Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge

Vanessa Downing has enjoyed an extensive and varied career encompassing film, theatre and television. On stage she has worked with many of Australia’s leading theatre companies: Sydney Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, State Theatre Company of SA, Melbourne Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, Ensemble, The Production Company, Q Theatre and Riverside Theatres.

Vanessa’s stage career highlights include performances in Wicked Sisters, The Deep Blue Sea, Black is the New White, How to Rule the World, Power Plays, A Cheery Soul, The Taming of the Shrew, The Glass Menagerie, Macbeth, King Lear. As You Like It, Hello, Dolly!, Equus, Three Birds Alighting on a Field, Private Lives, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Season’s Greetings, Steaming and the original 1986 production of Away at Griffin. Vanessa recently appeared in season 2 of Foxtel’s Mr In Between and previous television credits include Black Comedy, The Checkout, Rake, All Saints, G.P, Home and Away, and A Country Practice. Feature film appearances include Stationery, Mary, The Boy Who Had Everything, Two Hands. Vanessa is also a member of the Sydney Philharmonia Symphony Chorus.

Joshua Reckless is an Actor/Singer/Dancer from Western Sydney NSW. After graduating from High School in 2015 Joshua was accepted into the prestigious Music Theatre course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). During his time at WAAPA he played multiple lead roles, including Ralph in Nigel William’s stage adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Bandleader and Andrew Jackson Cover in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and Usnavi in In The Heights.

Joshua made his professional debut in 2019 with the West Australian Opera, playing the role of Tobias Ragg in Stuart Maunder’s production of Sweeney Todd. Theatre credits since then include Tom Thumb in Barnum at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne (Dir: Tyran Parke) and Warren in Ordinary Days at Sydney’s Flight Path Theatre (Dir: Jon Emmett). Joshua is thrilled to be making his Sydney Opera House debut with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Kelsey is a lighting, set and costume designer for theatre and film. In 2019 she designed the lighting, set and costumes for There’s A Sea In My Bedroom for the ACO’s first ever children’s production. Kelsey’s recent credits include Outdated (Ensemble Theatre), Queen Fatima (NToP and Sydney Festival), Jali (Aya Productions and Griffin Theatre Company) and A Room Of One’s Own (Belvoir) with a return season this year.

For Belvoir’s 25A season in 2019, Kelsey designed the lighting for Extinction of The Learned Response, Skyduck and Kasama Kita. Other theatre credits include I’m With Her and Comedy Kiki 2019 (Darlinghurst Theatre Company); April Aardvark (ATYP); Good Dog, If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You (Greendoor Theatre Company).

Paul Stanhope is a Sydney-based composer, conductor and educator. His compositions have had prominent performances in the UK, Europe, Asia as well as North and South America. After studies with Andrew Ford, Andrew Schultz and Peter Sculthorpe in Australia, Paul was awarded the Charles Mackerras Scholarship which enabled him to study at the Guildhall School of Music in London in 2000. In May 2004, Paul’s international standing was confirmed when he was awarded first place in the prestigious Toru Takemitsu Composition Prize.

He has been awarded four APRA/Australian Music Centre Art awards in Instrumental, Orchestral, Choral and Vocal music categories and was also the first composer to receive a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in 2013 and 2014. Over the last few years, Paul has enjoyed collaborating with the musicians of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and director Tim McGarry in creating the children’s music theatre piece There’s a Sea in my Bedroom’ which premiered in 2019, with a digital release on the Sydney Opera House’s channel in 2020. Paul is thrilled to be working on Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge - a joyful and touching follow up collaboration with the ACO to be premiered in May 2021, this time under the directorship of Sandie Eldridge.

Sandie Eldridge is an experience performer, writer and director – a Helpmann Award winner and graduate of WAAPA with a Master of Arts (Practice) in Directing from Charles Sturt University. She is one of the co-founders of Monkey Baa Theatre Company where she has recently stepped into the role of Artistic Associate. At Monkey Baa Sandie co-adapted over 18 works for the stage and directed and acted in shows around Australia and overseas.

Her credits as a director include: Possum Magic, Goodbye Jamie Boyd, The Prospector's, I am Jack, Hitler's Daughter (2007 Helpmann Award for Best Children's Presentation,) and Thursday’s Child (2009 Helpmann Award for Best Children's Presentation) for Monkey Baa; The Grapes of Wrath and Mill on the Floss for WAAPA; and Kindertransport and Maggie Stone for Darlinghurst Theatre Company. She co-wrote and directed Voyage to the Deep for ANMM, Monkey Tales for The Chinese Gardens and co-adapted Snuggle Pot and Cuddle Pie for CDP. In 2015 she wrote and acted in The Unknown Soldier, which toured NSW & the USA in 2017. In 2017 The Sydney Theatre Critics awarded Sandie a special award for excellence and Extraordinary Service to the Young People of Australia.