About BeXD!

BeXD was founded by Will and Katie Toft in 2017 with a simple goal: to create a place where people could learn, create and perform while loving their journey to becoming an artist.

We were teaching private singing lessons and running musical theatre classes for kids, teens and adults around Brisbane. Both of us had grown up through school performing arts programs, private training, choirs and community theatre, and had worked across community productions, professional theatre and creative teams. We had also spent time serving on boards of community theatre organisations, seeing firsthand how powerful the arts can be in bringing people together.

In 2019 we were incredibly lucky to produce the Australian tour of singing workshops and concerts for Renowned Master Voice Teacher Mary Setrakian, an experience that taught us a huge amount about working with artists, audiences and creative teams on a larger scale.

Then, COVID hit. Much of our teaching and classes shut down overnight.

During that period, life changed in other ways too. Will and Katie got married in 2022 and moved from Brisbane to Byron Bay, where Katie worked as an office administrator for a children’s psychologist and Will trained full-time before transitioning into professional work as a music producer and songwriter.

After a year living in our tiny house in Byron, we moved back to Brisbane and decided to try something we had always wanted to do.

We ran our first Musical in a Week workshop.

It was High School Musical Jr, with a cast of 14 kids. It was chaotic, joyful and completely wild - and by the end of the week we knew we had found something special.

The inspiration for these workshops came from Will’s own experience as a teenager attending YPAC (Youth Performing Arts Company) workshops. Those weeks weren’t just about performing - they were about finding a community of people who loved the stage just as much as you did. That sense of tribe and belonging stayed with him long after the shows were over, and recreating that experience for the next generation became a big part of what we wanted BeXD to be.

After that first workshop we kept going.

In 2023 we ran another Musical in a Week production with a cast of 21 students performing Finding Nemo. In January 2024 we decided to try something new - writing our own show for the workshop. There were a lot of late nights, script readings with parents and siblings, and more than a few 3am writing sessions, but the response to the production was incredible.

Across 2024 and 2025 we produced six more Musical in a Week productions, including additional original musicals, and watched our workshop casts grow to over 60 students. We also moved house and welcomed our first baby the world!

We discovered what made shows special for us - a big ensemble, a balanced and diverse cast of lead and featured roles, COOL music that actually got the kids excited, and stories that the students and audiences loved. We didn't have to worry about boring music, awkward romance plotlines with 9 year olds or outdated stereotypes. PLUS, our students got the chance to ORIGINATE roles that had never been performed before.  

We made the decision in mid-2025 to bring our workshop casts back down to 36 students, allowing us to work closely with every performer and create the kind of supportive, creative environment we had always envisioned.

Around the same time we also began licensing our musicals internationally, packaging our shows with the scripts, scores, guides and practical resources we always wished had existed when we were staging productions ourselves. Everything from useful rehearsal tracks, multiple keys that allowed us to cast flexibly across genders, ages and skill levels, casting guides and spreadsheets, audition kits, craft guides, costume plots - literally everything we ended up doing ourselves or wished we had time to do. 

Enter 2026!

Today our shows are written to be ensemble-friendly, exciting for performers and practical for theatres, with versions designed for touring casts of adult actors, smaller youth productions or large school ensembles.

This year, we have also simplified the education side of the business. Over the years BeXD has run more programs than we could count - film acting, K-pop dance, ballroom, singing, songwriting, drama, and more. In 2026 we made the decision to focus on the two programs that brings together everything we love.

KIPA (Kids in Performing Arts) - Term Class

Musical in a Week  - Holiday Workshop

These programs combines musical theatre training with the values we care most about: creativity, confidence, resilience and joy in the arts.

BeXD today is still a family-run company. It’s Will, Katie, our son Artie (with another baby arriving in June 2026), Julie who runs our administration and helps build our licensing resources, and an incredible team of teachers who guide students through KIPA classes and Musical in a Week productions.

We’re a small creative team who love what we do - working with students and families locally through BeXD Create, and collaborating with directors, schools and theatres around the world through BeXD Licensing to bring our musicals to life with new casts and communities.

Every time the curtain goes up, whether it’s in Brisbane or somewhere on the other side of the world, we’re reminded why we started this in the first place.

To create spaces where people can find a home, tell stories and experience the joy of Musical Theatre.