Our People

Russell Tredinnick

Russell Tredinnick is all about telling stories, original stories, Australian stories, our stories. He has been heavily involved in working with Australians of all ages, to produce such stories for many years. He has seen first hand, and often, the joy, beauty, strength and communicative and collaborative power that comes through such a process. He appreciates well that telling our stories is surely the
richest and ultimate expression of our connection to culture. It is us at our best. And it is how we fully come to understand who we are and what our place is in our history and our world.

Russell has been a Primary classroom teacher and a teacher and director of Drama, of Theatre, and of Musical Theatre, in schools and in Community Youth Theatre groups for a number of decades now. He is a composer and a writer of some note, having penned and arranged music and scripts for rock bands, Story Dance competitions and a range of different works of Musical Theatre. Bakery Hill is an important story, and another chance for Russell to share his creative skills and narrative passions with Australian performers and with multi-generational Australian audiences.


James Tredinnick

James Tredinnick has always been passionate about stories. He loves hearing them, and he especially loves telling them. Add to this his love for music and it’s little wonder he ended up in the world of Musical Theatre. Over the years he has worked with countless productions as a writer, composer, actor, singer, musician, musical director, and sometimes all of the above. And though the roles and responsibilities change, his love for the craft endures. As long as there are stories to tell, James will always be willing to tell them. 


Benjamin Roorda

Benjamin Roorda has been actively involved in the performing arts from a young age. Starting as a performer Benjamin began with school productions then branched out to community theatre organisations and then professional companies. Benjamin has received training in performance from Mountains Youth Theatre, The Q Theatre and NIDA and has more than fifty theatrical credits to his name with more than a dozen separate companies.
Performance credits include Urinetown the Musical, Hamlet, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Frankenstein.
Benjamin has also been involved in the Sydney Fringe Festival for Little Red and received critical acclaim in the Short and Sweet Festival for The Peach.
Benjamin also has experience in the creation of new work; having written and directed a stage adaptation of The Emperor’s New Clothes and been on the creative development team for Stalker – Immersive Physical Theatre’s new work. Benjamin’s latest passion is towards the creation and staging of new Australian theatrical works.


Zara Stanton

Zara holds a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she studied classical voice under the tutelage of Robyn Wells. She has her A.Mus.A. qualification in both voice and piano, and is an accomplished performer, music director, accompanist, vocal coach, conductor and music educator.
Most recently, Zara has been involved in the Hayes Theatre Co. production of HMS Pinafore as Music Director and cast member. For her work as Music Director on the show, Zara was nominated for a 2019 Sydney Theatre Award, and the show is currently touring regional NSW.
Other credits as Music Director include If/Then (Theatre & Company), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (T&C) and CARRIE: The Musical (Louis Ellis Productions). As a performer, Zara’s credits include City of Angels, The Light In The Piazza, and The Colour Orange, an award-winning, satirical musical about Pauline Hanson, which played at the Sydney Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and Sydney Comedy Festivals.
Zara is incredibly passionate about promoting diversity and representation in musical theatre, particularly for performers of Asian heritage and for female musicians and music directors.
Zara currently teaches voice at Meriden School, as well as performing regularly as a soprano soloist with the Taverner Consort of Voices and at various other corporate and private functions around Sydney.


Photos by Danielle Roorda Photography