How a star is born … overture, curtains, lights, applause
Musical theatre star Amy Lehpamer is directing third year musical theatre students in a show that will show us if any stars are born.
The third-year Bachelor of Musical Theatre students at Griffith University are so committed to their craft, they returned to class several weeks before their peers.
The unconventional timetabling is required so that their first production of the year, An Evening in Concert, will be ready to open at QPAC’s Tony Gould Gallery on March 4.
The cabaret-style show is directed by Amy Lehpamer, who is well known to local lovers of musical theatre after starring in shows as diverse as Dusty, & Juliet and The Sound of Music.
Lehpamer, who is based in Brisbane, jumped at the opportunity to work with the graduating class of 2026.
“It’s been thrilling to step foot into the institution,” she says. “I’ve worked with many, many great Con alumni, and they really do turn out such impressive students.
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“They obviously have such a dedication to technique and training and building the students up, not breaking them down. They’re coming out confident, but excited. They’ve still got the joy, they’ve still got the spark and they’ve all just been really lovely to work with.”
Griffith University’s Bachelor of Musical Theatre program welcomed its first students in 2011 and was initially based at the Queensland Conservatorium before spilling over to makeshift facilities in Woolloongabba.
In 2024, the program moved to QPAC, which has partnered with the university to create the Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre. (The academy incorporates the tertiary degree, as well as classes and workshops for the broader community.)
Lehpamer’s journey to a successful career in musical theatre was not straightforward. She grew up in Geelong and originally trained as a violinist. Thanks to her older sister, she caught the musical theatre bug and played in the pit orchestra for community productions before being old enough to audition for on-stage roles.
After an unsuccessful attempt to join one of the nation’s best musical theatre programs, she chose to study a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English and Japanese. Those language skills came in handy when Lehpamer landed her first professional gig at Tokyo Disney during her final year of university.
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With that contract coming to an end, her American castmates encouraged her to return to Australia and audition for shows here. She did just that and landed two contracts that have shaped her career – Follies and Shane Warne: The Musical.
“I have to say this to the students – these things come in cycles, and there is a weird timing thing at play sometimes that there’ll be a run of shows that you’re not right for, and then some will come up,” she says.
“It turns out that I was a perfect fit for Shane Warne: The Musical, which is still one of the highlights of my career. And I take that experience with me everywhere I go.”
The nature of the Tony Gould Gallery, which lacks a permanent stage or seating, adds an extra dimension (and challenge) to the performances.
“It’s a great gift in that lesson of intimacy and how to genuinely connect with audience, because there’s no escape, there’s no proscenium arch, there’s no huge distance. They are right there and, for me, that means an invitation to involve the audience,” Lehpamer says. “You’re not talking to some giant void. You’re talking to the people sitting there.”
While An Evening in Concert has been guided by Lehpamer together with musical director Heidi Loveland and choreographer Dan Venz, the students have selected their own songs and scenes. Each performer is given two-and-a-half minutes to share a story and engage the audience, with ensemble numbers also incorporated into the slick 60-minute run time. (And, yes, a certain beloved cricketer will be making an appearance.)
This is the first time Lehpamer has directed a Griffith University production, and she says she has found the workshopping process a pleasure.
“The students are really quick, and for the most part I am not telling them anything too revelatory. It’s just confirming things or giving them the boldness to follow through with a choice that perhaps they gave a hint at,” she explains.
“It is teasing out what they’re bringing me, rather than reinventing the wheel, because they do come prepared and they’re all picking songs that suit them and they’re showing me that they know their instrument – and they know themselves.”
An Evening in Concert (With 3rd Year Musical Theatre Students) plays at the Tony Gould Gallery, QPAC, March 4 to 7.
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