It’s no longer a well-kept secret! Adelaide has cottoned on to the privilege of seeing Australia’s emerging top music theatre talent through the shows presented at Adelaide University’s Scott Theatre by the Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre degree students. The students turned on another stunning sellout season in 2025, waltzing through the testing challenges of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods and William Finn’s Elegies to time travelling with ease back to classic Broadway with Frank Loesser and Abe Burrow’s Pulitzer Prize winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961).
The music theatre course from 2019 was created by director George Torbay AM, a music theatre luminary in every aspect of performance across many disciplines. His vision and expertise attracted hugely talented and experienced lecturers and creative teams. Their training and support shines through in the quality and variety of the shows.
of Music & School of Performing Arts
Since 2025, Erin James has been Program Director and Head of Music Theatre at Elder Conservatorium of Music & School of Performing Arts (ECMT). Erin is a director, choreographer, performer and educator with over two decades of experience working across Australia and internationally in professional music theatre. She also has an extensive history with Opera Australia and will be the Associate choreographer on the 70th Anniversary of My Fair Lady (Opening Sydney, September ’26 and Melbourne, November’ 26).
She is well-placed to continue the very successful partnerships between her students and the Adelaide Festival, Cabaret Festival, State Opera and Fringe.
The three-year Music Theatre degree course includes training in technical skills (ballet, jazz, tap, voice, acting), music theory and history. They perform cabaret, modern musicals and also the classics like On the Town , How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and A Chorus Line with a refreshing, modern twist. It shows a respect for the history of music theatre and the various styles of music, acting and dance from the 1940’s on. Versatility and adaptability will be important as they graduate and launch themselves into auditions.
Peter Johns, lecturer, production manager and repertoire coach.
These students and Adelaide’s music theatre scene is very lucky to have Peter Johns
waving the baton. He is a highly-regarded musical director (MD) and producer about town with a string of hits to his name. His attention to detail is second-to-none and his works span Fringe cabaret shows, musicals and concerts. We recommend booking for any show he is the MD for.
A list of his most recent shows here.
Tangents and trivia on How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Opening in 1961, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, seven Tony Awards and the New York Drama Critics Circle award. It featured Robert Morse as J Pierpont Finch who went on to star in the 1967 film.
Mind the gap
Morse had one of the most famous diastema (front teeth gap) in showbiz before “Gap Girl”, Aimee Lou Wood reached a huge audience in the third season of “White Lotus”.
For Robert Morse fans, it was a treat to see him 45 years later in 58 episodes of the TV series ‘Mad Men’ from 2007 to 2015. Even more thrilling to see him sing and dance again in the final episode. The creator of Mad Men, Matt Weiner admired Morse so much that he gave him the honour of closing the series in 2015 with a dream sequence song, The Best Things in Life are Free.
Matthew Broderick and Daniel Radcliffe have both played J Pierpont Finch on Broadway in later years.
This video shows Robert Morse and Matthew Broderick introducing Daniel Ratcliffe and the cast of “How to Succeed” at the Tony Awards in 2011 where it was nominated for
‘Best Revival of a Musical’.
Elder Conservatorium of Music Theatre, Season 2026
Third year students present Xanadu, (April 16-19) their Cabaret project (June 4) and the very popular & Juliet (October 8-11). Sign up to their newsletter and see details of all of these productions here. Tickets always sell out and there are limited performances so you need to book ahead.
