REVIEW: Class of 2026 Musical Theatre Showcase - Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre

Class of 2026 Musical Theatre Showcase

Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre, Griffith University

Date Attended: 10 September 2026

Creative Directors: Paul Sabey, Megan Shorey, and Dr Elise Greig

Musical Director and Arranger: Heidi Loveland

Choreographer: Dan Venz

Voice and Acting Coach: Dr Elise Greig

Stage Manager and Lighting: Cathy Healy

One hour. Twenty graduating musical theatre students. Dozens of songs, scenes, dance breaks. And approximately four seconds in which to breathe between them. No pressure.

The Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre’s Class of 2026 Musical Theatre Showcase gives its graduating cohort one final chance to show exactly what three years of training has produced before they’re sent out into the industry. Everyone performed as though their lives depend on it. Or their degrees. Possibly both.

The format is stripped back. There are no microphones, barely any time between each piece, and a live band led by musical director Heidi Loveland, with Archie Loveland on guitar and Lucas Harm occasionally swapping performer duties for percussion. The staging is intimate, exposed, and audition-like. They have only a minute or two at a time to establish a character, tell a story, show off some vocal fireworks, dance themselves breathless, and convince the audience that they should be cast immediately. It’s a terrifying proposition when you think about it. And that pressure produces some of the showcase’s most unexpected choices.

Having seen many of this cohort across their training, I spent much of the hour watching them perform roles I haven’t previously associated with them. There’s very little safety in staying within an obvious casting type. Scene work helped considerably because the acting material covered wildly different territory. This year, the students performed existing texts rather than self-written scenes, moving from the heightened ridiculousness of Fangirls, Freak, Matilda, and Muriel’s Wedding into the thornier worlds of Marriage Story, Closer, Glengarry Glen Ross, and DNA.

The musical choices are just as determined to test every available skill. Alessia Charman and Jackson Hughesman find an intense connection in “Seventeen” from Heathers. Caelan McCarthy and Anni Reilly’s Juno scene captures the awkward rhythm of two people struggling to articulate their feelings. Ned Kelly and Addisyn Herndon bring a convincing push and pull to “First Date/Last Night” from Dogfight. Addisyn also brings wonderful emotional shape to “The Mad Hatter” from Wonderland. AJ Betts finds sincerity inside the underrated “Who I’d Be” from Shrek. What I keep noticing across their roles is the ability to simply become whoever they’re playing. AJ's characters arrive fully formed

Zoe Allsopp Lander has one of my front-runner vocal moments in “When It All Falls Down” from Chaplin. It’s a big, brassy, belted number, and that huge sound isn’t what I expect to come out of Zoe until she opens her mouth and there it is. Ned Kelly brings both scale and emotional urgency to “The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In” from Hair.

Caelan McCarthy’s “Leave” from Once is at its best in its simplicity: a performer, a guitar, and a story. Caelan also has one of the most distinctive voices in the cohort, with a vocal quality that feels entirely his own. Priya Gill, Lily Bennetts, and McCarthy perform an acoustic, non-musical-theatre rendition of “Landslide,” allowing the harmonies and warmth among them to elevate the song. In a programme that moves at such speed, these quieter pieces are so valuable, showing that holding back can reveal just as much as belting, dancing, or throwing everything at the audience at once.

There’s another challenge in tackling songs with popular versions already lodged in people’s memories. Tayler Ramsay gets her own deliciously theatrical turn with “Roxie”. Priya Gill handles the rhythmic precision and agility of “Helpless” from Hamilton. I can def see her playing Eliza one day. Aarya Doolabh brings buoyant energy to “When Will My Life Begin?”, capturing the song’s particular brand of Disney optimism. Saul Kavenagh gets to flex his musical muscles with “Moving Too Fast”, attacking Jason Robert Brown’s relentless phrasing and momentum head-on. Saul has that recognisable musical theatre leading-man quality: clear, assured, and easy to imagine carrying a full production.

Some other performers have looked at the requirement to sing unamplified and thought... Excellent. Now I shall dance as hard as I possibly can! These are borderline sadistic choices (which is a compliment). Alessia Charman opens the entire showcase with “New Money” from The Great Gatsby, combining its flash, vocal attack, and relentless physicality, which immediately put my jaw on the floor. Lucas Harm barely stops moving through “I Can’t Stand Still” from Footloose, yet keeps the vocal line clear and projected while his body does exactly what the title promises. Ella Wood takes on the beast that is “The Life of the Party” and goes after it with total commitment: fearless eye contact, a huge vocal belt, and stamina through every beat of the choreography. She leaves nothing in reserve.

Just when I think the showcase can’t ask much more of them, Anni Reilly takes on “Mein Herr”, with all its stylised precision and physical demands layered on top of the singing. The ensemble backs her beautifully, helping build the number’s scale and sharp theatricality. Harry Ince goes one step further and sings Barnum while juggling, because musical theatre training clearly wasn’t keeping him busy enough. Hannah Mohr tackles the jazzy agility of “Here I Am” from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and she’s also one of the performers I kept noticing in the dance-heavy ensemble material. Lily Bennetts seduces the audience through the tango rhythms of “Whatever Lola Wants”, twisting through the choreography with control. These numbers demand projection, breath control, and stamina, and Dan Venz’s choreography doesn’t baby the cohort either. But that’s the job, and I have enormous admiration for performers who can do all of it at once (while still smiling).

Lottie Smith and Sam Thomas go charging into “This World Will Remember Us” from Bonnie & Clyde with all the reckless excitement it needs, completely matching each other’s energy. Lottie also gets her own chance to bite into the humour of “I’m Infected” from Cry-Baby. And Sam singing “On My Own” from Les Mis may be my favourite example of the showcase’s refusal to typecast. I didn’t expect it from someone I associate so strongly with comedy, and I’m glad there’s space here for him to show that side of emotion.

The ensemble is rarely far from the action, with few students ever truly performing alone. Classmates constantly step in to support one another in numbers like “Larger Than Life”, “Helpless”, “New Money”, and “Moses Supposes/Good Morning”. Saul and Zoe front Rocky Horror's “Damn It, Janet”, while the others’ perfectly expressionless faces pop into view. Lachlan Dunks takes charge of “The Mob Song” from Beauty and the Beast, his low, intense voice giving the Disney number a menancing edge. Jackson closes the show with “Goodbye” from Catch Me If You Can, drawing everyone back onstage for one final shared moment.

You can feel everybody willing each other through the showcase. This is a cohort of big personalities, but there’s also a lovely generosity in how readily they support whoever has the spotlight. The brutally tight transitions leave almost no opportunity to celebrate one another. A number finishes, the audience wants to cheer, and somebody else is already halfway into their next piece. I imagine the internal dialogue is mostly, You smashed that! Love you! Move, I need your spot!

A few performers kept tugging my attention back throughout the hour, and I’d like to briefly single them out of the chorus line. Zoe Allsopp Lander moves easily between broad comedy and emotionally direct material, while AJ Betts has a knack for disappearing into each character they’re handed. Alessia Charman moves between the physical, vocal, and emotional demands of each piece with command. Jackson Hughesman has the kind of warmth that naturally draws the eye. There’s an individuality to him that’s difficult to manufacture, along with an ease in front of the room that makes even the most exposed material feel comfortable.

Ella Wood impresses me just as much for the distance between her musical choices. “The Life of the Party” asks for attack and the nerve to fill every inch of the number, while Waitress requires almost the opposite instinct: restraint. Harry Ince is perhaps the performer who most consistently makes me reassess where I’d cast him. He can be a swaggering showman in Barnum, soften completely for Waitress, and then jump into the thrill of David Mamet. Ned Kelly is equally determined to visit a new genre every time he walks onstage, moving between Marriage Story, Dogfight, and Hair. More than the variety itself, though, it’s the sheer commitment that keeps pulling my attention back to him. His focus is intense in every role, and he gives each appearance the same full-bodied investment whether he has one minute or ten.

The only downside is built into the form itself. A minute can be cruelly short. Just as somebody establishes a character or settles into a song, we’re moving again. Yet that’s also the skill being tested: walk into an almost empty space, with very little time and nowhere to hide, and make somebody take notice. This cohort can do it.

I’d already started imagining where I’d like to see them next. Only a month later, some are turning up on our local stages. I didn’t have to imagine for long!