Robert John (Rob) Guest, OBE (17 July 1950 – 2 October 2008) was a British born New Zealand-Australian actor and singer, best known for his work in Australian musical theatre, particularly in various productions of The Phantom of the Opera. He played the lead for a record 2,289 performances over seven years,^[1] more than any other performer including Michael Crawford, the performer most recognised in the role.

Biography[link]

Rob Guest was born in Birmingham, England. The family moved to New Zealand when the young Guest was 13; they went to Canada for a time, but returned to Auckland, where he attended Mt Albert Grammar School and Avondale College.

Guest first went to Australia in 1970 with the band Cuttysark, which played at the Whisky Au Go-Go and Chequers in Sydney. However, the competition was too tough and he returned to New Zealand. He became a pop singer on the New Zealand radio charts, and starred for many years on a number of shows including Happen Inn.^[1] He also appeared in the Hamilton Operatic Society's productions of Half a Sixpence and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He won his first lead at age 22 in The Jesus Christ Revolution (which was presented as Man of Sorrows in New Zealand and which predated Jesus Christ Superstar). After performing his hit songs all around the world, Guest won the 1978 Korean Song Festival Best Male Vocalist trophy, recorded a special for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and was voted the 1979 New Zealand 'Professional Performer of the Year'.

In 1981 he moved to the United States with his first wife, Lynette Perry, where he spent most of the 1980s performing and hosting shows in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe.^[1] In 1985 Guest won the FIDOF Award in Los Angeles for his performance at the World Song Festival. He returned to New Zealand, opened a photographic studio, while continuing to moonlight as a performer. In 1988, he was named New Zealand's male theatrical performer of the year.

Rob Guest moved to Australia after he was cast as Jean Valjean in the Australian production of Les Misérables, following Normie Rowe's portrayal, and spent three-and-a-half years touring Australia and New Zealand in the role; Guest also received a Green Room Award for Best Male Performer in a Leading Role.^[2] He then followed Anthony Warlow in the title role in The Phantom of the Opera, and played the role from December 1991 to September 1998. Guest performed the role for a world record 2,289 shows.^[1] During this time he also hosted the game show Man O Man. In 1995, Guest was invited as one of the seventeen Jean Valjeans from around the world to perform the encore of the Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He later reprised the role of Valjean in 1998–99 for the Australasian 10th anniversary production.^[1]

Guest was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire on New Year's Day 1994, for his services to the New Zealand entertainment industry.^[3] His first marriage had ended in divorce, and in 1994 he married the singer Judy Barnes. They had two children, Christopher and Amy who Rob cherished. Judy and Rob separated in 2001 but remained good friends.

Since his appearances in Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables, Guest performed in a number of high-profile roles, including Al Jolson in Jolson, Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Rev Shaw Moore in Footloose, and Harold Hill in The Music Man.^[1] Guest also performed countless gala performances both in Australia and internationally, twice hosting Carols in the Domain and releasing four gold-selling albums.

Death[link]

On the evening of 30 September 2008, Guest was taken to St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, after suffering a stroke.^[4] He died on the morning of 2 October 2008^[5] with his partner Kellie Dickerson, Judy Guest and their children Christopher and Amy and best friend Greg Smart by his side.^[6]

At the time of his death, Guest was appearing as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the Australian premiere production of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, which had opened in Melbourne in July 2008. Kellie Dickerson, was the show's musical director at the time. A public memorial was held for Guest at the Regent Theatre on 13 October 2008 featuring speeches and musical performances by his friends and co-stars from various shows. Bert Newton was brought in as his replacement in Wicked, six weeks following his death.

Performances[link]

Guest had over 40 major roles to his credit. Notable roles included:

• Jekyll & Hyde as Jekyll and Hyde
• Jesus Christ Superstar as Jesus Christ
• Jolson as Al Jolson
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as Joseph
• Les Misérables as Jean Valjean
• Man O Man (host)
• Pippin as Pippin
• The Music Man as Harold Hill
• The Phantom of the Opera as The Phantom
• The Sound of Music as Captain Von Trapp
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Sweeney Todd
• Wicked as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Awards[link]

• Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), 1 January 1994^[3]
• Entertainer of the Year^[7]
• Recording Artist of the Year^[7]
• Theatrical Performer of the Year^[7]
• Benny Award Winner^[7]
• Shure Gold Microphone Award^[7]
• Green Room Awards – Best Male Theatrical Performer – Jean Valjean^[7]
• Best Performance Award – Los Angeles – Los Angeles Song Festival^[7]
• F.I.D.O.F Award. Seoul Korea^[7]
• Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical – Wicked

The Rob Guest Endowment[link]

After the sudden death of Rob Guest, OBE, in October 2008, and in recognition of his achievements in the musical theater industry, ANZ Trustees established a memorial fund in his honor to help emerging young performers in musical theater. The Rob Guest Endowment is awarded each year to an emerging musical theater performer selected by a panel of industry experts. The Award will provide the emerging performer with further knowledge and training in the industry to develop their potential and become one of Australia's leading musical theater performers as the wonderful Rob Guest was. The Endowment is under the guidance of the representative committee, John Frost OAM, Tim McFarlane, Bernadette Hayes and Kellie Dickerson and is supported by a number of external organizations including The Gordon Frost Organisationi, ANZ Trustees, Her Majesty's Theatre and more. 2009 saw the Endowment created, the competition launched and the inaugural concert staged at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne. Hosted by Bert Newton, the concert saw some of Australia’s finest musical theatre performers take to the stage, something that continued in 2010. The winners were Danielle Matthews 2009 and Francine Cain 2010. In 2011 the Endowment continues to grow bigger and better and is now in its third year.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Rob Guest Endowment website
• The Sydney Morning Herald Obituary
• A shining star of the stage without pretensions, The Age, 4 October 2008
• The Dominion Post, 9 October 2008

Anthony Callea
Anthony Callea at the 2012 Multicultural Festival Canberra, in February 2012
Background information
Birth name	Anthony Cosmo Callea
Born	(1982-12-13) 13 December 1982 (age 29)
Origin	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres	Pop, pop rock, dance-pop (recent)
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musical theatre actor
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Sony Music Australia (2004–2009)
Website	www.anthonycallea.com.au

Anthony Cosmo Callea (born 13 December 1982) is an Australian singer-songwriter who rose to prominence after being the runner-up in the 2004 season of Australian Idol. He was signed to Sony Music Australia until 2009 and is now an independent artist. Callea's debut single "The Prayer" is the fastest-selling single by an Australian artist,^[1] held the No.1 spot on the ARIA Singles Chart for five weeks, a record for the debut single of an Australian Idol contestant,^[2] and was the second-highest selling Australian single of the last decade.^[3]

Callea has accumulated a string of awards including an ARIA Music Award, Channel V Artist of the Year, Pop Republic Artist of the Year, MTV Viewers' Choice Award, Variety's Young Entertainer of the Year, MO Award and a Gospel Music Award and is known for his powerful trained voice and his versatility in a range of genres in releases and live performances. All but one of the tracks on his second album A New Chapter were co-written by him. October 2011 saw Callea release his first new music in four years, a single titled "Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh", self-funded,^[4] released and distributed as a fully independent venture through his own production company, Vox Enterprises. The dance-pop track was co-written in LA with two-time Grammy-nominated and official DJ for the Black Eyed Peas, Poet Name Life.^[5] It signals a departure from the ballads for which he is known and was released in digital format only.

His albums, DVD and singles have all debuted in the top 20 of the ARIA Charts with the exception of "Oh Oh Oh Oh", and an EP titled Last to Go released in February 2012.^[6] However, "Oh Oh Oh Oh" debuted at number 6 on the Official Independent Music Charts AIR Charts,^[7] and in its first week, peaked at number 17 on the ARIA Top 20 Australian Artists Singles Chart.^[8] Last to Go reached number 7 on the Independent Distribution Singles Chart.^[9][10]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

In his first venture into television Anthony Callea, credited as Anthony De Fazio, appeared in an episode of Funky Squad, "The Wrong Side of the Tracks", in 1995.

[edit] Australian Idol

Anthony Callea began entering talent contests as a child and trained with the Johnny Young Talent School. He auditioned and was selected for the final 30 in the television series Australian Idol in 2004. Based on viewer votes, he did not make it through the first round of competition, but was invited back as a "Judge's Choice Wildcard", where his performance earned him a place in the final twelve.

Over the weeks of the competition, his popularity with the Australian public grew. During his run on the show, he gave several performances that earned him high praise from the judges, including his rendition of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water", Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" and Andrea Bocelli and Céline Dion's duet "The Prayer." Judge Ian 'Dicko' Dickson said Callea's performance of the latter was the finest he had seen during his two years with the show. The competition concluded in November 2004 with Callea finishing as runner-up to Casey Donovan. He cited Cosima De Vito as his favourite contestant of the first series of Australian Idol. Callea was the first idol contestant in the competition that had never been included in the bottom three for the contestants who had the lowest votes each week.

[edit] Australian Idol performances

• Melbourne Auditions: "Wishes" by Human Nature
• Top 30: "Angels" by Robbie Williams
• Wildcard: "The Reason" by Hoobastank
• Top 12: Australian Made - "Heaven Knows" by Rick Price
• Top 11: Pop Night - "Ignition" by R. Kelly
• Top 10: 60s Night - "Gimme Some Lovin'" - Spencer Davis Group
• Top 9: Disco Night - "Car Wash" by Rose Royce
• Top 8: Idol's Choice - "The Prayer" by Andrea Bocelli and Céline Dion
• Top 7: Beatles Night - "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles
• Top 6: 80's Night - "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner
• Top 5: R'n'B Night - "Back at One" by Brian McKnight
• Top 4: Big Band Night - "Fever" and "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" by Nat King Cole
• Top 3: 70s Night - "Hold the Line" by Toto and "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel
• Top 2: "Listen with Your Heart" (Winner's Single) by Diane Warren, "Walking Away" by Craig David and "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera
• Grand Final: "The Prayer" by Andrea Bocelli and Céline Dion

[edit] Post-Idol career

[edit] 2005–2006: Anthony Callea

Callea was immediately signed to Sony/BMG Records, and his first single, "The Prayer" was released in December 2004. It debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number one, and remained there for five consecutive weeks. Within seven weeks, it was certified four times platinum, selling in excess of 280,000 copies.^[11] In 2010 ARIA named it as the second-highest selling single of the last decade, which also made it the second-highest selling Australian artist song of that decade.^[3] His next single, the double A-side "Rain"/"Bridge over Troubled Water" spent two weeks at number one. His self-titled album debuted at number one in the week of 4 April 2005, and remained at the top of the chart for three weeks. His third single "Hurts So Bad" debuted at number ten on the ARIA Charts, while the album's final single, "Per Sempre (For Always)" debuted at number five.

Callea's DVD Live in Concert was released on 7 November 2005. It debuted at #3 in the ARIA DVD Chart and awarded Platinum status.

[edit] 2006–2007: A New Chapter