Sam has most recently appeared in Rep’s productions of Calendar Girls directed by Catherine Hill, Speaking in Tongues directed by Ross McGregor, Pride and Prejudice directed by Duncan Ley and Pig Iron People directed by Aarne Neeme.

Sam’s involvement with Rep goes back many years, starting with The Madness of George III and Communicating Doors. In between he has appeared in numerous Rep productions including Arcadia, Life x3 and Moon Over Buffalo.

He has also appeared in various ANU, Free-Rain and Looking Glass productions, as well as last year’s Short and Sweet in The Bret I Haven’t Met by Rep’s own Simon Tolhurst.

Sam has, as always, found it a pleasure to work with the talented people of the Canberra Repertory Society, and a particular pleasure to be working with Aarne again.

For anyone who counts these things this is now Sam’s ninth play since quitting theatre.

Tony was born in Tawonga, Victoria.  His parents immigrated from Spain and he is related to the 20th century composer Manuel de Falla through his paternal grandmother.

Tony is known for his versatility and ability to adapt to different characters in both plays and musicals.   Examples range from the romantic lead Woody Mahoney in Finian's Rainbow, to the despicable innkeeper Theanardier in Les Miserbales, to opera singer Don Geronimo in Il Matrimonio Segreto, to a singing Hitler in The Producers as Roger de Bris, to old theatre cat Gus in CATS, to the self-rightous Deputy Governor Danforth in The Crucible, to the mentally challeged Henry in Cosi, and as the tap dancing seagull Scuttle in The Little Mermaid (his tap dance debut).  

Favorite musical roles include Thenardier in Les Miserables (1994/96), Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore (1995), Fagin in Oliver (2002), Bruce Ismay in Titanic the Musical (2004), Gus the Theatre Cat in Cats (2007), Roger DeBris in The Producers (2007), Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls (2009), Ali Hakim in Oklahoma (2011), Monsieur Andre in Phantom of the Opera (2013), Juan Peron in Evita (2015), Scuttle in The Little Mermaid (2016) and Javert in Les Miserables (2017).  

Tony’s performances as Bruce Ismay, Ali Hakim, Roger de Bris and Scuttle earned him ‘best actor’ nominations at the Canberra Area Theatre (CAT) Awards.  

Favorite non-musical roles include Mr Horner in The Country Wife (1988), Frederick in Noises Off (1990), Deputy Governor Danforth in The Crucible (2004), the mentally disturbed Henry in Cosi (2008), Dr Hubert Bonney in It Runs in the Family (2009), Parkes Robinson in Caravan (2010) and Banquo in Macbeth (2016).  In 2012 Tony won critical praise for his portrayal of the evil red-neck Bob Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird, which also earned Tony a ‘best actor’ CAT Award nomination.

In 2010 Tony won his first CAT Award as Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Dr Hubert Bonney in the Canberra Rep English farce It Runs in the Family, for which he was also awarded the Helen Wilson Trophy for best comedy performance of the year.

In between Tony has also worked professionally in theatre restaurant, feature films, corporate videos and television commercials.

After a long career with the Australian Government (his previous day job) Tony resigned his position in 2014 and is now pursuing his new career and passion as a free-lance actor and executive consultant.  He is also currently employed as an actor at the ANU Medical School.