Julian Anderson - Director

Julian has been involved in opera and theatre both before and since graduating from NASDA in 2003, working with Canterbury Opera throughout the 1990s, and then Southern Opera after its formation.

He also performed regularly with Red Rose Dinner Theatre from 2003 to 2008. He is currently a member of the New Zealand Opera Chorus and has performed regularly with the company in their Christchurch mainstage seasons, both singing in the chorus and appearing in acting roles.

Since 2010 he has appeared in Canterbury Repertory Theatre productions of Journey’s End, Dancing at Lughnasa, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Love Letters, Blackadder, Noises Off, and played the delightful role of Ratty in the Christchurch Summertimes production of Wind in the Willows on the Avon river in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.

Julian has directed the Canterbury Repertory Theatre productions of Julius Caesar, Private Lives, Tell me on a Sunday, Richard III, and King Lear, as well as working as both actor and director with other theatre companies, film makers, and performing in both Ōtautahi Christchurch and Ōtepoti Dunedin.

Julian’s debut production with Toi Toi Opera was in their 2023 season of Philip Norman’s A Christmas Carol, in which he sang the role of Jacob Marley. In their March 2024 season of Die Fledermaus, he played Prince Orlofsky’s Majordomo, and served as Assistant Director. He was delighted to reprise the role of Jacob Marley, and to serve as Assistant Director for Toi Toi Opera’s repeat season of A Christmas Carol in December 2024, having joined the board of Toi Toi Opera as a trustee earlier that year, and is thrilled to be directing John Davies’ The Billy Goats Gruff for the company in February 2025.