Proud of NIDA alumni in Sydney WorldPride 2023

Led by Festival Creative Director Ben Graetz (Acting, 1998 and Movement, 2009), below is just a small sample of some of the exciting alumni featured productions on offer, including a school choir gospel musical, a lesbian divorce comedy, the powerful true history of Australian gay rights activism, and a queer Bollywood version of Cinderella.

CHOIR BOY: Riverside Theatre Parramatta - Pharus Young is hell-bent on being the best choir leader in the 50-year history of Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys. Directors Dino Dimitriadis and Zindzi Okenyo (Acting, 2006) lead a sensational Australian and international team, presenting Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney’s (Moonlight) script. Music Direction by Allen René Louis (Broadway Inspirational Voices) blends the language of high school hallways with the soulful sounds of gospel for an unforgettable night at the theatre.  Other alumni include Costume Designer Rita Naidu (Master of Fine Arts Design, 2021), cast Tawanda Muzenda (Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance, 2022) and Quinton Rich (Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance, 2019), Dialect Coach Angela Nica Sullen (Acting, 2016 and Master of Fine Arts Voice, 2020) and Company Manager Jen Jackson (Technical Theatre and Stage Management, 2020)

BLESSED UNION: Belvoir Theatre Upstairs The lesbian break-up comedy you didn’t know you needed.Ruth and Judith have been a couple for decades. They’ve lived at the forefront as Australia changed. Now, their marriage is over. They’ve always told themselves, and others, that theirs was a different union. Alumni include Set and Costume Designer Isobel Hudson (Design, 2015).

CAMP: Siren Theatre Co and Seymour Centre. Directed and produced by alumni Kate Gaul (Directing, 1996) and with Genevieve Mooy (Acting, 1982) in the ensemble cast, CAMP is inspired by remarkable true stories from the early Pride activists who risked family, careers, and imprisonment to achieve social reform in Australia. Other alumni are Associate Director Hayden Tonazzi (Master of Fine Arts Directing, 2020), Production Designer Angelina Meany (Bachelor of Fine Arts Design for Performance, 2021) and Lighting Designer Morgan Moroney (Technical Theatre and Stage Management, 2020).

SUNDERELLA: ARA Darling Quarter Theatre. Sunderella is an all-singing, all-dancing, queer Bollywood adaptation of Cinderella, set in 18th-century British India, and features a cast of 20 characters in splendid costumes and jewels, dancing to some of Bollywood’s greatest hits. Featuring alumni cast member Nickin Alexander (Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance, 2022) as Prince Nirad and Set Designer Soham Apte (Bachelor of Fine Arts Design for Performance, 2021).

FEMINAZI: Belvoir St, 25A. When Zan played by Ziggy Resnick (Acting, 2020) a self-proclaimed “FEMINAZI” sets out to kill every man in the world, they undergo an identity crisis to understand the constructs of gender and ingrained homophobia within our queer world. Darkly funny, this part digital, part theatre performance also features alumni Production Designer Hailley Hunt (Bachelor of Fine Arts Design for Performance, 2022).

NIDA offers congratulations to everyone involved in WorldPride 2023.

For more information on the 2023 Sydney WorldPride program and our celebrated alumni involved visit: https://sydneyworldpride.com/