FIONA ALLAN - Chair
Fiona Allan is a highly respected leader in the performing arts, known for her bold approach to transformation and championing innovation in the sector. She has held executive leadership roles across major international cultural institutions, including most recently as CEO of Opera Australia. Previously, she served as Artistic Director & CEO of Birmingham Hippodrome, CEO of Curve Theatre, and Artistic Director of Wales Millennium Centre. She has also held influential industry Non-Exec positions, including President of UK Theatre and Chair of The Space, which funds and commissions digital arts in the UK. Currently she also serves on the Executive Council of Live Performance Australia.
A passionate advocate for the power of storytelling and new work, Fiona has led the development of numerous commissioning, incubator, and artist-support programs. She believes in fostering creativity while driving strategic change, ensuring that arts organisations remain artistically ambitious and financially sustainable. Her leadership is underpinned by a commitment to inclusivity, cultural relevance, and engaging new audiences.
As Chair of Hayes Theatre Co, Fiona brings her wealth of experience to support the company’s vital role in nurturing Australian talent and developing new musical theatre. She is dedicated to ensuring that Hayes continues to thrive as a hub for bold and distinctive new work.
LISA CAMPBELL
British born Lisa Campbell is an award-winning producer and casting director.
Her production company, Luckiest Productions has produced national tours, international documentaries and live recordings for DVD and cinema release. They have won Helpmann and ARIA awards, as well as numerous Sydney Theatre Awards. She was producer of Adelaide Cabaret Festival from 2009-2011, alongside her husband David as Artistic Director.
Lisa is a founding member of the Hayes Theatre Co, and sat as Chair of the Board for eight years.
As a Producer, Lisa has presented many successful musical theatre productions, including Sweet Charity (with Tinderbox Productions and Neil Gooding Productions), Little Shop of Horrors (with Tinderbox Productions), Only Heaven Knows, Miracle City and Gypsy. For the Hayes Theatre Co, she has produced Assassins, Caroline, Or Change, Merrily We Roll Along and A Little Night Music – which recently won Best Musical at the 2024 Sydney Theatre Awards.
In addition to producing theatre, Lisa also produces children – fifteen year old Leo and eleven year old twins, Billy and Betty.
As a casting director, Lisa has cast productions world wide. She is currently the International Casting Director for Global Creatures’ Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Casting Director for the Australian tour of Beetlejuice The Musical – produced by Michael Cassel Group.
Lisa is a proud member of the Casting Guild of Australia.
In 2022, she was awarded with the award for Best Casting of a Musical for her work on Moulin Rouge! Australia. In 2025, she received the award again for her work on Beetlejuice The Musical.
JENNIFER HUBY
Jennifer Huby is a partner of HWL Ebsworth Lawyers. She is a corporate and commercial lawyer with over 25 years’ experience, specialising in the areas of media and entertainment and intellectual property, and has worked extensively in theatre, live performance, music, film and television. She has acted for many leading producers of musical stage productions in Australia which has included negotiating licences and rights acquisitions for Australian productions of Broadway and West End productions, advising creators of original works, advising on financing and investment arrangements and negotiating agreements for theatre hire, merchandise, engagement of creative and cast, music licensing and cast albums.
PENNY SCAIFF
Penny is a finance and governance leader with extensive experience across the performing arts and not‑for‑profit sectors. She is Director of Finance & Governance at Sydney Theatre Company and was previously Head of Finance & Operations at Belvoir Theatre. Her work focuses on supporting the companies artistic vision and the development of new work, underpinned by sound governance, financial resilience and long‑term sustainability.
Penny’s professional background includes assurance at EY, corporate finance and investor relations roles, senior finance and governance leadership at other not-for-profit entities, and board experience in the education sector.
JACLYN LEE-JOE
Jackie has over 20 years of marketing and digital experience across media, tech and communications. She has worked in a myriad of global and regional roles around the world with well-known consumer brands including Netflix, BBC, Skype and Virgin. At the BBC, Jackie had oversight of more than 300 brands globally, fostering franchise brands such as Doctor Who, the Planet Series and Top Gear, and for developing new brands. Jackie was instrumental in helping to create new content experiences, partnerships and ways for communities to engage with BBC content globally. At Netflix, she brought her experience in media and entertainment together with a deep understanding of the internet and tech – building reach and fan engagement for a growing international content slate across an expanding range of genres, deepening partnerships, leading popular culture by fostering conversations around the world, and developing Netflix’s brand.
WAYNE MCKENNA
Wayne has had a lifelong interest in the performing arts since first performing on stage at an early age. He commenced his professional career in the performing arts as General Manager of The Queensland Ballet and went on to become Business Manager of Opera Queensland. He subsequently moved to Sydney to further his interest in commercial theatre where he has worked for The Gordon/Frost Organisation, Jacobson Entertainment and, more recently, Newtheatricals. Over the years he has been involved with a number of major theatrical productions including The Sound of Music (GFO), the world premiere production of Shout! (JE), The Witches of Eastwick (JE), Jersey Boys (NT), Rock of Ages (NT), The Addams Family (NT), The Blue Man Group (NT) and Legends! (GFO). Wayne has also worked for a number of years in the Government sector as the Business and Financial Analyst for the Major Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council.
LOU OPPENHEIM
Lou is a strategic leader with more than 18 years experience in the performing arts, with a passion for connecting artists with audiences through the power of live performance, community engagement and the development of the next generation of artists and arts workers. She has an extensive background in venue management, leadership roles in producing companies alongside national and international touring.
Lou began her professional career at the global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), working across Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America in a breadth of industries ranging from telecommunications to transport.
Lou has worked in the performing arts since 2003 and is currently the Executive Director of Sydney Dance Company, a role that she has held since 2022.
Lou has held roles as the Director, Production & Events at the Sydney Opera House, Create Infrastructure Senior Manager (Create NSW), Circus Oz General Manager, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) Director of Operations. This followed a strategic planning role at the MSO made possible under a non-for-profit secondment through BCG.
Lou is a Board Member and Treasurer of Theatre Network Australia (TNA) and deputy chair of ELISION Ensemble. She has also been an Arts Administration Tutor for the Australian Youth Orchestra and Chair of the City of Yarra Arts Advisory Committee. Lou holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Computer) and Bachelor of Arts (German, Linguistics) from the University of Melbourne.
SHAUN RENNIE
Shaun Rennie is a multi-award-winning director working across Opera, Theatre, and Musical Theatre. He has received three Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Director and twice won the Broadway World Award for Best Direction. His career spans Australian premieres of new works and acclaimed revivals of beloved musicals.
Currently Associate Director at Opera Australia, Shaun’s recent credits include Guys and Dolls on Sydney Harbour, Switzerland (Ensemble Theatre), the Australian National Tour of Rent, and Gianni Schicchi. He also directed the world premiere of The Lovers (Bell Shakespeare) and the sold-out 25th Anniversary production of Rent at the Sydney Opera House.
For Opera Australia, Shaun has led The New Year’s Eve Gala, Opera Up Late for World Pride, Greatest Opera Hits, and Mad Scenes with Jessica Pratt. He has served as Revival Director for La Bohème and AIDA, and as Assistant Director on major productions including The Phantom of the Opera, The Tales of Hoffmann, and Il Trovatore.
Shaun is currently the Australian Associate Director of the acclaimed Regent’s Park production of Jesus Christ Superstar. His production of Rent returns to the Sydney Opera House in October 2025, and he will close out the year in Lyon, reviving Damiano Michieletto’s The Tales of Hoffmann for Opéra de Lyon.
BRITTANIE SHIPWAY
Brittanie Shipway is a proud Gumbaynggirr and Turkish storyteller, writer, director, dramaturg and performer whose work spans theatre, music theatre and the development of new Australian stories.
Recent highlights include directing and starring in the acclaimed hit concert event Barbra: The Greatest Star for The Hayes Theatre Co. Her directing credits also include the Tony Award-winning musical Once on This Island at The Hayes Theatre Co., a national tour of David Milroy’s Waltzing the Wilarra, and The Witches of Eastwick for Neglected Musicals.
As a writer, Brittanie wrote and starred in her debut play A Letter For Molly, directed by Ursula Yovich at Ensemble Theatre. The work was a semi-finalist for the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, nominated for a Broadway World Award for Best Play, and developed through Belvoir’s Artist Residency Program with support from Create NSW and Creative Australia. She was later commissioned to write Senser, a play with music that premiered at Theatre Works under the direction of Miranda Middleton, featuring original compositions by Jess Newman and Brittanie Shipway. She is currently adapting Pauline Harmange’s essays into I Hate Men (as Read by Men), a new theatrical work in development with Stoddart Entertainment, which she will also direct.
Brittanie is the recipient of the APRA AMCOS Professional Development Award for Music Theatre and Creative Australia’s prestigious Dreaming Award for her original Gumbaynggirr musical Yellow Rock. Her writing has also been featured by ABC Radio and SBS Voices.
A sought-after dramaturg and development artist, Brittanie has contributed to dozens of new Australian musicals and theatrical works as a dramaturg, performer, director and collaborator. Her credits include Laura Murphy’s Zombie!, Hannah Reilly’s The Deb, and Cassie Hamilton’s A Transgender Woman on the Internet, Crying. She is passionate about supporting writers and composers to realise ambitious new work and has become a trusted collaborator in the development of original Australian stories.
As a performer, Brittanie has received critical acclaim for her performances as both Ruth and Mabel in Richard Carroll’s The Pirates of Penzance, appeared as Hermia in the world premiere of Laura Murphy’s The Lovers for Bell Shakespeare at the Sydney Opera House, and starred as Margaret Whitlam in The Dismissal. Other credits include the national tour of Rolling Thunder Vietnam with the John Farnham Band, the Arbiter in Chess alongside Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Paulini, Kay in the national tour of The Sapphires, The Witch in Big Fish, and Claire in Ordinary Days.
Alongside her artistic practice, Brittanie regularly teaches at NIDA and co-directed the institution’s 2025 Musical Theatre Showcase alongside Darren Yap. She served as Chair of the Create NSW Theatre and Musical Theatre Artform Board, has assessed funding applications for Creative Australia and APRA AMCOS, and worked with Theatre Works to create First Stories, a playwriting initiative supporting First Nations storytellers.
Veronica Lesenco - Board Observer
Veronica Lesenco is a graduate lawyer currently working for the NSW Government. Her previous experience includes roles with Parliament and as a Legislative Drafter, where she contributed to the writing of laws, including writing regulations for the staged repeal of statutory rules. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (English major/Gender Studies minor) and a Bachelor of Laws.
Alongside her legal career, Veronica is deeply passionate about connecting communities and the creative industries. She has an extensive background as a dancer and performer in Sydney and New York. She has trained in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop and musical theatre styles. While in New York, she was a scholarship recipient of the international student visa program at Broadway Dance Centre. She continues to actively engage with emerging artists and diverse creative scenes across Sydney.