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Part of Festival of the Unseen 2025

SPOTLIGHT SERIES

22, 23, 28 February & 1 March 2025

Antipodes HQ, South Melbourne

Entry: Free - $15.00

Event prices and times below.

Following a handful of events, there will be four differently-themed open mic experiences. The Spotlight Series gives audiences a chance to see singers, actors, musicians, comedians, writers and cabaret artists who might become “the next big thing”, and create a joyful, rowdy and supportive space for those who’ve always wanted to take the stage but just needed a little encouragement to take the leap!

BUY TICKETS/REGISTER HERE

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Hosts: STACEY-LOUISE CAMILLERI (she/her), ASHLEY TAYLOR TICKELL (she/her) and more to be announced.

Biographies are available below.

SALTY THEATRE’S BROADWAY BAR

Hosted by STACEY-LOUISE CAMILLERI (she/her)

Saturday 18th of February

Entry: $15.00

Doors open approximately 9pm, following the concert Unsung: Musical Theatre songs like you've never heard them before.

This crossover-event will continue with the theme of Unsung, open the floor to a wide variety of artists and is not a night you’ll want to miss!

ATTENTION: These events are ticketed separately so you will need to ensure you’ve purchased entry to both events if you want to attend both Unsung & Broadway Bar.

JAZZ JAM

Hosted by DAVID BUTLER (he/him)

Sunday 23rd of February

Entry: Free

Doors open approximately 7.30pm, following the staged reading of Death to a Butterfly: A New Musical.

Get ready for our first Jazz Jam Night! It’s a chance for more musicians and vocalists to showcase their talents and connect with other artists. The floor will be open for artists to sign up, improvise with friends and other participants, and let the music flow!

SPOKEN WORD NIGHT

Hosted by ASHLEY TAYLOR TICKELL (she/her)

Friday 28th of February

Entry: Free

Doors open approximately 9pm, following the performance of The Life Cycle of Blanco.

Building on the success of our previous text-based Spotlights, we’re opening up the stage to a diverse range of performers, from new work readings to Shakespearean monologues, poetry, and more. Come share your voice with a supportive and engaged community.

COMEDY NIGHT

Hosted by TBA

Saturday 1st of March

Entry: Free

Doors open approximately 9pm, following the performances of Play In A Day, four 10minutes plays written, rehearsed and performed in 24hours.

Comedy Night is back! We’re inviting all you stand-up comedians, cabaret artists, musical theatre performers/writers and everyone else who’s got a joke up their sleeve to join us for a night of side-splitting laughter. Get ready for a riot!

Meet the Hosts

Stacey-Louise Camilleri

She/Her
SALTY THEATRE’S BROADWAY BAR
Stacey-Louise Camilleri is a Greenroom Award nominated actress who is a seasoned musical theatre and cabaret performer. Recent stage credits include Felicity in Double Homicide, Barb Holland in Stranger Sings - The Parody Musical (Salty Theatre), Elizabeth in If/Then (Theatrical) and a season of her most recent cabaret ‘Women Who Play’ at The Butterfly Club. Stacey-Louise is also a musical director, pianist, flautist, percussionist, ukulele player and the co-host of the popular podcast ‘Dissecting Disney Ditties’. She works as an audition coach and has run workshops on writing cabarets. Currently she coaches students at Centrestage Performing Arts School. She has written syllabi for two musical theatre diploma courses and led ensemble voice classes.
David Butler

He/Him
JAZZ JAM
David is a multi-nominated, and Green Room Award winning musical director, freelance performer and vocal coach based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. Regularly appearing as drag alter-ego Peppy Smears; he performs and musically directs with Antipodes Theatre Company, Tash York in their award-winning shows HAPPY HOUR, IT’S UP TO YOU: TASH YORK, TASH YORK, and their all-original show LOVE THAT FOR YOU as well as numerous other projects in cabaret and independent theatre. As a vocal coach David works on a consulting basis with actors and singers; and is a referred voice teacher of Gary May and the Melbourne Voice Analysis Centre.
Ashley Taylor Tickell

She/Her
SPOKEN WORK NIGHT
Ashley is the Director and Co-Founder of Melbourne based theatre company Salty Theatre and is an Associate Producer with Vass Productions. She has 30 years of experience across the theatre, television and film sectors, both on stage and screen and off. Her work has been seen and heard in Canada, the United States, the UK and Australia, first as a performer before transitioning into the roles of producer and director.
TBA

COMEDY NIGHT

Meet the Producers

Cameron Steens

They/Them
NEW WORK MANAGER & LEAD PRODUCER
A Naarm based multidisciplinary theatre maker, WAAPA graduate and all-round creative. As Antipodes’ New Work Manager, they've produced numerous developments and networking programs (including Winter Labs 2020 - present, Festival of the Unseen 2023) in addition to the premiere of Orlando, Antipodes' first production originating from the Winter Lab. Other credits include: This is Living (Assoc Director, Gavin Roach), Guys & Dolls (Production Manager, Antipodes), Protein (Assist Director & Sound Design, Autonomous Inventions), MIMMA (dir. Adam Mitchell), JTC’s RENT (dir. Mark Taylor) & BSSTC’s Assassins (dir. Roger Hodgman). www.cameronsteens.com
Brandon Pape

He/Him
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CO-PRODUCER
Brandon is the Founding Artistic Director for Antipodes Theatre Company, where he directed Ghost Quartet (two 2020 Green Room Award Nominations, return seasons in 2021 and upcoming Sydney season in 2025) and co-directed with Trudy Dunn their immersive reimagining of Guys and Dolls (thirteen 2024 Green Room Award nominations). Other Antipodes credits include Sam I Am, And She Would Stand Like This, Passing Strange (five 2023 Green Room Award Nominations), Orlando, and the Winter Lab - an annual development program for new work and bold ideas.
Ashley Taylor Tickell

She/Her
CO-PRODUCER
Ashley is the Director and Co-Founder of Melbourne based theatre company Salty Theatre and is an Associate Producer with Vass Productions. She has 30 years of experience across the theatre, television and film sectors, both on stage and screen and off. Her work has been seen and heard in Canada, the United States, the UK and Australia, first as a performer before transitioning into the roles of producer and director.