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Flash House
(formerly Little Lon)
Work in development
Many have heard of ‘Madame Brussels’, or frequented the bar named in her honour, but few have delved into the complex history of Little Lon. Barbara Minchinton's book 'The Women of Little Lon' did much to share the stories of these groundbreaking women of commerce and resourcefulness, and we now want to extend that research into their musical lives, forming a narrative that celebrates both the history of Melbourne as well as the history of sex workers during Australia's gold rush period.
'Music was integral to many of the women's lives, but it doesn't have a high profile in the historical record; if it appears at all, it is almost accidental to the reportage' Barbara Minchinton
CREATIVE BIOGRAPHIES
(click on image for biog)
Virginia Gay
Writer
Virginia Gay graduated from WAAPA and has an illustrious career in Television and Theatre. She will be seen in the upcoming SBS series Safe Home and ABC's Savage River.
As a playwright, she has written a new adaptation of Cyrano for MTC and wrote and directed the hugely successful Boomkak Panto! For Belvoir Theatre.
She won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress for Calamity Jane, starred in the film Judy & Punch, which premiered at Sundance and wrote and directed her first short film Paper Cut, which made the 2018 Tropfest finals.
Television Credits include All Saints (7), Winners & Losers (7), The War That Changed Us (ABC), Adam Liaw’s The Cook Up (SBS), The Book Club (ABC), Q + A (ABC), Adam Hills’ In Gordon Street, Tonight (ABC), Good News Week (Channel 10), Studio at The Memo (Foxtel), The Unbelievable Truth (Channel 7), and was team captain on CRAM (Channel 10).
Theatre credits include Eddie Perfect’s Vivid White, The Beast, On The Production Of Monsters, and Minnie and Liraz, all for the MTC. High Society, and Mame (Hayes Theatre Company). Cautionary Tales for Children (Arena Theatre Company @ The Opera House) and Hidden Sydney for Sydney Festival.
She has written two solo cabaret shows, Songs To Self-Destruct To and Dirty Pretty Songs, both sold out at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and toured nationally and internationally, most notably headlining the Famous Spiegeltent at the Edinburgh Fringe. She also hosted La Clique in the Spiegeltent in London’s West End in2019.
Virginia Gay graduated from WAAPA and has an illustrious career in Television and Theatre. She will be seen in the upcoming SBS series Safe Home and ABC's Savage River.
As a playwright, she has written a new adaptation of Cyrano for MTC and wrote and directed the hugely successful Boomkak Panto! For Belvoir Theatre.
She won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress for Calamity Jane, starred in the film Judy & Punch, which premiered at Sundance and wrote and directed her first short film Paper Cut, which made the 2018 Tropfest finals.
Television Credits include All Saints (7), Winners & Losers (7), The War That Changed Us (ABC), Adam Liaw’s The Cook Up (SBS), The Book Club (ABC), Q + A (ABC), Adam Hills’ In Gordon Street, Tonight (ABC), Good News Week (Channel 10), Studio at The Memo (Foxtel), The Unbelievable Truth (Channel 7), and was team captain on CRAM (Channel 10).
Theatre credits include Eddie Perfect’s Vivid White, The Beast, On The Production Of Monsters, and Minnie and Liraz, all for the MTC. High Society, and Mame (Hayes Theatre Company). Cautionary Tales for Children (Arena Theatre Company @ The Opera House) and Hidden Sydney for Sydney Festival.
She has written two solo cabaret shows, Songs To Self-Destruct To and Dirty Pretty Songs, both sold out at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and toured nationally and internationally, most notably headlining the Famous Spiegeltent at the Edinburgh Fringe. She also hosted La Clique in the Spiegeltent in London’s West End in2019.
Victoria Falconer
Music Director
Victoria Falconer is an award-winning musical director, composer, cabaret artist, theatre maker and multi-instrumentalist.
As musical director and arranger, recent productions include Bourgeois & Maurice's Insane Animals (dir. Philip McMahon, HOME Manchester) and the groundbreaking queer reimagining of Oklahoma! (dir. Richard Carroll, Black Swan State Theatre). Victoria is currently musical directing and performing in a remount of the Australian re-staging of Once (Darlinghurst Theatre Company) in which she also plays the role of Reza. In 2019 she received nominations for a Sydney Theatre Award (Once, DTC), and a Green Room Award (Glittergrass, Malthouse) for musical direction. Victoria has received Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe twice (2018/2011), and is engaged as associate composer/arranger and band leader with genre-defying ensemble Hot Brown Honey.
Other MD credits include LIZZIE (Sydney Festival), Courtney Act’s Under The Covers (Underbelly, London), Unroyal Variety (Hackney Empire) and Sasquatch The Opera (Summerhall, Edinburgh) written by Roddy Bottom of Faith No More. Victoria has composed for award-winning films including Yer Old Faither (dir. Heather Croall, 2020), Double Portrait (Ian Bruce, 2018), and live shows including Trygve Wakenshaw’s Only Bones v1.4 (London International Mime Festival 2020) as well for as her own award-winning projects (Glittery Clittery, EastEnd Cabaret, Smashed: The Brunch Party), and hosting The People of Cabaret’s We Are Here for Sydney Festival. She is co-creator and performer with multi-award-winning feminist firebrands Fringe Wives Club, who have presented on stages including Arts Centre Melbourne, Southbank Centre London, Darwin Festival, BATS Theatre (Wellington) and Edinburgh Fringe (Winner: Spirit of the Fringe 2018).
She is a founding member of The People of Cabaret, an initiative formed to advocate for performers identifying as Indigenous and/or Bla(c)k and/or People of Colour.
Victoria Falconer is an award-winning musical director, composer, cabaret artist, theatre maker and multi-instrumentalist.
As musical director and arranger, recent productions include Bourgeois & Maurice's Insane Animals (dir. Philip McMahon, HOME Manchester) and the groundbreaking queer reimagining of Oklahoma! (dir. Richard Carroll, Black Swan State Theatre). Victoria is currently musical directing and performing in a remount of the Australian re-staging of Once (Darlinghurst Theatre Company) in which she also plays the role of Reza. In 2019 she received nominations for a Sydney Theatre Award (Once, DTC), and a Green Room Award (Glittergrass, Malthouse) for musical direction. Victoria has received Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe twice (2018/2011), and is engaged as associate composer/arranger and band leader with genre-defying ensemble Hot Brown Honey.
Other MD credits include LIZZIE (Sydney Festival), Courtney Act’s Under The Covers (Underbelly, London), Unroyal Variety (Hackney Empire) and Sasquatch The Opera (Summerhall, Edinburgh) written by Roddy Bottom of Faith No More. Victoria has composed for award-winning films including Yer Old Faither (dir. Heather Croall, 2020), Double Portrait (Ian Bruce, 2018), and live shows including Trygve Wakenshaw’s Only Bones v1.4 (London International Mime Festival 2020) as well for as her own award-winning projects (Glittery Clittery, EastEnd Cabaret, Smashed: The Brunch Party), and hosting The People of Cabaret’s We Are Here for Sydney Festival. She is co-creator and performer with multi-award-winning feminist firebrands Fringe Wives Club, who have presented on stages including Arts Centre Melbourne, Southbank Centre London, Darwin Festival, BATS Theatre (Wellington) and Edinburgh Fringe (Winner: Spirit of the Fringe 2018).
She is a founding member of The People of Cabaret, an initiative formed to advocate for performers identifying as Indigenous and/or Bla(c)k and/or People of Colour.
Barbara Minchinton
Historian/Cultural Consultant
Barbara Minchinton began her study of history with her own family background and in the process uncovered the tragedies behind the stiff upper lip of previous generations in country Victoria. She moved from there to conducting historical research to support archaeologists interpreting artefacts recovered from the cesspits of Little Lon, and discovered another whole set of parallel stories (and tragedies) in the urban setting. She has since conducted research on many families throughout Victoria in the nineteenth century, and is currently extending her study of the women of Little Lon into a biography of Madame Brussels (Melbourne’s most famous flash madam) and her husband.
Barbara Minchinton began her study of history with her own family background and in the process uncovered the tragedies behind the stiff upper lip of previous generations in country Victoria. She moved from there to conducting historical research to support archaeologists interpreting artefacts recovered from the cesspits of Little Lon, and discovered another whole set of parallel stories (and tragedies) in the urban setting. She has since conducted research on many families throughout Victoria in the nineteenth century, and is currently extending her study of the women of Little Lon into a biography of Madame Brussels (Melbourne’s most famous flash madam) and her husband.
Sarah Giles
Dramaturg
Sarah Giles is an award winning theatre and opera director. She studied directing at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and has an Arts Degree from the University of Melbourne with a double major in Italian and History.
Sarah has directed work for Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, State Theatre of South Australia, Malthouse Theatre, The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Victorian Opera, Opera Queensland, Sydney Chamber Opera, NIDA and WAPPA.
Most recently Sarah received a Helpmann nomination and Green Room nomination for Best Direction of an Opera for her multi award winning production of Lorelei for Victorian Opera. Her production, for which she was both dramaturg and director, won Best New Australian work and Best Design at the Green Room awards where it was nominated in five categories.
Sarah Giles is an award winning theatre and opera director. She studied directing at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and has an Arts Degree from the University of Melbourne with a double major in Italian and History.
Sarah has directed work for Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, State Theatre of South Australia, Malthouse Theatre, The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Victorian Opera, Opera Queensland, Sydney Chamber Opera, NIDA and WAPPA.
Most recently Sarah received a Helpmann nomination and Green Room nomination for Best Direction of an Opera for her multi award winning production of Lorelei for Victorian Opera. Her production, for which she was both dramaturg and director, won Best New Australian work and Best Design at the Green Room awards where it was nominated in five categories.
Ali McGregor
Creative Director
Ali McGregor is an internationally renown soprano and cabaret artist who has performed everywhere from Glastonbury to Carnegie Hall. After starting her career as a principal soprano with Opera Australia she soon ran away with the circus in the form of international touring sensation La Clique (La Soiree). After her appointment as artistic director of Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2016-2018 she has gone on to create a number of cabaret shows including the Helpmann Award winning show Yma Sumac: The Peruvian Songbird in 2019.
She has performed with SSO, MSO, Sydney Festival, Melbourne Jazz Festival, Festival of Voices among others. She has been performing and producing shows at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Comedy Festivals for 14 years. She appeared multiple times on ABC’s Spicks & Specks, has been nominated for an ARIA award for her family jazz album JAZZAMATAZZ!, and won multiple green room awards for both cabaret and opera.
Ali is a board Member of The Song Room - a national for-purpose organisation that brings tailored, high-quality music and arts programs, to the most disadvantaged students at schools across Australia.
Ali McGregor is an internationally renown soprano and cabaret artist who has performed everywhere from Glastonbury to Carnegie Hall. After starting her career as a principal soprano with Opera Australia she soon ran away with the circus in the form of international touring sensation La Clique (La Soiree). After her appointment as artistic director of Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2016-2018 she has gone on to create a number of cabaret shows including the Helpmann Award winning show Yma Sumac: The Peruvian Songbird in 2019.
She has performed with SSO, MSO, Sydney Festival, Melbourne Jazz Festival, Festival of Voices among others. She has been performing and producing shows at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Comedy Festivals for 14 years. She appeared multiple times on ABC’s Spicks & Specks, has been nominated for an ARIA award for her family jazz album JAZZAMATAZZ!, and won multiple green room awards for both cabaret and opera.
Ali is a board Member of The Song Room - a national for-purpose organisation that brings tailored, high-quality music and arts programs, to the most disadvantaged students at schools across Australia.
Sarah Ward
Actor/Singer
Sarah Ward is a Helpmann Award winning Cabaret Artist, Actor, Teacher and Creative Producer. She was a recipient of the Australia Council Fellowship for Community Arts and Cultural Development in 2022-2024.
Sarah is one half of Fat Fruit, who make queer, radical performances. Most recently F**k Christmas premiered at the Malthouse as a part of the 2024 season, this was a part of a body of work including F**k Fabulous, commissioned by the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Arts Centre Melbourne and the all ages show Fart Fabulous commissioned by Rising. Other Fat Fruit shows include The Rainbow Tree, The Legend Of Queen Kong and Stranger Than Usual, a collaboration with Deaf, Queer artist Asphyxia.
Sarah is best known for Yana Alana, her one-time feminist performance poet alter-ego and cabaret character. With her band Tha Paranas, Yana toured the world for a decade from Copenhagen to London, New Zealand to Berlin, The Seychelles to Nhill.
Outside of Fat Fruit, Sarah is a versatile physically embodied film and stage actor, most recently seen as Bobby in Patricia Cornelius and Susie Dee’s independent feature film SHIT, reprising her role from the stage production.
Other highlights: touring the globe with Circus OZ, La Soiree and Finucane & Smith. National touring with Retro Futurismas, Yummy, Arena Theatre Company, Hayes Theatre and Melbourne Workers Theatre.
In 2001, after graduating from Actors Centre Australia, Sarah co-created Sista She with Candy and Kim Bowers, a genre busting hip-hop cabaret act that toured arts and music festivals around Australia.
Fat Fruit is currently making a Queer, rock, d/Deaf accessible film and visual album The Legend Of Queen Kong.
Sarah Ward is a Helpmann Award winning Cabaret Artist, Actor, Teacher and Creative Producer. She was a recipient of the Australia Council Fellowship for Community Arts and Cultural Development in 2022-2024.
Sarah is one half of Fat Fruit, who make queer, radical performances. Most recently F**k Christmas premiered at the Malthouse as a part of the 2024 season, this was a part of a body of work including F**k Fabulous, commissioned by the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Arts Centre Melbourne and the all ages show Fart Fabulous commissioned by Rising. Other Fat Fruit shows include The Rainbow Tree, The Legend Of Queen Kong and Stranger Than Usual, a collaboration with Deaf, Queer artist Asphyxia.
Sarah is best known for Yana Alana, her one-time feminist performance poet alter-ego and cabaret character. With her band Tha Paranas, Yana toured the world for a decade from Copenhagen to London, New Zealand to Berlin, The Seychelles to Nhill.
Outside of Fat Fruit, Sarah is a versatile physically embodied film and stage actor, most recently seen as Bobby in Patricia Cornelius and Susie Dee’s independent feature film SHIT, reprising her role from the stage production.
Other highlights: touring the globe with Circus OZ, La Soiree and Finucane & Smith. National touring with Retro Futurismas, Yummy, Arena Theatre Company, Hayes Theatre and Melbourne Workers Theatre.
In 2001, after graduating from Actors Centre Australia, Sarah co-created Sista She with Candy and Kim Bowers, a genre busting hip-hop cabaret act that toured arts and music festivals around Australia.
Fat Fruit is currently making a Queer, rock, d/Deaf accessible film and visual album The Legend Of Queen Kong.
Simone Page Jones
Actor/Singer
Simone Page Jones is an Australian singer, actor, director, playwright, theatre-maker, and screenwriter who has been working across stage, film, music, and live performance art for the past 20 years. Her work is mostly sensual, playful, romantic, and comedic, with a beating heart at its core that is both relatable and tender. Simone’s thematic concerns often revolve around the plight of female artists and the art-making process whilst uncovering and exploring moments of vulnerability and intimacy within the hyper-fabulous and the ridiculous.
Simone has previously been nominated for a Helpmann Award, had her work listed as one of the top ten national theatre experiences by The Guardian (Time of Life, co-created with Gabi Barton), and has been commissioned on multiple occasions by Melbourne International Arts Festival, Darwin Festival, MONA, RISING Festival, and Dark Mofo.
She has most recently completed her Master's in Theatre (Playwriting) at VCA (2024 graduate with First Class Honours), during which she wrote the deeply metatheatrical play Silver Lake that received a standing ovation at the most recent VCA Writers Festival. She was also lucky enough to be signed to brilliant literary agent Stacey Testro International after they attended the reading of Silver Lake, and she is incredibly excited for her work to be performed on stages nationally.
Simone Page Jones is an Australian singer, actor, director, playwright, theatre-maker, and screenwriter who has been working across stage, film, music, and live performance art for the past 20 years. Her work is mostly sensual, playful, romantic, and comedic, with a beating heart at its core that is both relatable and tender. Simone’s thematic concerns often revolve around the plight of female artists and the art-making process whilst uncovering and exploring moments of vulnerability and intimacy within the hyper-fabulous and the ridiculous.
Simone has previously been nominated for a Helpmann Award, had her work listed as one of the top ten national theatre experiences by The Guardian (Time of Life, co-created with Gabi Barton), and has been commissioned on multiple occasions by Melbourne International Arts Festival, Darwin Festival, MONA, RISING Festival, and Dark Mofo.
She has most recently completed her Master's in Theatre (Playwriting) at VCA (2024 graduate with First Class Honours), during which she wrote the deeply metatheatrical play Silver Lake that received a standing ovation at the most recent VCA Writers Festival. She was also lucky enough to be signed to brilliant literary agent Stacey Testro International after they attended the reading of Silver Lake, and she is incredibly excited for her work to be performed on stages nationally.
Jess Hitchcock
Actor/Singer
Jess Hitchcock is a Melbourne-based Indigenous singer-songwriter who has stirred the Australian music and performing arts scene as a genre-defying force. Her powerful voice and knack for storytelling has seen her shine across pop, country, folk, opera and music theatre, sharing the stage and studio with some of Australia's favourites.
One of Jess's most notable collaborations is with legendary Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. Together they performed and recorded Paul's song, ‘Everyday My Mother’s Voice’, earning standing ovations across the nation. You can occasionally find Jess in Paul's band on vocals and percussion. Jess has also collaborated with Archie Roach, Tina Arena and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Jess's much anticipated album, ‘Unbreakable’, was released mid 2023 and reached #4 in the AIR charts. Her original material is equal parts dramatic as it is playful, always showcasing her vocal prowess. Unbreakable's first single, 'I Don't Have The Heart', was described by The Music as "an arena sized pop ballad".
When Jess is not on stage with her own band, or joining forces with Australian music legends, Jess lends her mezzo-soprano vocals to select performing arts companies, including MSO, SSO, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Victorian Opera West Australian Opera and Opera Queensland.
Born with heritage from the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea, Jess's artistic diversity and adroitness are seldom seen in someone as young as her. The way she navigates her creative path is a rare find and nothing short of inspirational.
Jess Hitchcock is a Melbourne-based Indigenous singer-songwriter who has stirred the Australian music and performing arts scene as a genre-defying force. Her powerful voice and knack for storytelling has seen her shine across pop, country, folk, opera and music theatre, sharing the stage and studio with some of Australia's favourites.
One of Jess's most notable collaborations is with legendary Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. Together they performed and recorded Paul's song, ‘Everyday My Mother’s Voice’, earning standing ovations across the nation. You can occasionally find Jess in Paul's band on vocals and percussion. Jess has also collaborated with Archie Roach, Tina Arena and Kate Miller-Heidke.
Jess's much anticipated album, ‘Unbreakable’, was released mid 2023 and reached #4 in the AIR charts. Her original material is equal parts dramatic as it is playful, always showcasing her vocal prowess. Unbreakable's first single, 'I Don't Have The Heart', was described by The Music as "an arena sized pop ballad".
When Jess is not on stage with her own band, or joining forces with Australian music legends, Jess lends her mezzo-soprano vocals to select performing arts companies, including MSO, SSO, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Victorian Opera West Australian Opera and Opera Queensland.
Born with heritage from the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea, Jess's artistic diversity and adroitness are seldom seen in someone as young as her. The way she navigates her creative path is a rare find and nothing short of inspirational.
Chloe James
Actor/Singer
Chloe James (she/her) is a classically trained mezzo-soprano and singer-songwriter. She is a versatile and charismatic performer with over ten years of dancing and choral experience. Chloe has been involved in several productions with Victorian Opera, including “The Grumpiest Boy in the World”, “Melbourne Cheremushki”, “Il Mago Di Oz”, “Die Freunde von Salamanca”, and “Opera Bytes”. With the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, she has featured in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte”, Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and most recently, Menotti’s “Old Maid and the Thief”. Chloe has been generously supported by several prizes and scholarships, including the Mona McCaughey and Muriel Cheek scholarships and the Grace Durling Encouragement Award.
Chloe James (she/her) is a classically trained mezzo-soprano and singer-songwriter. She is a versatile and charismatic performer with over ten years of dancing and choral experience. Chloe has been involved in several productions with Victorian Opera, including “The Grumpiest Boy in the World”, “Melbourne Cheremushki”, “Il Mago Di Oz”, “Die Freunde von Salamanca”, and “Opera Bytes”. With the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, she has featured in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte”, Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and most recently, Menotti’s “Old Maid and the Thief”. Chloe has been generously supported by several prizes and scholarships, including the Mona McCaughey and Muriel Cheek scholarships and the Grace Durling Encouragement Award.
Actor/Singer
Alastair Cooper-Golec is a Melbourne-based tenor. He is the 2023 recipient of the Dr Michael Stubbs and Malcolm Roberts Victorian Opera Prize. He holds completed his Master of Music (Opera Performance) from The University of Melbourne, where he also holds a Bachelor of Music with Honours.
In 2021, Alastair was a Herald Sun Aria finalist, winning the John Fulford Memorial Prize. He won second prize at the National Liederfest competition and is an alumnus of Songmakers Australia’s Young Artist Programme. Alastair is a current member of Melbourne Opera’s Richard Divall Emerging Artist Programme.
Alastair made his featured debut as Rustighello in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia (Melbourne Opera), for which he has received a 2023 Greenroom nomination. His recent credits include Basillio in The Marriage of Figaro (Melbourne Opera), Toby Higgins in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (IOpera and Melbourne Opera), and Acis in Handel’s Acis and Galatea (IOpera). He has also worked with Pinchgut Opera in their Rameau Triple Bill, and their 2019 production of Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. Last year, he joined Opera Australia in their production of Wagner’s Lohengrin, starring Jonas Kaufmann.
Alastair has worked with Victorian Opera since its inception, most recently appearing as Drebednyov in their adaptation of Shostakovich’s Melbourne, Cheremushki. Other productions include Brother Ben Owens in Weill’s Happy End, Idomeneo, The Pearl Fishers, The Barber of Seville and a very grumpy Zachary Briddling in Joseph Twist’s The Grumpiest Boy in the World.
During his time at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Alastair played Albert in Albert Herring, Pluto and Mercury in Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach), Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte.
Alastair Cooper-Golec was a Victorian Opera Young Artist and recipient of the Michael Stubbs and Malcolm Roberts Opera Prize in 2023.
Alastair Cooper-Golec is a Melbourne-based tenor. He is the 2023 recipient of the Dr Michael Stubbs and Malcolm Roberts Victorian Opera Prize. He holds completed his Master of Music (Opera Performance) from The University of Melbourne, where he also holds a Bachelor of Music with Honours.
In 2021, Alastair was a Herald Sun Aria finalist, winning the John Fulford Memorial Prize. He won second prize at the National Liederfest competition and is an alumnus of Songmakers Australia’s Young Artist Programme. Alastair is a current member of Melbourne Opera’s Richard Divall Emerging Artist Programme.
Alastair made his featured debut as Rustighello in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia (Melbourne Opera), for which he has received a 2023 Greenroom nomination. His recent credits include Basillio in The Marriage of Figaro (Melbourne Opera), Toby Higgins in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (IOpera and Melbourne Opera), and Acis in Handel’s Acis and Galatea (IOpera). He has also worked with Pinchgut Opera in their Rameau Triple Bill, and their 2019 production of Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. Last year, he joined Opera Australia in their production of Wagner’s Lohengrin, starring Jonas Kaufmann.
Alastair has worked with Victorian Opera since its inception, most recently appearing as Drebednyov in their adaptation of Shostakovich’s Melbourne, Cheremushki. Other productions include Brother Ben Owens in Weill’s Happy End, Idomeneo, The Pearl Fishers, The Barber of Seville and a very grumpy Zachary Briddling in Joseph Twist’s The Grumpiest Boy in the World.
During his time at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Alastair played Albert in Albert Herring, Pluto and Mercury in Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach), Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte.
Alastair Cooper-Golec was a Victorian Opera Young Artist and recipient of the Michael Stubbs and Malcolm Roberts Opera Prize in 2023.
Mama Alto
Actor/Singer
Mama Alto is a jazz singer, cabaret artiste, and gender transcendent diva.
Mama Alto is a jazz singer, cabaret artiste & gender transcendent diva. She is a transgender & queer person of colour, living with disability, who works with the radical potential of storytelling, strength in softness and power in vulnerability.
Her solo performances are critically acclaimed & programmed at venues & festivals including Chapel off Chapel (Melbourne, Australia), Melbourne Recital Centre (Melbourne, Australia), Adelaide Cabaret Festival (South Australia, Australia), Festival of Voices (Tasmania, Australia), the legendary Joe's Pub (New York, USA) & more. She has collaborated with legendary figures across the arts including Finucane & Smith, Declan Greene, Taylor Mac, and Brook Andrew. She is the co-creator of highly acclaimed variety cabaret “Gender Euphoria,” Australia’s largest ever trans & gender diverse main stage production, and is currently an ensemble member in Taylor Mac & Matt Ray's epic queer opera "Bark of Millions."
Additionally in the arts, she has worked as a diversity, equity and inclusion specialist (including as a consultant, and as former Artist Development Coordinator at Midsumma Festival), as a writer (including for Archer magazine, for publications from the NGV and Queerstories, and an MTC Cybec Electric playwright), and a cultural development specialist - for which she was awarded the prestigious 2021 Australia Council for the Arts Kirk Robson Award.
She has also been recognised with a 2020/2019 Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship, a 2019 Creative Victoria Creators Fund fellowship, and awards including the 2019 Australian LGBTI Awards Music Artist of the Year, 2018 City of Yarra Contributions to the Arts Award, and the 2017 GLOBE Melbourne LGBTI Awards Artist of the Year.
Working in service to her diverse communities, she has served as CEO of Transgender Victoria (2021-2022), a Board Member of Switchboard Victoria (2020-2022), Artist Development Coordinator at Midsumma Festival (2020-2021) and has sat on multiple advisory groups to government and industry.
Mama Alto is a jazz singer, cabaret artiste, and gender transcendent diva.
Mama Alto is a jazz singer, cabaret artiste & gender transcendent diva. She is a transgender & queer person of colour, living with disability, who works with the radical potential of storytelling, strength in softness and power in vulnerability.
Her solo performances are critically acclaimed & programmed at venues & festivals including Chapel off Chapel (Melbourne, Australia), Melbourne Recital Centre (Melbourne, Australia), Adelaide Cabaret Festival (South Australia, Australia), Festival of Voices (Tasmania, Australia), the legendary Joe's Pub (New York, USA) & more. She has collaborated with legendary figures across the arts including Finucane & Smith, Declan Greene, Taylor Mac, and Brook Andrew. She is the co-creator of highly acclaimed variety cabaret “Gender Euphoria,” Australia’s largest ever trans & gender diverse main stage production, and is currently an ensemble member in Taylor Mac & Matt Ray's epic queer opera "Bark of Millions."
Additionally in the arts, she has worked as a diversity, equity and inclusion specialist (including as a consultant, and as former Artist Development Coordinator at Midsumma Festival), as a writer (including for Archer magazine, for publications from the NGV and Queerstories, and an MTC Cybec Electric playwright), and a cultural development specialist - for which she was awarded the prestigious 2021 Australia Council for the Arts Kirk Robson Award.
She has also been recognised with a 2020/2019 Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship, a 2019 Creative Victoria Creators Fund fellowship, and awards including the 2019 Australian LGBTI Awards Music Artist of the Year, 2018 City of Yarra Contributions to the Arts Award, and the 2017 GLOBE Melbourne LGBTI Awards Artist of the Year.
Working in service to her diverse communities, she has served as CEO of Transgender Victoria (2021-2022), a Board Member of Switchboard Victoria (2020-2022), Artist Development Coordinator at Midsumma Festival (2020-2021) and has sat on multiple advisory groups to government and industry.
REFERENCE IMAGES
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