Lawyer, actor, librettist, composer, director, producer.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Laws from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Simon Chan was admitted to the Bar as a barrister in 2000. Although he continued to practice as a lawyer until 2012, Chan also pursued his love for theatre, and especially musical theatre, by undertaking a Graduate Diploma and Masters of Music degree from QUT during the early 2000s. His theatrical career has seen him act, write and/or work as an assistant director for La Boite, the Queensland Theatre Company, Metro Arts, Brisbane Powerhouse and Gold Coast Arts Centre among other organisations. Between 2004 and 2010 he also tutored at QUT in Primary Curriculum and Pedagogies (Music) and Creative Industries Foundation subjects 1 and 2.
Following the production of his musical The Velveteen Rabbit at in the Inns of Court, Brisbane in 2001, Chan established The Other Production Company (the name being a play on the specialist musical theatre company established in Melbourne in 1999). Chan's first production with his own company was I Must Stop Looking at Men (Gardens Theatre, QUT, 2003). Since then he has composed and produced more than a half dozen original musicals and music theatre works. The most revived of his musicals, The Velveteen Rabbit, has even been produced in the US between 2010 and 2012 (including New York and Delaware). Among Chan's other produced works are The Happy Prince (2013), a musical adaptation of the Oscar Wilde short story; a theatre restaurant show called Rice and Easy (2012); and a spoof on the music from the James Bond series called From Asia with Love (2013). He also directed and produced the Pet Shop Boys musical, Closer To Heaven at the Brisbane Powerhouse in 2005.
As an actor Chan has received critical acclaim from Brisbane's The Courier-Mail for his comic acting roles in Michael Gurr's Sex Diary of an Infidel (La Boite) and Scott Bevan's Onna No Honour (Metro Arts). He also appeared in Hilary Bell's Fortune (La Boite) and Simon Bell's production of The Tempest (Queensland Theatre Company). Chan's work in music theatre has seen him establish himself in Brisbane and on the Queensland Gold Coast as a popular comedian/singer in various cabaret shows and revues, as well as occassionally appearing in his own musicals. His acting credits also include several films, notably the feature The Real Macaw (1998)and the short Karaoke King. The latter work, directed by Carine Chai, screened at the Asian Australian Occasion Short Film Festival curated by AAFFN’s Indigo Willing in 2007).
Chan undertook his PhD at QUT, writes occasional theatre and film reviews. He is also worked on a new musical, What Might Have Been, an adaptation of J.M. Barrie's Dear Brutus.
