Composer, lyricist, director, playwright, actor. Allan McFadden studied music at the Newcastle Conservatorium. One of his earliest theatre works was Johnny Fabulous (1976), a rock and roll show that has often been staged in schools around the country. He later spent three years as actor, music director and composer for the Hunter Valley Theatre Company. As a director McFadden worked on Barry Dickins' play Bedlam.
His musical theatre collaborations include: Essington Lewis : I am work (1981) by John O'Donohue (in which he also acted) ; Last Wake at She-Oak Creek (1986) by Bob Herbert ; and Abbie and Lou, Norman and Rose (1993) also by John O'Donohue. He has also collaborated on Gossip from the Forest (Thomas Keneally) and co-authored with Peter Northwood the musical Pastrana and the opera Trilby, based on the Du Maurier novel. McFadden has also written the play Chalk Hill.
