About the show
What if the love that shaped you most was the love that didn’t last?
Spanning three chapters of adulthood, this tender and contemporary musical traces the friendships, families and former lovers who leave their mark long after they’re gone. Joey Contreras’s pop-driven songs – streamed tens of millions of times before the show reached the stage in 2021 – become vivid, shifting stories of connection, self-discovery, and the slow work of becoming who you are. Proudly queer-inclusive and emotionally open-ended, In Pieces holds space for the beauty and bruises of love in all its forms.
This is a love story about the people you don’t end up with. See it, feel it, keep the pieces.
Miranda Middleton is an award-winning theatre-maker with a Master of Fine Arts (Directing) from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). She has been a recipient of the Sandra Bates Director’s Award at the Ensemble Theatre and a MinterEllison Future Director at Melbourne Theatre Company. Miranda was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Bright Star and a Green Room Award for Outstanding Direction of an Independent Musical for The Grinning Man. Miranda’s most recent directing credits include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bright Star (Sport for Jove Theatre Company); Into the Woods (Elder Conservatorium of Music); In Her Own Words (Sydney Festival); The Grinning Man (VASS Productions/Salty Theatre); The Eisteddfod (Old Fitz Theatre). As Associate Director: My Brilliant Career (Melbourne Theatre Company); King of Pangea (King’s Head Theatre, London). As Assistant Director: Candide (Opera Australia); The Lovers (Bell Shakespeare); Master Class, The Queen’s Nanny (Ensemble Theatre). Miranda will direct the new musical Paper Stars for British Youth Music Theatre in 2026.
Zara Stanton
Zara Stanton (she/her) is an award-winning Music Director, Composer, Arranger and Performer. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Most recently, Zara was Music Director for Gutenberg! The Musical! and Head Over Heels at the Hayes, and Music Director/Arranger for the World Premiere of Eddie Perfect’s new musical, Tivoli Lovely (WAAPA).
Other credits include; Music Director for the 2025 tour of In The Heights (JRP), Music Director for the Australian Premiere of Dear Evan Hansen (STC/MCG), Music Director/Arranger/Orchestrator for BLOOM (MTC), and Music Director/Arranger for The Boomkak Panto (Belvoir St. Theatre), Every Musical Ever (Adelaide Cabaret Festival/Wyong Art House) and The Deb (Australian Theatre for Young People).
Zara was Music Supervisor/Vocal Arranger/Orchestrator for the 2024 UK premiere of FANGIRLS (Lyric Hammersmith), and her work on FANGIRLS in Australia yielded an ARIA nomination (Best Musical Theatre Album), and a Green Room Award nomination (Best Music Direction).
Zara is the Composer, Orchestrator and Music Director for Metropolis (Little Eggs Collective), which had its world premiere season at the Hayes Theatre in April 2023. For her work on the show, Zara received the Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Composition for an Independent Production and Best Music Direction.
Zara also earned Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Music Direction for Dear Evan Hansen and for the Hayes Theatre Co. production of HMS Pinafore.
Zara is incredibly passionate about promoting representation in musical theatre, particularly for artists of Asian heritage and for female and non-binary musicians and creatives.
Freya List has been recognised three times by the Green Room Awards, winning the Betty Pounder Award for Original Choreography for Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical (David Venn Enterprises) and Next to Normal (James Terry Collective), and receiving a further award for Outstanding Choreography for The Grinning Man (Salty Theatre). She has also worked for Victorian Opera, Opera Australia), MTC and STC. She has also choreographed extensively for the Victorian College of the Arts.
We have tried to capture the relentless motion and glorious grunge of the city through our design and staging of In Pieces. Set between 2006 and 2014, this contemporary American song cycle follows six individuals as they fall in and out of love with each other and themselves, ultimately searching for connection in a fragmented world.
It’s been a total joy coming back to NIDA and collaborating with such a talented and hard-working group of actors, designers, and technicians. A huge thank you to Zara and Freya for bringing your extraordinary artistry to the production – we’ve been so lucky to have you.
I hope you all enjoy this little slice of New York romance and nostalgia!
– Miranda Middleton
To be advised.
Subject to change during the development of a production.
The Company
Principal Cast (in order of appearance)
Charlie: Aidan Grace
Sam: Beatrice Ainslie
Grey: Bradley Bulger
Hunter (Austyn): Jacob Miles
River: Jennifer Roache
Alex (Jarl): Zara Giacobello
Director: Miranda Middleton*
Musical Director: Zara Stanton*
Choreographer: Freya List*
Costume Designer: Imogen Hale
Lighting Designer: Darcy Duncan
Set & Props Designer: Adithi Iyer
Sound Designer: Bella Muslado
Assistant Director: Elyse Armstrong
Assistant Director: Sunitra Sivabalan
Production Stage Manager: Jonathan Ogilvie
Deputy Stage Manager: Sophie Aloi
Deputy Stage Manager: Coco Tong
Technical Manager: Luke Ferguson
Props Supervisor: Hayley McGregor
Sound System Supervisor: Aiden Carter
Head Electrician: Harry Deacon
Floor Electrician: Lucy van Luyt
Key
*Guest Artist
** NIDA Staff