Click Here - Wyong Drama Group

From the President
"Sweet Road" is a play driving us onwards into the future. It
invests in the young and talented members of our group and
is our first play presented in the new grove theatre, I wish to
congratulate Joshua and his team on heading up what is to
be terrific show to relaunch our flourishing company in it’s
new home. In the coming days we hope to launch our 2015
‘Grove’ season and it’s sure to be one of our biggest yet! We
can’t wait to continue bring highly quality, affordable theatre to
the central coast. In little over a year we will have the new
Arthouse and performing groups in the area will have a "State
of the Art" facility. We thank and recognise the good work of
many councillors and their officers that have shown great
insight into our Community Planning, we look forward to
continuing our long and strong relationship.
Howard Oxley
About Us
WANTED NEW MEMBERS:
We need members of all ages who would be interested
in assisting with all aspects of theatre. Our meetings
are held on the first Tuesday of the month in the Green
Room behind the Wyong Memorial Hall. For further
information on Wyong Drama Group visit our website:
www.wyongdramagroup.com.au
OR
email:
[email protected]
THEATRE BUFFS
If you would like to join the Theatre Buffs to help with
front of house or behind the scenes at our shows,
contact: [email protected] for
further information.
Thank Yous
iMag, ABC Radio Central Coast, Central Coast Express
Advocate, Wyong Chronicle, Lakes Mail, Wyong Musical
Theatre Company, ASLE, Margaret Hardy – Multi Arts
Confederation, Local Coffeechat, Sign Image, Snap Printing
Gosford, Mountain News, Village Grapevine, Coast FM 96.3
(Coast Arts), Stage Whipsers, Rose Cooper, About The
Central Coast E-zine, Karen & Paul Ractliffe, Graham Vale,
Jordan Green Designs, Gosford Musical Society, Best Price
Auto, Chris King
The Director
Almost two years to the day I opened my last show, Two
Weeks with the Queen, with Wyong Drama Group. I have
the privilege of bringing another stunning Australian piece of
theatre to the local stage.
It’s always an honor to have an entire show entrusted to
you, and I want to thank the Drama Group as a whole for
entrusting this show to me. When I read this play I clearly
feel in love with it. It is an privilage to be able to create this
stunning peice of Australian writing. Debra Oswald is one of
my idols and I’m over joyed to finally be able to produce one
of her works.
I was given the show in the same week, two years almost to
the day, as I was given my last. So I was well prepared for
the hell-ishly busy time I was in for. This show was also 43
pages longer than my last; but with some great help we’ve
pulled together - and I hope you agree on this - a stunning
piece of theatre!
I have to thank my wonderful team Pollyanna, Cheryl,
Belinda, Brendon, Nik, Cameron T, Cameron O, Paul,
Maddy for being so generous with their time, services and
property. I also want to thank my right hand man, Declan, for
keeping me sane, dealing with me and for creating some of
the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.
To my cast: Danielle, Jess, The Scotts, Kalani, Marc, Cassie
and Kyle, I can’t express how proud I am of you and how
honoured I am to be working with such a fine bunch of
lunatics, who also are superb actors. You all do the acting
thing rather well.
Since the curtain fell on my last directorship, life in the past
two years has been very trying to my family and to me and I
want to thank them for being there for me. Earlier this year
my family lost its patriarch, my great grandfather Max, from
whom I take my stage name, passed away at age 93. He
was my ‘Frank’. He was a trucker, a traveller, a family man
and a true Aussie battler. He taught my family about love,
compassion, kindness, acceptance and humility. He lost his
wife Molly in the late 1970s and never stopped loving her
until the day he died and was laid to rest on their 76th
wedding anniversary. So I would like to dedicate this show
to Max & Molly Aspinall, my family’s own ‘Frank & Vera’.
May they both be out travelling the roads of this great land
forever.
This show has been a joy - a pure joy. I’ve laughed, cried,
travelled to the middle of Australia and back, I’ve gotten to
work with old friends, made new ones and gotten to do what
I love… Create.
Joshua Maxwell
WYONG DRAMA GROUP INC
The Grove Theatre
President - Howard Oxley
Committee: Pam Campbell, Jenny Newman (Vice Presidents) Robyn Weidlich (Secretary)
Sally Bartley (Treasuer) Joshua Maxwell, Pollyanna Forshaw (Floor Members)
BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CAMERONS AGENT, SYDNEY, NSW
WRITTEN BY
DIRECTED BY
DEBRA OSWALD
JOSHUA MAXWELL
starring
DANIELLE BRAME WHITING
JESSICA PASCUZZO
SCOTT OSBOURNE SCOTT RUSSELL
KALANI KATSOOLIS CASSIE ROOME KYLE CARLSON
WITH
MARC CALWELL AS FRANK
Production Manager
POLLYANNA FORSHAW
Technical Manager
BRENDON FLYNN
Assistant Stage Manager
Assistant Director / Composer
DECLAN GREEN
Lighting Designer
NIK LYONS
Audio Engineer
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Photographer
Front of House
Videographer
IAN ABBOTT
Soundscapes
Stunt Coordinator
BLAKE RUSSELL DUNCAN MITCHELL
Production Aid
POLLYANNA FORSHAW WDG MEMBERS PAUL RACTLIFFE
ANDY KABANOFF
Production Manager
JOSHUA MAXWELL CAMERON OXLEY
MADELINE PARKER CAMERON TAYLOR
Bookings Officer
Stage Manager
BELINDA WESTLEY CHERYL WELLS
Technical Supply
ASLE
Printing
Set Build
WDG MEMBERS
Technical Opertation
SNAP PRINTING WDG MEMEBERS
Production Marketing by Joshua Maxwell, Madeline Parker, Cathy DeVries & Pollyanna Forsahw
SWEET ROAD ORCHESTRA
Declan Green, Cameron Taylor, Blake Russell, Rhyse Aquilina, Quinn Carter, Anna-purna Srivastava
Original production opened 2 August 2000 at the C.U.B Malthouse Melbourne
Original Director: Aubrey Mellor
This production opened November 6 2014 at The Grove Theatre Wyong
SETTING
Sydney, outback roads, service stations, a salt lake, a motel, a carvan park
Late 90s
PATRONS ARE ADVISED
Flash, still and video photography of the production is STRICTLY prohibited.
There will be 20 minute interval with refreshments available from the canteen.
www.wyongdramagroup.com.au
Meet the Cast & Team
Danielle Brame Whiting
Jo
Scott Osbourne
Michael
Jessica Pascuzzo
Carla
Scott Russell
Andy
Kalani Katsoolis
Yasmin
Marc Calwell
Frank
Cassie Roome
Policewoman
Kyle Carlson
Curtis
Danielle Brame Whiting (Jo) In her teens and early
twenties Danielle danced, sang and acted at school and
with amateur groups. She also dabbled as a professional
wedding singer and pantomime performer before taking off
to explore the world. To her mother's relief she returned
before 30 to complete a tertiary undergraduate and
honours degree in Drama, a Licentiate Diploma in
Teaching Speech and Drama, and a Graduate Diploma of
Education in Drama and English. Intermixed with this study
she has worked as a research consultant in leadership and
culture, a private vocal improvement coach, and a drama
teacher. Sweet Road is her acknowledgement that, at 40, it
is about time she gets back onstage to show she can
practice what she preaches.
Marc Calwell (Frank) Marc is a long time member of WDG
and has been in a number of productions, including Fawlty
Towers, The Memory of Water, Loot, 'Allo Allo', The Boat
and Marsupials to name a few. This is Marc's second time
working with Josh after his role in Two Weeks with the
Queen. He also enjoys treading the boards in musicals
when given the chance! Marc is relishing the opportunity to
work with such a talented cast and production team and to
be able to play a character who is "on the big trip" after
returning from a three month road trip in the USA himself.
Please enjoy your visit with those who are each on their
own version of "the big trip".
Kyle Carlson (Curtis) Kyle Carlson is excited to be
performing in his second stage play with Wyong Drama
Group after his appearance in The Accused. Kyle has been
involved with stage productions from his early teens,
having starred as Alistair in the Mad Cow Theatre
Company’s production of Two Weeks with the Queen. Kyle
studied Drama for his HSC and has also taken part in
multiple acting courses for both stage and screen.
Brendon Flynn (Technical Manager) Brendon has been
involved with community theatre both in Sydney and on the
Central Coast since his early years. His parents (Bill and
Pat Flynn) were founding and life members of Woy Woy
Little Theatre. He has performed in, worked technicals and
directed various productions for WWLT and Wyong Drama
Group. Most recently he appeared as Sir James Barrington
QC for the Defence in The Accused for Wyong Drama
Group, and was technical operator for WWLT’s Insignificance. Brendon has been working professionally behind
the scenes on live television for the past 30 years as a
Director / Vision Switcher, and in that time has worked for
all the Free to Air and Pay TV networks in Australia.
Pollyanna Forshaw (Production Manager) Life member of
Wyong Drama Group, Pollyanna Forshaw has been
involved in all aspects of Central Coast community theatre
since the ‘70s with our home group and other mainstream
and small individual dramatic groups and musical
societies, especially GMS and WMTC. Recent directing
highlights were the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in
2011 and more recently Eurobeat- Almost Eurovision in
2013, both for WMTC, and Jeffery Archer’s The Accused in
November 2013 for WDG. She is currently appearing in
The Phantom of the Opera with Gosford Musical Society.
Joshua Maxwell (Director) At 21, Joshua has over 150
productions under his belt nationally, and has been
featured internationally as a graphic artist with his arts
company Jopuka Productions. He is the resident designer
of Adelaide Youth Theatre, Central Coast Opera and WDG.
For WDG he directed the acclaimed 2012 production of
Two Weeks With The Queen. He also designed Shoe
Horn Sonata, Cosi, Calendar Girls, The Accussed and All
My Sons, Next year he is Designer for GMS’s ‘Footloose.’
And we’re proud to announce will direct ‘Ruthless! The
Musical’ for Wyong Drama Group opening in August 2015!
Declan Green (Assistant Director / Composer) Declan
has been involved in local theatre since 2007 and has
played piano since 2005. Since then he has grown up
performing in local theatre and music eisteddfods on the
Central Coast. His theatre highlights have included playing
Alistair in Two Weeks with the Queen, Hugo Peabody in
Bye Bye Birdie, and the Apostle John in Jesus Christ
Superstar. In the last few years he has picked up a few
extra instruments to expand his musical repertoire, which
has certainly proven to be useful while writing the music for
Sweet Road. Last year he achieved band 6 in HSC Drama
and Music 2 (the highest rank), and had his monologue
nominated for OnSTAGE, a showcase of exemplary HSC
drama performances from around NSW. Declan has
continued to develop his skills in theatre and he jumped at
the opportunity to be the Assistant Director for Sweet Road
so that he could gain experience beyond acting. He has
had an excellent time working with such a talented cast
and production team, and hopes to eventually start
directing his own plays and films.
Scott Osborne (Michael) This is Scott's first performance
with WDG. However he is no stranger to the stage. After
many years performing in musicals and on screen Scott
has decided to get back to his roots and is extremely
excited to be playing Michael in WDGs performance of
Sweet Road.
Kalani Katsoolis (Yasmin) Kalani has been acting most of
her life in a variety of theatre styles. Her experience is in
live theatre, short film and script writing. She has appeared
with WDG in Little Women and Two Weeks with the Queen
and worked with companies such as NIDA, Jopuka
Productions as well as independent short film makers for
the ABC, Sydney Theatre Company and ATYPY. She is
currently working diligently on script writing and furthering
her performance skills. This character actress is incredibly
excited to be working with a character so close to her own
personality and experience and has loving being back with
her WDG family.
Nik Lyons (Lighting Design) Acclaimed lighting designer
Nik Lyons has come on board for WDG's production of
Sweet Road. Nik has been lighting theatre shows for over
10 years, and more recently has worked as LD for bands
such as Hanson (USA) Hot Chocolate (UK) and The Dead
Daisies (AUS), just to name a few. Nik has spent the past
week to ensure that you become fully immersed in the
visual experience of Sweet Road.
Debra Oswald (playwright) Oswald is a writer for stage,
film, television and children’s fiction, and one of Australia's
most loved at that. Debra’s stage plays have been
produced around Australia. Gary’s House, Sweet Road
and The Peach Season were all shortlisted for the NSW
Premier’s Literary Award. Her play Dags has had many
Australian productions and has been published and
performed in Britain and the United States. Debra’s
television credits are Bananas in Pyjamas, The Secret Life
of Us and award winning episodes of Police Rescue. Most
recently she created 'Offspring' Channel Ten's multi-award
winning drama. This year it was voted the best TV series in
the networks history.
Cameron Oxley (Soundscapes) Cameron has appeared
in various productions for both the Wyong Drama Group &
Wyong Musical Theatre Company over the past 10 years,
more recently appearing in The Accused (2013) for the
WDG and HAIR (2014) for WTMC . However more recently
he has taken a technical role helping out with the sound for
The Little Mermaid Jr. (2014) for WTMC. Cameron will
hopes to be doing more sound work in the future and also
make a return to acting.
Madeline Parker - (Assistant Stage Manager) First trained
with Helen O’Grady Drama Academy before joining XtrAct
Drama Academy in 2008. First WDG she was Ophelia in
Ruby of Elsinore, followed by roles in Chase Me Comrade,
Fawlty Towers, Shoe Horn Sonata, Two Weeks with the
Queen, Why Can’t They Just Eat Flowers, and most
recently, as Ann in All My Sons. Maddy has trained with the
NIDA, and played the lead in their 2010 Youth Production
of Wan2tlk. Maddy is super excited to be on the Sweet
Road crew, and is very thankful for the opportunity to
continue to expand her theatre skills beyond that of acting.
Jessica Pascuzzo (Carla) Jessica Pascuzzo is excited to
be joining WDG as Carla in the production of Sweet Road.
Jess has always had a passion for theatre, starting drama
classes at age 7 with Helen O’Grady and joining Mad Cow
Theatre Company at age 12. Throughout school Jess has
always participated in various performing arts activities
including the role of Dracula in Drac’s Back, Miss
Brannigan in Back to the 80s and the Devil in Disco
Inferno. Jess also participated in the Central Coast Junior
Theatre Sports program run by Mad Cow Theatre Co. After
graduation, Jess took some time off to head to North
Carolina to work as a camp counsellor in a 4H Summer
Camp. There she was given the opportunity to run the
camp’s performing arts program where she was able to
work with the kids to create ‘end of camp’ performances.
After heading to university and getting a degree in
Business and Marketing Jess is finally returning to the
stage after six long years.
Cassie Roome (Policewoman) Cassie has been involved
in local theatre for ten years, having performed in many
shows at Wyong Musical Theatre Company - most recently
including Peter Pan, Eurobeat- Almost Eurovision, and
Hair. Earlier in 2014, she made her directorial debut as
co-director of The Little Mermaid for WMTC juniors. Sweet
Road is her first show with Wyong Drama Group and she
has very much enjoyed working with a group of such
talented and inspiring individuals.
Scott Russell (Andy) Scott has been involved in amateur
theatre since he was a young teenager, appearing in many
WMTC junior productions as a chorus member. Since then
a lot has changed. He has gone from chorus roles to
featured roles, most recently playing Woof in WMTC's
production of Hair. He has been with the Wyong Drama
Group since 2011 when he played Laurie in Little Women,
and has had the privilege of performing in several plays
since. These roles include: thirteen year old Colin in Two
Weeks with the Queen (2012) and a young man suffering
with schizophrenia in the 2013 Theatrefest production of
On the Edge, which earned him and his co-star two
awards. The role of fast-paced, wild and emotional Andy
has proven to be a difficult one, and Scott has enjoyed the
task of finding the right balance between manic energy and
controlled subtlety in his acting. He hopes to do the
character justice so that you enjoy his journey as much as
Scott does portraying it.
Cheryl Wells (Production Manager) Cheryl has been a
member of the WDG for 8 years and has been involved as
a cast member and as part of the crew during that time.
She first appeared on stage in the first season of Fawlty
Towers and has worked as Stage Manager for shows such
as Soul Mates and Loot. Cheryl has been involved in a
number of musicals over the last few years including
Calamity Jane, Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair and is
enjoying being back with the Wyong Drama Group for this
production. “I love being involved in an Australian play and
hope we can see more of them being performed at Wyong
in the future”.
Belinda Westley (Stage Manager) Belinda's production
highlights include dresser in Quirktorium (2010), Lighting
Operator for Wesley Institute Generations (2011) and
Lighting Assistant for the Subsonic Music Festival (2013),
Stage Crew for Chatswood Musical Society's Dusty (2012)
and Willoughby Theatre Company's Sunset Boulevard
(2012), Front of House Manager for Wesley Institute The
Good Woman of Setzuan (2010), Twisted Tree Theatre’s
The Importance of Being Earnest (2011), Assistant Stage
Manager of Wesley Institutes The Tempest (calling the
show – and touring) (2011) and Short and Sweet Dance
(2014), Stage Manager at Wesley Institute for Three Blind
Men (2010) and Classic Shorts (2012), Wyong Drama
Group’s The Memory of Water (2013), All My Sons (2014),
Stage Manager and Dance Choreographer for Romeo and
Juliet for Point Break Drama (2013).
.
Production Team
Joshua Maxwell
Director
Declan Green
Assistant Director
Pollyanna Forshaw & Cheryl Wells
Production Managers
Cameron Oxley
Soundscapes
Nik Lyons
Lighting Design
Debra Oswald
Playwright
Belinda Westley
Stage Manager
Brendon Flynn
Technical Manager
Madeline Parker
Assist.Stage Manager
Cameron Taylor
Audio Engineer
Gutiar 1 / Synth
Rhyse Aquilina
Anna-purna Srivastava
Quinn Carter
Blake Russell
Bass
Violin 1 & 2
Percussion
Mandolin / Guitar 2
Picture Above Declan Green Composer / Piano / Synth 2
Sweet Road Ocrhestra
DOWNLOAD THE MUSIC FROM SWEET ROAD
If you loved the music of Sweet Road you can download
the entire score from ‘iTunes’ now!
Just head to the itunes store and search ‘Music from Sweet Road’