Creatives

Shaun Rennie is currently the Associate Director of Opera Australia. He is an award-winning director of theatre, musical theatre, and opera, having earned three Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Director and twice winning the Broadway World Award for Best Direction. Shaun’s recent projects include Guys and Dolls on Sydney Harbour (Opera Australia), Switzerland (Ensemble Theatre), the Australian National Tour of Rent, and Gianni Schicchi (Opera Australia). He directed the world premiere of The Lovers (Bell Shakespeare) and the sold-out 25th Anniversary production of Rent at the Sydney Opera House in 2021.

For Opera Australia, Shaun has directed The New Year’s Eve Gala (2023), Opera Up Late for World Pride, Greatest Opera Hits, and Mad Scenes with Jessica Pratt. He has also served as Revival Director for La Bohème (2022–2023) and AIDA, Assistant Director for The Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour, and Assistant Director for The Tales of Hoffmann and Il Trovatore.

Shaun’s contributions to Australian theatre include premieres such as Jess and Joe Forever (Belvoir’s 25A), Tennessee Williams’ Baby Doll (Ensemble Theatre), and I Am My Own Wife (Redline). Other notable credits include The View Upstairs (Hayes Theatre), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Darlinghurst Theatre), Suddenly Last Summer (Ensemble Theatre), Trevor (Outhouse), Considering Matthew Shepard (Sydney Philharmonia) and Only Heaven Knows, which received nine Sydney Theatre Award nominations.

He is currently the Australian Associate Director of the acclaimed Regent’s Park production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Shaun will close out 2025 in Lyon, France, reviving Damiano Michieletto’s award-winning production of The Tales of Hoffmann for Opéra Lyon in France.

Jack Earle is a world-class pianist, trumpet player, conductor, composer, arranger and producer with almost 15 years professional experience in the music industry. As a versatile and prolific music aficionado, Jack is in high demand, with numerous mainstage theatre company MD and orchestration credits and in composing, arranging and performing with iconic artists such as Rhonda Burchmore, Tina Arena, David Campbell, Kate Ceberano, Bobby Fox and Rob Mills. He has also worked with numerous corporates, schools, universities, workshops and in other concert situations.

Jack’s professional theatre credits include: Associate MD & Orchestrator for Opera Australia HOSH Guys and Dolls 2025, MD-The Rocky Horror Show (50th Anniversary Tour) for Crossroads Live, Dream Lover, Evita, The Who’s Tommy, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. His television credits include: Today Extra, Carols by Candlelight, and the Melbourne Cup Carnival. He has also composed and performed radio and television commercials for Origin Energy, Betstar, Cottee’s, and McCain. His recording credits include: David Campbell – Baby It’s Christmas; Back In The Swing, Kate Ceberano – Sweet Inspiration, Tina Arena – Love Saves, The Jack Earle Big Band, The Jack Earle Trio – Is This Real?, and Rhonda Burchmore & The Jack Earle Big Band – A Red Hot Swingin’ Christmas.

Alongside his professional credits, Jack has carved a niche for himself as an artistic entrepreneur, forming The Jack Earle Big Band in 2008 at the tender age of twelve and building it into Australia’s most exciting large jazz ensemble, combining his love of composition, arrangement and public entertainment. His business further expanded with the formation of The Jack Earle Trio in 2015, which focuses on improvisation, experimentation and the avant-garde, highlighting his ability to master multiple musical styles and cater for diverse audiences.

Jack is the consummate entertainer with a unique flair for out-of-the-box creative offerings, spanning both the mainstream and the fringe.

Theatre Credits: Swing HAMILTON West End, (Cameron Mackintosh); Onstage Swing in the World Premiere of Elvis The Musical Revolution (David Venn Enterprises); Swing in HAMILTON Australia (Michael Cassel Group); Anybodys/Dance Captain in West Side Story for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (Opera Australia); Dance Captain/Ensemble & Understudy Nautica in Bring It On (David Venn Enterprises); Ensemble in Billy Elliot (Louise Withers and Associates), Ensemble in Rebel Wilson’s movie The Deb (Dunburn Debutants Pty Ltd.)

Creative Credits: Creator & Director of METAMUSE (Vass Productions); Choreographer of RENT, the Australian Tour & Sydney Opera House season (LP Productions); Choreographer of Kinky Boots (James Terry Collective;) Associate Choreographer of Muriel’s Wedding at The Curve, UK (Global Creatures); Assistant Choreographer of West Side Story for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (Opera Australia;) Assistant Director & Assistant Choreographer of Kiss of the Spider Woman (MTC); Other: Assistant to Travis Wall, Al Blackstone, Stacey Tookey, Karla Puno Garcia, Andrew Hallsworth and Michael Ralph.

Paul Jackson APDG is a multi-award-winning lighting and set designer, dramaturg and theatre maker whose practice encompasses theatre, opera, dance, music theatre, concerts, and live events. He is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and RMIT.

Paul has designed lighting for The Australian Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Berlin Staatsballett, West Australian Ballet, Queensland Ballet, Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Black Swan Theatre Company, Gordon Frost Organization, TML, The Production Company, Bell Shakespeare, Playbox, Malthouse, Belvoir, Queensland Theatre, Circa, Ballet Lab, Circus Oz, Chunky Move, World of Wearable Art New Zealand, Arena, Kage, Australian Art Orchestra, La Mama, Taylor/Keene, not yet it’s difficult performance group, Chamber Made and many others.

Paul has designed and co-designed sets and performance environments for companies and organizations including Belvoir, Malthouse, Berlin Staatsballett, Chamber Made, La Mama, Stephanie Lake Company, Melbourne Workers’ Theatre, Chunky Move, Lucy Guerin, Ranters, not yet it’s difficult, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Festival, and Griffin. He has worked as a dramaturg on a range of projects and has extensive experience in technical and production management.

Paul has collaborated with a diverse range of directors and choreographers including Barrie Kosky, Benedict Andrews, Neil Armfield, Michael Kantor, Marion Potts, Lee Lewis, Sarah Goodes, Matt Lutton, Anne-Louise Sarks, Paige Rattray, Simon Phillips, Andrew Upton, Adena Jacobs, Kip Williams, Shaun Rennie, Anouk van Dijk, Philip Adams, Sarah Giles, Lucas Jervis, Jorma Uotinen, Renato Cuoccolo, Simon Stone, Peter Evans, Javier de Frutos, Yaron Lifschitz, Stephanie Lake, Cathy Marston, Natalie Weir, Remi Wörtmeyer, Sam Strong, Lucy Guerin, Moira Finucane, Susie Dee, Samara Hersch, Julian Meyrick, David Pledger, Gale Edwards, Tom Wright, Kate Champion and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

A key creative on several seminal Australian performance pieces, his work has featured in festivals and programmes in the United States, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Listed in The Bulletin’s Smart 100, he was the Gilbert Spottiswood Churchill Fellow for 2007. Paul was an Artistic Associate and Resident Artist at Malthouse Theatre from 2007-2013, and an Artistic Associate at Melbourne Theatre Company from 2022-2024. In 2017, he received an Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship.

Paul has won a Helpmann Award, two Sydney Theatre Awards, seven Green Room Awards, a Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland, and six Australian Production Design Guild Awards. In addition, he has received four Helpmann Award nominations, thirty-four Green Room Award nominations, six APDG nominations, four Sydney Theatre nominations and a Matilda nomination. Paul is accredited with the Australian Production Design Guild.

Committed to mentoring emerging designers, Paul has lectured in design at the University of Melbourne, NMIT, RMIT University and Victorian College of the Arts. He was a founding member of not yet it’s difficult performance group, was a member of Melbourne Workers’ Theatre Artistic Advisory Group and has been on the Board of St Martin’s Youth Arts Centre.

View Paul’s work at Pauljacksondesign.com.au