MEET THE TEAM!
BeXD Create is a team of dedicated teachers and admin who are determined to help our students learn, grow and succeed.
Katie Toft
Katie Toft is a voice teacher, producer and performer, and is the Co-Founder of BeXD Create. Katie's tertiary studies include a Bachelor of Business majoring in Accountancy with a focus on Advanced Tax Law with a minor in Japanese and a Graduate Certificate in Agricultural Science. Her creative education was through school programs, co-curriculum drama and music and private lessons. Her theatre credits include Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical, Scaramouche in We Will Rock You, and Kate Monster and Lucy in Avenue Q and she has performed as a guest artist at the Sydney Opera House. Katie most recent performed as Marianne in Constellations at the Brisbane Planetarium.
Will Toft
Will has worked with 100's of students over the last decade and is passionate about improving the mental health of artists, confidence and community through engagement in the arts. Will Co-Founded BeXD Pty Limited with Katie which has two branches - BeXD Create (education) and BeXD Studios (music and production).
Will's university studies were in Business Management and Finance. Will learned singing, acting, piano and saxophone through school, co-curriculum activities similar to those that BeXD Create now run and many years of private lessons, Will's performance credits include Fredrick (Pirates of Penzance) Marius (Les Miserables), Fiyero (Wicked), Peter Allen (Boy from Oz), Galileo (We Will Rock You), George McFly (The Back to The Future Musical Parody), Princeton (Avenue Q) and Roland (Constellations).
Will also works as music producer and songwriter. Will helps develop BeXD Create's curriculum plans and creative vision and he is currently helping developing holiday programs and our rural QLD program for 2023 and 2024.
June Xiao
June is an actor, dancer and a teacher. She graduated from Shanghai Theater Academy in 2022 and got her bachelor's degree in Drama Education.
June started her acting career in 2019, since then, she has participated in several stage and film productions as an actor in Australia and China.
June started teaching in 2019, working as drama teacher and dancing teacher both in China and Australia in multiple organizations. She has always been enjoyed working with her students and always being loved by them.
Matthew French
Matthew is an actor, writer, and musician based in Brisbane/Meanjin.
He studied a Bachelor of Acting and Performance from 2014-2016 and has been working on stage and screen since as well as creating and performing his own works.
Matthew is an Equity committee member and has been with MEAA since 2016. He has taught drama and acting to children and teenagers with Room to Play and Beenleigh Theatre Group since 2020.
Julie Beard
Julie’s fascination with the arts began at the age of 3 with classical ballet training followed shortly after by vocal training with the Australian Girls Choir for 10 years through her school life which saw her travel to the USA on scholarship at the age of 12 for the G’Day USA Tour.
She furthered her Musical Theatre training with a Certificate 3 from the Australian Dance Performance Institute and an Advanced Diploma from ED5 International in Sydney where she starred as Maria in West Side Story. After graduating in 2013, Julie toured Sydney and NSW as a show host for various children’s theatre such as Despicable Me, Tom and Jerry Show and Little Charlie Bear. She then joined the entertainment cast at Warner Bros Movie World performing as Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) and Sea World as a Nickelodeon Kids Show Host before jetting off to Hong Kong to play Princess Merida at Disneyland. Tainted with the travel bug, she jetted off to London where she stayed for 5 years touring and gigging with various pantomimes and cabaret shows. Julie also took a leap into the film world landing jobs on various short films such as Unexpected Item starring Olivia Coleman and feature films such as Red Joan starring Judi Dench.
Julie returned to Australia during Covid to welcome her daughter into the world and soon after, re-joined the cast at Movie World as Marilyn. Recently she has starred as Sharpay in Vargo Studio’s High School Musical and just finished filming a TV commercial for Queensland Police. Julie is extremely excited to be fostering the next generation’s love for the arts whilst building on her own!
Hannah Kassulke
Hannah is an actor, singer and director with a wealth of theatre experience. 2021 saw Hannah direct Puffs at Brisbane Arts Theatre, and perform as one of the Major General’s daughters in Pirates of Penzance (Ipswich Musical Theatre Company). Other notable theatre credits include the critically acclaimed productions of Wicked and Les Miserable (IMTC), as well as leading roles in Next to Normal, Ladies in Black and the Boy from Oz (Brisbane Arts Theatre).
Over the years, she has also directed Reasons to be Pretty, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Goldie – a children’s fractured fairytale about Goldilocks. In 2018, she participated in the South East Queensland One Act Play festival for which she was awarded Best Actress in her section. Hannah holds a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in drama from the University of Queensland, where she gained experience in both playwrighting and dramaturgy, and she is currently in her third year of a Bachelor of Psychological Science (honours), with a keen interest in the effects of music on wellbeing and the regulation of the nervous system.
Hannah is thrilled to be joining a team whose values underly the most important elements of participating in theatre – life-long learning, connection with others, self-determination, and expression of creativity.
Barbara Lowing
Barbara is the first Queensland graduate of The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Since her graduation, she has worked though-out Australia and internationally.
She has performed with JUTE Theatre Company, The Brisbane Powerhouse, Queensland Theatre Company, the Melbourne Theatre Company, The Sydney Theatre Company, The Hole in the Wall Theatre Company, The State Theatre Company of South Australia, Griffin Theatre Company, St John’s Cathedral, Restaged Histories Project, La Boite Theatre Company, The Empire Theatre, The Queensland Arts Council, Dead Puppet Society, Shake and Stir Theatre Company, Belloo Creative, The Camarata, The Performers Independent Theatre Company and many Australian independent theatre companies whose work is inspiring and powerful.
Barbara has contributed to the creation of over 60 new works for the Australian stage, many of which have gone on to be performed on the main stage. She has directed for The University of Southern Queensland and Expressions Dance Company and has been a tutor with The Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA) and QUT. Barbara is also a voice over artist for radio advertisements and award winning documentaries ( Best Documentary- Montana International Documentary Film Festival- The Lost Years, The Disorderly Warriors, Of Dogs and Gods with Gulliver
Media,) In 2007 Barbara won a Theatre Critics Matilda Award for Best Actress and two MEAA/Equity awards for Best Actress and Best Ensemble Cast for Away, and a Goldie Award for Best Commercial Voice Over Artist, Queensland.
In 2013, she was awarded the Gold Matilda award for her body of work. (‘The China Incident’- QTC, ‘Tequila Mockingbird’- Shake and Stir Theatre Company,
‘Motherland’- Belloo Creative) Barbara was also awarded Outstanding Contribution by a Female Actress in The Groundling Awards for her body of work in 2013. Her Television credits include ‘Mako Mermaids’, Secrets and Lies, The Family Law, Film School- The Musical, Medivac, Hero’s 2, Stringers, Harrow. Her film credits include The Royal Hotel and Double or Nothing Barbara has been a proud Equity/MEAA member since 1987.
Sebastian Maclaine
Sebastian Maclaine completed his Bachelor of Music at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in 2008, where he featured in a number of productions including the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring, Valetto in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, and Autumn in
Purcell’s The Fairy Queen.
Sebastian has had a wide variety of musical experiences, including singing with the popular Australian touring and recording group, The Ten Tenors. With the group, Sebastian has performed extensively in 16 countries, most recently in 2022, and recorded several albums. In 2017, Sebastian was the recipient of an Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music to study at the Royal Northern College of Music. He graduated from the RNCM in 2018 with a Master of Music (Intensive). Also in 2018, he featured at the Glyndebourne Festival, where he appeared in the chorus for Giulio Cesare Pelléas et Mélisande and Vanessa, and understudied the High Priest in Barrie Kosky’s production of Handel’s Saul. He subsequently moved to
Hildesheim, Germany, performing with for Theater für Niedersachsen as soloist and chorus
member.
Sebastian returned to Brisbane in 2021, performing with Opera Queensland (OQ) in the schools touring productions of La Bohème and The Frog Prince (co-production with shake & stir theatre co.) and OQ’s Vocal Ensemble. In 2022 for OQ, he joined the Young Artist Program and performed the role of Gastone in La Traviata. He also appeared in the Lisa Gasteen National
Opera Program double bill as Bastian in Der Häusliche Krieg by Schubert and as Adolph in Die Opernprobe by Lortzing. In 2023, Sebastian traveled to Oslo to perform in Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust as part of the Norwegian National Opera chorus.
Alexander Sakellarakis
My name is Alex, I am 22 years old and have recently graduated with a double degree of psychology and business from the Queensland University of Technology. For the past 5 years I have taken private singing lessons with a classical singing coach who has expanded my repertoire, from the structure of musical theatre to the fantastical chaos of jazz.
I have always had a love for all fields of acting and have performed in multiple plays and musicals in both starring and ensemble roles. Now that I am free from university commitments, I aim to move forward into the world of professional acting in whatever way I can.
Kelsey Pigram
Kelsey has had a passion for drama and the arts since a young age and has over 10 years of experience in musical theatre performance. This passion slowly formed into a career, as Kelsey is now studying a Bachelor of Education (secondary) and Fine Arts (drama) at QUT. She is looking forward to using her experience to teach others and allow kids to find their joy within performance.
Along with this, Kelsey began piano at the age of 7 and achieved a level of AMEB grade 8 whilst in her last year of high school. She is now running her own business as a piano teacher to people of all ages. Her love of the arts has always played a major role in her life, and she hopes to pass this love onto others.
Ellie Waddingham
Ellie is a performer, writer and life-longer lover of theatre. Ellie is currently studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (acting) at QUT, and hopes to inspire the next generation of creatives to chase their dreams.
Ellie has worked with Queensland Theatre, Shake & Stir Theatre Co, QPAC and Brisbane Arts Theatre, and held many leading and ensemble roles across theatre, musicals and film. She is also an avid writer, working as a reviewer for Theatrehaus and writing and performing in productions under her company, theatrePUNK co., an emerging arts organisation for which she is the artistic director. She recently performed in the debut show for PIP Theatre, The Ugly One with AllEntertainment. Ellie also works with Vena Cava Productions as an Environmental Manager.
She is passionate about inclusivity and social justice in the arts and works to ensure that everyone is given the chance to develop their creativity and talent, no matter their circumstances. Ellie is motivated to inspire the next generation to express themselves and allow their imaginations to run wild.
Carla Beard
Carla graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University with a Bachelor of Musical Theatre with Honours in 2021. They have enjoyed performing such roles as Sonny in Grease, Serena in Legally Blonde and Claude in Love Lust Lost. Carla has loved being involved in the creative process of new Australian works, including playing Bronson in two workshop productions of Round The Twist the musical.
She is passionate about the environment, mental health in the industry, and social change, and wishes to awaken and encourage the passions of her students.
“A wonderful place to work with great support and wonderful leaders! Highly recommend it for students and little ones as they take great care with who they invite to teach and how the classes are run!”