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John Diedrich is one of the Australian theatre\\u2019s greatest and most versatile talents, having contributed to the industry across many platforms as actor, writer, director and producer.\\xa0
John commenced his career at age 11 with J.C. Williamson\\u2019s, appearing in the classics\\xa0Camelot\\xa0and then\\xa0Oliver!,\\xa0playing the Artful Dodger. At the age of 19 John produced and directed his first musical, presenting\\xa0Minnie\\u2019s Boys,\\xa0a musical based on the life of the Marx Brothers. Regular engagements as an actor followed in both plays and musicals, including\\xa0Salad Days\\xa0at St Martins,\\xa0Grease\\xa0for Harry M. Miller,\\xa0Two Gentlemen of Verona\\xa0for Kenn Brodziak,\\xa0Lloyd George Knew My Father,\\xa0starring alongside Sir Ralph Richardson, and with Leslie Phillips in\\xa0The Man Most Likely To.
John co-wrote, directed and performed in three highly successful revues;\\xa0Gershwin\\xa0- a musical tribute to the songwriting brothers,\\xa0The Twenties and All That Jazz\\xa0and\\xa0Oh Those Thirties.
In 1980, John was cast as Curly in Cameron Mackintosh\\u2019s revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein\\u2019s seminal musical\\xa0Oklahoma!, playing the Palace theatre on London\\u2019s West End. The production was directed by Oscar\\u2019s son, James Hammerstein. For his performance, John was nominated for an Olivier Award as Best Actor in a Musical. He returned to Australia in 1982 to recreate the role in the Australian production and tour.
In 1987, John co-produced and starred as Guido Contini in the ground breaking musical\\xa0Nine, for which he was nominated as Best Director of a Musical in the Sydney Theatre Critics awards.\\xa0Nine\\xa0was also nominated as the outstanding production of the year. John co-produced the original cast album of\\xa0Nine\\xa0which won the ARIA Award for Best Cast recording. He has recorded five other cast albums.\\xa0
John\\u2019s other theatre credits include Inspector Javert in\\xa0Les Miserables,\\xa0Wolf\\xa0by Tobsha Lerner and\\xa0Insignificance\\xa0by Terry Johnson for Playbox,\\xa0Aren\\u2019t We All\\xa0with Sir Rex Harrison and Claudette Colbert,\\xa0High Society\\xa0for the Melbourne Theatre Company, as Dr Grant Swain in David Williamson\\u2019s\\xa0Dead White Males\\xa0for the Sydney Theatre Company and as Vittorio Vidal in\\xa0Sweet Charity.\\xa0In 1993, he again appeared on London\\u2019s West End at the Prince of Wales theatre in the role of Frank Butler in Ronald Lee\\u2019s production of\\xa0Annie Get Your Gun.
In 1998, John created the role of the silver-tongued lawyer, Billy Flynn, in the acclaimed revival of\\xa0Chicago. In 2000, he was invited to London to play the role on the West End stage. Further theatre credits include\\xa0Mack & Mabel, South Pacific, Into the Woods\\xa0and\\xa0Follies.\\xa0
Producing and directing credits include the musicals\\xa0South Pacific, Titanic, Zorba\\xa0and\\xa0Jekyll & Hyde.
His television and film credits include\\xa0Bluey, Special Squad, Class of \\u201974\\xa0and\\xa0The Challenge.\\xa0In the UK, the sitcom\\xa0The Gingerbread Girl\\xa0and\\xa0Second Thoughts;\\xa0and\\xa0Fred Scheppsi\\u2019s\\xa0The Devil\\u2019s Playground.\\xa0
In this two part conversation with John Diedrich, STAGES recounts many of those highlights, along with the challenges of a life in the theatre, and the tremendous legacy that his career has gifted us.
The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).www.stagespodcast.com.au