ABOUT DAVINE PRODUCTIONS

”Mr Gauci and his ensemble’s works have been produced and performed with such high standard of excellence in all areas. It begs the question, as was raised the night I attended this show, why isn’t there a Musical Theatre school here in Adelaide, especially considering the talent and skill that is so apparent here? Why aren’t these South Australian musical theatre artists being cared for and nurtured by government and other bodies?

Tony Knight of Stage Whispersin a review of David Gauci’s Davine production of Violet the musical in 2017

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 cutting 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 performer, teacher and director.

John Bucchino

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
Musical), It’s Only Life, and Dreamworks animated film Joseph, King of dreams, and lyrics for children’s musical Simeon’s gift.

Tony Knight

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 AM

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.

He co-wrote and directed the Las Vegas Spielgelworld show Absinthe, still running after seven years. He has also directed Human Nature at Las Vegas and Australia Plays Broadway at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York. In 2012, Harrison was named a Member of the Order of Australia for “service to the arts as a director, writer, producer and performer, to Australian cultural life, and as a supporter of emerging talent”.

Hugh Sheridan

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.

Davine Productions believes strongly that being based in Adelaide (a UNESCO City of Music) is no limit to having ambitions to pres-ent music theatre at a very high level.

ABOUT DAVID GAUCI

David Gauci, proudly from Adelaide’s western suburbs, wouldn’t stop singing from an early age – so much so that the Sisters of St Joseph at primary school wished he’d just shut up and do maths.

At Woodville High, teachers and parents suggested – after David showed interest in acting or journalism – a career in accounting. He did study accountancy but also theology and music (Elder Conservatorium). David was introduced to opera and classical singing but went down the dark path of corporate functions, cabaret and music theatre. He worked in piano bars for 20 years in Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and Townsville.

David wrote cabaret shows New York According to Bernstein, The Sinatra Show and The Broadway Show, performed with co-writer and accompanist Matthew Carey in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Townsville and Darwin.

He performed at the inaugural Adelaide Cabaret Festival and again in 2016 when he returned with the award-winning It was Worth the Weight. David also wrote and performed in The Big Book of Broadway, Cole’s Girls, Leading Men I’ll Never Play and Wireless.

He was equal winner in the 2015 Australian Cabaret Competition Adelaide final and most recently performed in the Australian Touring production of Hairspray as understudy to the role of Edna Turnblad – adding to professional stage roles in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

David’s also appeared in TV commercials and films, e.g. The Brush Off, directed by Sam Neill. A singing teacher privately and at Cardijn College, David became involved in community theatre in Adelaide and Melbourne from 1990. This led to forming his own Davine Interventionz Productions in 2013 with a string of shows he’s produced, directed and/or designed to glowing reviews and a welter of awards. And David’s still singing!