David Gauci is taking his award-winning record of presenting challenging non-mainstream music theatre shows a step further under the new name Davine Productions.
Davine Productions will continue to present its cut-ting-edge modern musicals for the Adelaide Fringe but will also be presenting newly written works for cabaret as well as looking at presenting older works with a new vision.
Four high-profile patrons, John Bucchino, Wayne Harrison AM, Tony Knight and Hugh Sheridan, have backed Davine Productions’ vision – a testament to their respect for David Gauci as a per-former, teacher and director.
Award-winning Broadway composer and lyricist John Bucchino’s songs have been performed and recorded by renowned pop (Art Garfunkel, Judy Collins), theatre (Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald), cabaret (Barbara Cook, Michael Feinstein), and classical (Yo-Yo Ma, Deborah Voight, Nathan Gunn), artists as well as The Boston Pops, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Mormon Tabernacle Choir in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, The Hollywood Bowl, The Sydney Opera House, London’s O2 Arena and the White House. Among his honours are two Drama Desk nominations, The Johnny Mercer Songwriter Award, The ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodg-ers New Horizons Award, The Jonathan Larson Award, The Kleban Award, The Los Angeles Ovation Award (for the revue It’s Only Life), The DVD Premiere Award (for the song “Better Than I”) and the first Fred Ebb Award. He has written scores for the musicals Urban Myths, Lavender Girl, Broadway’s A Catered Affair (nominated for 12 Drama Desk Awards, and winner of New York Drama League Award for Best
Tony Knight has trained many of Australia’s most celebrated actors including two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, Miranda Otto, Sam Worthington and many more as head of acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) (1992 -2011). Trained at the Drama Centre London, Tony has taught, directed and lectured in many parts of the world including being program leader for the musical (B.A. Hons.) course at the LaSalle College of the Arts, Singapore, developing a curriculum. Today he lives in Adelaide, completing a PhD and taking on the role of theatre director/director at STARC! Productions.
Wayne Harrison is an Australian director, writer, producer and performer who has become an international entrepreneur. He was director of the Sydney Theatre Company (1990-99), followed by roles as creative director of production companies in UK and Europe (SFX/Back Row and Clear Channel Entertainment), creative director of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve event (2005-07), director of the 2007 Com-monwealth Games closing ceremony and the Helpmann Awards for Live Performance in 2006.
Adelaide-born Hugh Sheridan is an actor and musician best known for his role as Ben Rafter in the Packed to the Rafters television series, when he won three Logie awards. During primary school at Loreto College, Hugh began training at Unley Youth Theatre and Terry Simp-son Studios in Adelaide before studying music at Victoria College of the Arts and dance at the Australian Ballet School. From there, he was accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). In 2007, Hugh won the Adele Koh Memorial Scholarship by The State Theatre Company of South Australia to study acting in New York. He performed in The Lost Echo with Sydney Theatre Company and was hired for Packed to the Rafters. In 2012, Hugh hosted Network Ten talent show series I Will Survive and has appeared in the Seven Net- work mini series INXS: Never Tear Us Apart and the House Husbands series. In 2009, he signed a contract with Sony Music Australia and his first album Speak Love peaked at No.86 on the Australian ARIA chart. In 2015, Sheridan formed The California Crooners Club that toured Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne to great acclaim.
