Over the past decade, Dean Bryant has established himself as one of Australia’s busiest, most successful freelance stage directors. He has a particular way with musicals – as his productions of Sweet Charity, Little Shop of Horrors and A Little Night Music for the Hayes Theatre Co, Dear Evan Hansen for Sydney Theatre Company and the Michael Cassel Group, and Fun Home for STC and Melbourne Theatre Company attest – but he has also directed plays, operas and cabaret.

Dean Bryant. Photo © Ron Whitfield

His other recent credits include Bloom (MTC), Circle Mirror Transformation (STC), Candide (Victorian Opera and Opera Australia) and Giustino for Pinchgut Opera. The list goes on . . .

On top of that, his musical adaptation of My Brilliant Career, written with his partner, composer Mathew Frank, and co-writer Sheridan Harbridge was a smash hit when it premiered at MTC at the end of 2024. Described as “feisty and audacious” by Limelight and “the holy grail of Australian musical theatre” by The Age, it has a return Melbourne season at the start of 2026, before touring to Canberra, Sydney and Wollongong.

Clearly, the credits...