Q&A director/choreographer Drew McOnie, set & projection designer Peter England, creature designer Sonny Tilders & lead producer Carmen Pavlovic with moderator Dori Berinstein
Tuesday, Aug. 21 2018, 7:00
Drew McOnie is one of Britain’s most sought-after emerging directors and choreographers. He is the Artistic Director of The McOnie Company and a proud Associate Artist at The Old Vic Theatre. Drew won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreography for In the Heights and was nominated for the same award for the 2017 groundbreaking production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent Park’s Open Air Theatre. Theatre credits as director/choreographer include On the Town, The Wild Party, and Strictly Ballroom.
Peter England is a four-time Helpmann Award winner for Best Set Design, two-time Green Room Award winner for Best Opera Design, Green Room Award winner for Best Dance Design, and a Mike Walsh Travelling Fellow. Theatre credits include Global Creatures: King Kong, Opera Australia: Sweeney Todd, Simon Boccanegra and La Bohème. Peter has also designed for the Australian Ballet, BBC and Global Creatures: Walking with Dinosaurs and DreamWorks Animation and Global Creatures: How to Train Your Dragon, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Sonny Tilders’ career has spanned 27 years, in which he has designed and built creatures and contraptions, models and special effects for the film and theatrical industries. Sonny is the CEO and Creative Director of Creature Technology Co., where he designed and built the awe-inspiring 1.1 ton, 20-foot tall Kong animatronic puppet with his team. Working with strategic partner Global Creatures, Sonny’s team produced creatures for the arena spectaculars of How to Train Your Dragon, Walking with Dinosaurs, Jurassic World: The Exhibition, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Carmen Pavlovic is the CEO of Global Creatures, which she co-founded with Gerry Ryan. Previously, she was the director of the international production department for Stage Entertainment, where she was responsible for licensing and programming 25 theaters across Europe and overseeing productions in Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Spain and Russia. She’s also worked at various theater companies, including executive producer roles at the Really Useful Company (Australia) and Clear Channel Entertainment (London).
Global Creatures is at the forefront of innovative stagecraft and spectacular theatricality. They’ve worked with the BBC to produce Walking with Dinosaurs- The Arena Spectacular, DreamWorks Theatricals for How to Train Your Dragon- Live Spectacular, and the National Theatre of Great Britain to produce the Tony Award-winning show, War Horse. They recently premiered Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical with the Sydney Theatre Company, and just completed a world premiere pre-Broadway engagement of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. www.global-creatures.com.
