Kris
currently serves as Resident Director for the Australian production
of Wicked, which opened at Melbourne's
Regent Theatre in July 2008. One of the most successful musicals
in Australiua history, more on Wicked can be found at Wicked
Australia.
Though he has recently focussed primarily on directing and producing,
Kris' has had extensive experience as an assistant and associate
director, and as an educator. He has been a guest speaker or panellist
for Opera America, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers,
The 2008 UK Musical Theatre Conference, The Entertainment Industry
Expo NYC, NYU/Tisch School of Drama, NY Theatre Resources, The American
Theatre Wing, the League of American Theatres and Producers
and the NYC Emerging Artist and Producers panel, and he
has been part of the nominating and judging committees for the Macarthur
Fellowship, The Victorian Premier's Literary Prize (musical theatre)
and Dance Break.
Earlier
in his career, he was fortunate enough to work for two years as
the assistant to the artistic director at Melbourne
Theatre Company. Here, Kris assisted on productions
that Roger Hodgman was staging, and restaged tours or school productions.
This began with Assassins and Skylight and finished
with being the Resident Director for the Melbourne Theatre Company
and International
Management Group production of A Little Night
Music.
From there, he moved on to work with the
Jacobsen Group, and acted as Resident Australian
Director for the productions of Sisterella, Jekyll
and Hyde, Beauty and the Beast and Chess,
and conceived and directed the dance theatre piece Gaelforce
Dance for New Zealand and North America.
Other assistant directing work included assisting Michael Edwards
for the State
Opera of SA’s production of Eugene Onegin,
Warren Coleman on the State
Theatre of SA’s The Venetian Twins, George
Ogilvie on As You Like It, as well as Angels in America
Pt. 1 and 2 (to Chris Edmund and Leith Taylor) and The
Magic Flute (WA Opera
- Lindy Hume).
Kris has also had experience of university teaching and leading
master classes and was head of the MSA Performing Arts Department
and Artistic Director of Student Theatre Activities for Monash
University. This was an extension of Kris’ previous
teaching experience, which had included being a staff teacher (for
ages 12 – 22) with the National Theatre,
convening the Queensland Music Theatre Conference,
being an assessor for the WA Department of the Arts Stages
new writer program, creating the syllabus for the West
Australian Children’s Drama Company and managing
the workshop program at the South Australian Youth Theatre Company
(while acting as Artistic Director).
Kris has freelanced as a lecturer at the Ballarat Academy of Performing
Arts, the Children’s Performing Company of Australia and Queensland
University, and while in NYC have recently been an adjudicator for
the New Jersey Performing Arts Association and a sessional Acting
teacher for the Educational Alliance, New York City.