralph) and guest artist in Derek Deane’s Strictly Gershwin (Queensland Ballet). She has also worked extensively in Australia and internationally as a dancer, children’s entertainer and model, both on stage and screen. Victoria's choreography credits within the company include Spring Awakening, Oliver! JR, CATS, The Wizard of Oz JR, Madagascar JR.

Dylan Dickson

Curriculum Coordinator - ABDA

Dylan is a graduate of Robert Sturrock’s Industry Dance and the renowned Broadway Dance Centre, New York. He has travelled the world, visiting over 70 countries whilst working as a dancer with Princess Cruises, Coasta Cruises and Carnival Cruises. Dylan’s credits include working with Jessica Mauboy, Rhonda Burchmore, Channel Seven’s ‘Australia’s Got Talent’ (Channel 7) and ‘Everybody Dance Now’ (Network 10). With over ten years’ experience teaching at some of Melbourne’s most prominent full-time performing arts institutions, Dylan is now studying a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Dance/Drama), with plans to complete a Masters of Teaching.

Petra Glieson

Curriculum Coordinator - Drama

A professional actor in Australian film, television and theatre. Her T.V and theatre credits: Metrosexual, City Homicide, Neighbour’s, Blue Heelers, Stingers, State Coroner, ABC’s It’s A Date and Dr. Blake Mysteries and Janus, innovative theatre companies ‘Machination Theatre Ensemble’ (Megan Jones) ‘Ward Theatre Company’, ‘Beautiful Highness’ by Chelsea Plumley. Petra has facilitated and Directed workshops and programs for Wakakirri National Dance Story season, VCE drama, directed and developed specialist drama programs for schools in Melbourne and India.

Erin McKellar

Curriculum Coordinator - Voice

Dr Erin McKellar, a two-time Downbeat award winner, is an Australian vocalist, songwriter, and composer. Known for her hit musical 'A Box of Memories,' winning the Bank SA Best Theatre Award, having recently returned from tour in the United States and set to premiere in New Zealand, June 2024. Erin holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in music theatre composition, a First-Class Honours and a Bachelor in Jazz Performance from the Sydney and Elder Conservatorium of Music. Awarded the Helpmann Academy Rob Lyon's Award for Voice in 2020, Erin has global training and has shared the stage with artists like Guy Sebastian and James Morrison. As a songwriter, her works have featured on Eurovision Australia Decides and The Voice and Farmer Wants a Wife. This year Erin is a finalist for the prestigious APRA Professional Development Awards in Music theatre and is producing her newest musical ‘Where’s the Dog?’ in March 2024.

Reuben Liversidge

TCA Talent Agent

Reuben has worked with Stage School Australia for over 10 years. He has trained in music theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts and has a Bachelor of Arts from LaTrobe University. Reuben has appeared on both stage and screen throughout his career as a performer. Highlights include roles in Round the Twist, Blue Heelers and various TV commercials. He is a founding member of international theatre company Four Larks and has performed in several of their works over the last five years, including a successful U.S. Tour in 2014. Reuben is also a freelance reviewer for theatre and film.