Creative & Production Team

Jarrad trained at both WAAPA and VCA in Musical Theatre and Theatre. Hailing from Perth originally, he moved to Canberra in 2006 and has since forged a reputation as one of Canberra's most sought-after directors and actors. He is the co-founder and producer of the highly-acclaimed theatrical company Everyman Theatre, now in its fifteenth year. Everyman since its inception has attempted to bring to Canberra audiences shows that would not normally be seen here in the nation's capital, staying true to our vision statement - 'Every Man Woman and Child has a story to tell.' One highlight of our time has been being selected to be part of the Canberra Centenary celebrations with our production of Home At The End - presented as part of the Canberra Theatre Centre's 2013 subscription season. Everyman is also one of the companies in residence at Canberra's newest independent theatre venues - ACT Hub - www.acthub.com.au  Recently Jarrad has directed Marry Me A Little, Holding the Man, The Importance of Being Earnest (Ovation Award Winner 2022), Beautiful Thing (2022), Hand to God (Ovation Award Winner 2022), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical, Mamma Mia!, Absurd Person Singular, Queers,The World Goes 'Round (Winner - Best Musical - CAT Awards 2019) 12 Angry Men (Canberra Critics' Circle Award 2019), FAME - The Musical, The History Boys (with Chris Zuber) (Canberra Critics' Circle Award 2017), The 39 Steps, Avenue Q (Canberra Critics' Circle Award 2017), Funny Girl, Play On!, Casanova, Home At The End, RENT, Hairspray, Breaker Morant, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Laramie Project (Canberra Critics’ Circle Award 2010), Latin! Or Tobacco and Boys (Canberra Critics’ Circle Award 2009), Angels in America Parts I & II (with Liz Bradley) (Canberra Critics’ Circle Award 2008), The Boyfriend, Tickets-Music-Passport, Funny Lovin’ That Theatre, Beautiful Thing (2003) (Robert Finley Award, Best Production 2004). He was last seen on stage in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical. Prior to that he has performed in Assassins, 42nd Street, The Normal Heart (Canberra Critics' Circle Award 2017), Company, La Cage Aux Folles, The Burning, The Witches of Eastwick, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), GOD + pool(no water), Doubt, Grease, The Ides of March, The Boy From Oz, A Lie of the Mind, True West, And Then There Were None, The History Boys (Canberra Critics’ Circle Award 2009), In Cold Light, Singer! Dancer! Actor!, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, School for Scandal, Little Shop of Horrors, RENT, Anthems for Doomed Youth, Crave, Bedroom Farce, Robin Hood, Puss in Boots, Oedipus Rex (Best Actor – 2001) Pinocchio, Play On!, Sing On!, My Three Angels, Cabaret (Best Actor – 2000), Assassins, The Taming of the Shrew, Chalky White Substance, The Pyjama Game, Oliver!  ​ As a writer he has developed and directed the shows No Stamp Required, Tickets-Music-Passport!, Singer! Dancer! Actor!, Coffee in a Cardboard Cup.

Ian McLean served as a professional musician with the Australian Army for over 40 years. His career included postings throughout Australia and the UK and was highlighted by his 8 years as Officer Commanding/Music Director of the Band of the Royal Military College then appointment as the overall Director of Music for the Australian Army. He was CEO, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, during a break in military service between 2001 and 2007. During his 33 years in Canberra he has conducted some 40 productions for many musical theatre companies. He has been the Musical Director of the Blamey Street Big Band for 14 years, played drums with the Leisa Keen jazz trio and ‘Swing in Style’ for many years and is a judge for both the Combined Area Theatre (CAT) Awards and the Ovations Theatre Awards. For “Outstanding Service to the Band of the Royal Military College” Ian was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) in the 1996 Australia Day Honours List. In 2003 he received the Centenary of Federation medal for his “outstanding contribution to musical life in Canberra” and in 2004, 2006 and 2007 won Canberra Critics Circle Awards for Music. He is the founder and conductor of the Canberra Pops Orchestra, is a music/theatre reviewer with ‘City News’, runs his own music/entertainment agency and is Patron of both the Australian Rugby Choir and the Australian Capital Territory Youth Orchestra. He has worked professionally as a radio announcer for ABC Radio Canberra and for 15 years presented the ‘Sounds Early’ radio program on Artsound FM. He retired in December 2020 after 8 years in his final military role where he worked as the Media Support Officer at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, providing commentary, and performing the MC role, for all ceremonial military occasions. In recent years he has travelled to Switzerland each July where he is the Artistic Advisor to the famed Basel Tattoo, the European counterpart of Scotland’s Edinburgh Tattoo. In the 2009 Australia Day Honours List he was awarded an AM in the General Division for his services to music and the community. Ian conducted many productions for the Canberra Philharmonic Society from 1990 to 2010 before forming a close association with the Free Rain Theatre Company. In recent years he has conducted Singing in the Rain, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, Wicked, Les Miserables, 42nd Street and Shrek for Free Rain and has enjoyed the opportunity to renew his association in the madcap Spamalot.

Embracing everything in dance, choreographer and mentor, Michelle Heine started out as a dancer in a Ballet Company then went onto dance in multi million dollar extravaganza’s in Sun City in Southern Africa. Now many of her students are following in her footsteps of success all over the world. Since the late 1980’s she has been a prominent and highly regarded talent on Canberra’s dance scene with her own studio, “Legs” Performing Arts Studio, formerly based in Tuggeranong but now based in Hume. Students have gone on to make their mark on the world stage such as the Lido, Moulin Rouge, Tap Dogs, Dance Academy, H20 Just Add Water, Jupiters Showroom, Professional Musicals, Film, Television, RAW Metal, Cruise Lines and Universal Studio’s. Her students have performed and competed in Las Vegas, Disney World, Hawaii, Kuala Lumpur, China, Disneyland, Los Angeles and the Gold Coast. In 2014 her students took a trip to Florida to perform on a Cruise Ship and Disney World in Orlando plus Dance Tours to China every 3 years since 2000. Michelle’s career highlights include choreography for the Master Games Opening Ceremony, University Games, National Tourism Awards, Centennial Federation Parades in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra plus many musicals. Credits include My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, Chicago, Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Oklahoma, HMS Pinafore, Pack Up Your Troubles, Music Hall, Dancing at Lughnasa, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Hello Dolly, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Boy From Oz, Legally Blonde, Barnum, the Australian Premier of Winging My Way To the Top, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Wicked, a 3rd return to Les Miserables, 42nd Street, FAME, Shrek, Priscilla, My Fair Lady (FreeRain) and as Associate Director and Choreographer for Kinky Boots and Mamma Mia Michelle was awarded the CAT Award for Best Choreographer for Legally Blonde in 2014 and Wicked in 2016 and has been nominated every year for the past 6 years. Michelle was honoured with the top gong, the Golden Cat Award at the 2020 Canberra Amateur Theatre Awards for her work in Musical Theatre, Community Theatre and Legs Performing Arts over the past 30 years. Michelle was awarded a Canberra Arts Critics Circle award for her choreography in West Side Story, 42nd Street and Mamma Mia. Legs Dance Studio was awarded the Chief Ministers Inclusion Award in 2009 for their work with the Down Syndrome and Special Needs Dance group, the Legs Dream Team, now in it’s 16th year.

A Canberra native, Cameron began his theatrical career with youth performances as Bernardo in West Side Story (Erindale, 2001) and in Camelot (Erindale, 2000) as Pellinore before trading costumes for headsets and becoming a stage manager. Over the decades since, Cameron has served as stage manager, technical director or production manager for shows in and around the Canberra region. With an extensive background in stage managing dance productions, Cameron has been Free-Rain's SM for many years. His musical theatre SM credits include My Fair Lady (2022), Priscilla (2022), Mamma Mia (2021), Kinky Boots (2019), Shrek (2018), 42nd Street (2018), Les Misérables (2017), and Wicked (2016), all with Free-Rain Theatre Company. More recently, Cameron has served as Technical Director, beginning with Kinky Boots (Free-Rain, 2019). When not in the theatre, Cameron works as a technology professional.

Fiona has designed costume for many Canberra amateur theatre companies. You would have seen her work if you were in the audience for local productions of The Importance of Being Ernest, Holding the Man, My Fair Lady, The Adventures of Priscilla – Queen of the Desert, Mamma Mia, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Absurd Person Singular, The Little Mermaid, To Kill a Mockingbird, Kinky Boots, The World Goes Round, Once Upon a Mattress, 42nd Street, 12 Angry Men, Shrek, Alice in Wonderland, Radio on Repertory, Les Misérables, The History Boys, The 39 Steps and Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. In 2022 Fiona was awarded an Australia Day Achievement Medallion (2022) from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, for contribution to the arts as a volunteer costume designer who has created costumes for over 50 amateur and semi-professional theatre shows in the Canberra region over the last 20 years. In 2017 Fiona received a Silver CAT (Canberra Area Theatre) award in recognition of her achievements in costume design. Fiona has also received CAT Awards for costume design in musical theatre for Kinky Boots (2019), Shrek (2018) and Mary Poppins (2015).

Brigid is a multi-instrumentalist, accompanist, and piano teacher, and is delighted to be working with Free-Rain for the first time for Spamalot. Brigid holds a degree in musicology and a diploma in piano performance, and has worked as a musician and accompanist for many years, accompanying both soloists and groups, including the Woden Valley Youth Choir and the Warrani chorale, as well as playing with ensembles including the Blamey St Big Band, Brindabella Orchestra and Canberra City Band. She has previously been repetiteur for Queanbeyan Player’s productions of the Sound of Music (2021), Keating (2022), the Sound of Music Encore (2022) and Footloose (2023).

This time last year Jill was onstage as Mrs Pearce in Free Rain’s My Fair Lady. Thereafter she worked as assistant to the director for Free Rains Steel Magnolias. Jill has also appeared in a Sondheim a musical tribute, Baby Boomers at Vivaldi’s and South Pacific (Queanbeyan Players). Jill is also part of the ACT Hub Collective, and has been a tv extra for Total Control and Mercedes. Working in or on a show takes a lot of time and commitment and none of this would be possible if it was not for her biggest cheer team; Julian, Lachlan and Cameron. Working with this creative team and cast has been so exciting and has developed another skill to add to her armoury of theatre production.