Simon Gallaher

Simon Gallaher (born 24 October 1958[1]) is an Australian singer, actor, director and pianist.

Simon Gallaher
Born (1958-10-24) 24 October 1958
Brisbane, Australia
OccupationActor, singer, director, pianist

Life

Gallaher was born in Brisbane and educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School.[2] and studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music.[3] Whilst studying, he joined the Queensland Light Opera Company.[4] In 1977 he appeared on The Mike Walsh Show,[5] he had his own television program, The Simon Gallaher Show on ABC-TV (1982–83), in which he sang and played the piano.[3]

With his own musical theatre company Essgee Entertainment, Gallaher produced and acted in stage productions of The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, The Merry Widow and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, among others.

For most of the 1980s his song "Australia Be Proud" was heard at the conclusion of each broadcast day on television station CTC Canberra, accompanied by a montage of video clips from across Australia. He and Jackie Love had a hit record "My Friend" written by Neil Sedaka.

In 2014 Gallaher returned to the stage to be reunited with Jon English for the first time in many years as they performed in Spamalot for Harvest Rain Theatre Company at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). In 2015 he took over the role of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the Australian production of Wicked and opened with it at the commencement of the Brisbane season. Gallaher recently directed a new production of his version of The Pirates of Penzance, which played at the QPAC to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Arts Centre and of the show's original opening.

He retired as deputy chair on the board of trustees of QPAC in 2018 and has been reappointed to the board of the Queensland Theatre Company (QTC).[3] In 2018 he was appointed to the board of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He was formerly the chair of Harvest Rain Theatre Company (2012–15).[3] He is patron to many arts organisations, including The Queensland Show Choir, Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra, Spotlight Theatre Company, Gold Coast Theatre Alliance and the Canberra Area Theatre Awards. He is a member of Live Performance Australia (LPA) and sits on the Helpmann Awards nominating panel for Musical Theatre.

Private life

Simon Gallaher married Lisa McKenney in 1990 and have three children. They live in Tamborine Mountain and have a property at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.[6][7] They separated in April 2019.

Selected theatrical bibliography

Awards
  • Logie (1981)[18]
  • Mo Variety Awards 1982[19] and 2 others[20]
  • Aria Award
  • Queenslander of the Year Commendation[3]
  • Advance Australia Award for his contributions to the arts[3]
  • Voted Queensland's Entertainer of the Year twice[3]
  • Nominated for 2016 Helpmann award for Wicked (Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical)
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References
  1. Simon Gallaher biography
  2. Mason, James (2011). Churchie: The Centenary Register. Brisbane, Australia: The Anglican Church Grammar School. ISBN 978-0-646-55807-3.
  3. "Trust members". QPAC. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  4. Simon Gallaher interview
  5. "Simon Gallaher interviewed by Bill Stephens [sound recording]". National Library Australia. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  6. "Song's soul mates 19 October 2011". City News. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  7. https://joy.org.au/wordforword/2018/07/todd-mckenney/
  8. "Wicked has a new wizard! 29 December 2014". Wicked the Musical. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  9. "Hello Dolly!". AusStage. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  10. "The Student Prince". AusStage. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  11. "My Fair Lady". AusStage. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  12. "Simon Gallaher". IMDb. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  13. "A lyric tenor pirate and coloratura soprano daughter 18 September 2011". ABC. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  14. "Simon Gallaher". David Spicer Productions. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  15. "Simon Gallaher to star in Harvest Rain's Production of Hairspray". Stage Whispers. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  16. "Spamalot". Harvest Rain. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  17. "Thirty years of trading the boards 16 February 2015". Bmag. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  18. "Don't bet on it 5 May 2003". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  19. "Winners 7th Mo Awards 1982". Mo Awards. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  20. "Song's soul mates". City News. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
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