Our Team
FOLSOM PRISON PRODUCTIONS
Andrew Barker Producer
Andrew’s theatrical career spanning over 25 years has included Stage Management, Production Management, General Management and Producing.
Andrew has worked extensively throughout his career for companies including Melbourne Theatre Company and Playbox Theatre. Thirteen years with Melbourne Theatre Company saw him working with many of Australia’s leading Artists. He then worked for eight years at Playbox Theatre Production, managing over 60 original Australian main stage productions as well as overseeing their regional, interstate and international touring schedules.
Producing credits range from small works including Too Beautiful For Garbage with a sold out season directed by Richard Lowenstein, to Ron Elisha’s Wrongful Life and Burberry Productions’ Spontaneous Broadway.
He was General Manager for Dainty Consolidated Entertainment on their highly successful Melbourne season of Mum’s The Word 2: Teenagers.
Andrew also spent 2 years as a First Assistant Director on Neighbours.
Simon Myers Producer
Whilst maintaining a career as a professional musician – most notably with the David Chesworth Ensemble – Simon has been producing films, promoting artists and presenting shows and concerts for the last 10 years.
In 2004 he undertook a Post Graduate Diploma in Film and Television Production at the Victorian College of the Arts.
His credits as a Producer include short films like Solvent, End Of Town and The Tank (starring Chris Haywood and Linda Cropper) that have been screened in festivals in New York, London, Berlin, Melbourne, Sydney, Wyoming and Palm Springs.
One of the films, End Of Town, was nominated in the 2006 L’Oreal Paris AFI Awards and went on to win the Emerging Australian Filmmaker Award at the 2006 Melbourne International Film Festival.
He worked as the Directors’s Assistant on the 2006 motion picture Irresistible (starring Sam Neill, Susan Sarandon and Emily Blunt), and with Japanese producer Fumiko Homma, Simon co-produced the feature film Academy which was released in Japan in 2007.
In both 2007 and 2008 Simon produced The Antenna Awards for Australia’s Community Television sector.
Over the years Simon – both as musician and promoter – has worked with many great entertainers including Shirley Bassey, John Farnham, and Anthony Warlow.
COMPANY
Tex Perkins
For me being a part of the MAN IN BLACK show really is a dream come true, actually a dream I never dared dream. I’m not really sure when I first heard Johnny, must have been when I was 5 or 6. But I do remember wondering what the words in A Boy Named Sue were that needed to be bleeped out. (You didn’t hear people say ’son of a bitch’ as much as you do these days.) Johnny Cash’s music feels like home to me. Not only does it remind me of eating breakfast with my family, listening to ABC Brisbane in the late 60`s, it takes me back to my first band `The Dum Dums` a cow punk band I started with a few other 17 year olds in Brisbane 1982. Half our set was Johnny Cash. I learned to sing doing Cash songs. Being a restless youth eager to expand and explore my musical range I moved on from my Cash loving roots. Years later I made an appearance on the Foxtel produced John Laws show, the first thing he said to me was “you’ve turned your back on Cash, haven’t you?” stunned for a moment at such an accusation, I thought to myself ” you certainly haven’t” (this being just after the `cash for comment scandal`) ‘ oh! You mean Johnny…” Fast forward to 2009 and I am pleased to say the Cash in me is free, the man in black is back! Hope you enjoy the show. Tex Perkins
Rachael Tidd
Rachael studied music before training as an actor at The Victorian College of the Arts. Since then she has performed in theatres all over Australia, playing various instruments, acting and singing in everything from Brecht and Mamet to Shakespeare and Sondheim.
She has appeared in musicals such as Company, Always Patsy Cline and The Sign of the Seahorse with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and has also been part of many other premiere productions and workshops including Spontaneous Broadway, All Het Up and Your Dreaming.
Rachael has worked with Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Playbox/Malthouse, Chamber Made, Majestic, Really Useful Company, Handspan, Theatreworks and The Australian Shakespeare Company to name a few. Rachael also holds a Masters Degree in Speech and Language Pathology from La Trobe University, and is a voice and accent specialist, working regularly in film, television and radio. She is thrilled to be along for the ride with The Man in Black.
The Tennessee Four
Steve Hadley Musical Director & Bass
One of the most experienced bass players in Australia has played on over 150 recordings both here and all over the world in many different styles of music with people and bands such as,Melbourne Symphony, Vince Jones, The Black Sorrows, Cornell Dupree, Steve Cropper, Paul Kelly, Kate Ceberano, Branford Marsalis, Men at Work, Renee Geyer and is also a multi award winner as a player and composer/producer winning an Aria award for best music score for the film Lantana,among others awards, Steve is working on some exciting new projects and is very much looking forward to more ‘The Man In Black’ shows.
David Folley Drums
Dave has toured internationally as drummer for The Killjoys, Chris Wilson and Grant McLennan. He has toured Australia with David Bridie, Sophie B Hawkins, John Schumann, Mick Thomas and many more. You can also hear Dave’s drumming on numerous soundtracks including Very Small Business, Stories from the Golf and Bran Nue Dae.
Shane Reilly Guitarist
Who is this dark handsome stranger? A singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of some nouse who’s latest offering “Cupids And Cornucopias” is garnering splendiferous appraisal from certain wranglers of style and taste such as Joe Camilleri and Paul Kelly? Perhaps. Shane can be seen performing with his group “The International Men Of Leisure” ,possibly at your local. He “is” a Man In Black.
Shannon Bourne Guitarist
Shannon Bourne is a virtuoso guitarist, singer-songwriter and published expert on guitars and related equipment, from Melbourne Australia.
As an award-winning veteran of the blues scene, Shannon has already had what would be for some a life-time of acclaim packed into his meagre three decades. Increasingly and artistically frustrated and never one to take an easy ride. Over his past 10 years he has been a mainstay with the powerful Chris Wilson and contributed heavily to his albums “Spiderman” and “King For A Day”. Shannon also contributed to The Black Sorrows “Roarin Town” and Broderick Smith’s “Unknown Country”.
Shannon also has 2 critically acclaimed solo albums out “Burn It Down” from 2005 and last year saw the release of “Dark Things”.
If you are interested in hearing Shannon’s solo material, please visit myspace.com/shannonbourne