Victoria Falconer

Biography

A cross-genre theatre-maker, musical director, performer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, composer and mentor, Victoria Falconer works primarily across cabaret, musical theatre and live music. Born in Australia, she is of Filipino and British heritage. She is currently serving her fourth year as co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co. in Sydney/Gadigal land, and was the 2024 recipient of the Asian-Australian Leadership Award for Arts & Culture.

Victoria is currently music director (also contributing additional arrangements) and onstage ensemble member for the 2026 remount of the original production of My Brilliant Career, produced by Melbourne Theatre Company and touring to Sydney Theatre Company, Canberra Arts Centre and Merrigong Theatre. This production's debut season garnered multiple five star reviews and received five Green Room awards, including Best Ensemble, Best Production, and Best Music Direction.

★★★★★ "An original homegrown musical that could smash it on the West End or Broadway is the holy grail of Australian musical theatre. This is it. This is the one." - The Age

★★★★★ Brimming with abundant heart and soul, it provoked the rowdiest MTC audience I’ve heard in quite some time to hoot and holler and stomp in and out of their seats to an astounding new musical that’s surely destined to travel the world. - Time Out

★★★★ 1/2 "The on-stage band (who begin playing while audience members are still finding their seats, weaving an exuberant air from the get-go) are dynamically led by musical director Victoria Falconer, and double as actors to tremendous effect. In its casting alone, My Brilliant Career sets the bar high – why settle for triple-threat performers when you can cast quadruple-threat actors, singers, dancers and musicians?" - Arts Hub

Recent music direction highlights include the new Australian production of HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH (GWB), IN THE HEIGHTS (JRP/Sydney Opera House), RIDE THE CYCLONE (Hayes Theatre Co), M'AP BOULÉ (Performing Lines) and a queer reimagining of OKLAHOMA! (Black Swan State Theatre). In 2025, Victoria also served as music supervisor on BRIGHT STAR (Sport For Jove), music associate director on THE SHIRALEE (Sydney Theatre Company) and played the role of Susan/Adelaide Adams in CALAMITY JANE (Sydney Opera House).

"Taking on a much heftier acting role than the cabaret we’ve seen her in, Victoria Falconer is having perhaps the most fun on stage as Susan. Falconer is proof of the argument that cabaret is the best place to cut one’s teeth before jumping into the modern musical world. She plays not only the violin, but the ukulele and the saw as she matches wits with the other men in the world of Deadwood." - Theatre Thoughts

★★★★★ "This is a dynamic and formidable ensemble cast, with side characters creating their own uniquely memorable moments.... in particular, Falconer felt like the glue that held the entire performance together." - The AU Review

★★★★ "This interactive show really shines when it’s shoving its ample bosom in the audience’s face – so to speak (and a shout-out to Victoria Falconer’s rambunctious performance that had the front row both amused and aroused). - Cultural Binge

Recent commissioned work as lead creator/cabaret performer include Smashed: The Nightcap (Sydney Festival & Auckland Arts Festival), The Sight (Dark Mofo), and a reworking of The Beggars Opera with her co-Artistic Director at Hayes, Richard Carroll, to be presented in 2027. She is also currently working with Dino Dimitriadis on theatrical-cabaret work House of Rot: Grey Gardens, to be presented by the Malthouse & Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June 2026.

Victoria was the 2022 recipient of the Frank Ford Commission from the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, through which she developed and debuted AND THEN YOU GO: THE VALI MYERS PROJECT. A multi-genre piece set to original music co-composed by Victoria Falconer, Jarrad Payne and the ensemble, it fuses elements of theatre, cabaret, circus and dance to tell the story of Vali Myers, one of Australia's true cult arts figures.

★★★★ "And Then You Go features original music and songs with styles swirling through jazz, rock and psychedelia. Some of the quieter compositions and those with singing in unison are particularly effective at invoking the depths of the artist’s struggles... And Then You Go is an unpredictable, uncategorisable, sometimes raw and often hauntingly beautiful celebration of a life lived without compromise. If you’re ready for a trip to parts unknown, this is the show for you." InDaily, 2022

★★★★ 1/2 "The songs performed are all new and exciting originals, [played on] a splendid blend of masterfully played instruments... And Then You Go – The Vali Myers Project is not only a lovely way to remember and honour the late Vali Myers, but is also inspiring to its audience, ensuring everyone leaves the theatre with a little bit of Myers’ bohemian magic, which hopefully blooms within their everyday lives." Glam Adelaide on AND THEN YOU GO, 2022

Victoria has performed on international stages from Soho Theatre London, Club Cumming NYC, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Glastonbury, Sydney Mardi Gras and London Pride. Accolades include two Best Cabaret awards at Adelaide Fringe, two Green Room Awards, and multiple Sydney Theatre award nominations.

★★★★★ “The host with the most… From the get go, Falconer engaged and entertained her audience, never missing a beat to get in and amongst the people creating a connection that so many other shows fail to do. Camp, comedic genius.” Theatre Travels (Smashed, 2021)

Earlier music direction credits include GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (Hayes/World Pride 2023), LIZZIE (Sydney Festival 2022, dir. Maeve Marsden); GODSPELL (Hayes Theatre Co. 2022, dir. Richard Carroll); LEAP, a new cross-genre dance piece (dir. Amy Campbell), the debut of Bourgeois & Maurice's INSANE ANIMALS (dir. Philip McMahon for HOME Manchester), Courtney Act’s Under The Covers (Underbelly, London) and the debut of Sasquatch The Opera (Summerhall, Edinburgh 2018) written and composed by Roddy Bottom of Faith No More.

★★★★ “With Australian accents and a deliciously gritty, full-throated, DIY-tinged musical soundscape by musical director Victoria Falconer that dirties up and doubles down on the original’s pop-punk roots, the musical is ripped free from its American mythology.” - Audrey Journal on LIZZIE, Hayes Theatre/Sydney Festival 2022

★★★★★ “Enormously enjoyable, lightly cabaretic… Falconer re-orchestrates the score so it is played by a small bluegrass ensemble, supplemented by brass instruments and electronic flourishes... almost certainly the first use of amplified electronic dance music in a production of Oklahoma! If one is going to continue to stage classics like Oklahoma! then Richard Carroll and Victoria Falconer offer an exemplary way of doing this – a highly recommended production.” Limelight Magazine on OKLAHOMA!, Black Swan State Theatre Company 2020

★★★★★ "Led by an immensely talented musical director, Victoria Falconer, all 11 cast members play an instrument (and some play multiple) and their skills result in a rich wall of sound filling the Eternity Playhouse, doing absolute justice to the show’s wonderfully-crafted songs." Broadway World on ONCE, 2019.

Victoria is co-creator, composer/lyricist and performer with critically-acclaimed feminist firebrands Fringe Wives Club, and was nominated for a Green Room Award for Music Direction (2020) for their production of GLITTERGRASS (Malthouse Theatre, 2019). Formed in 2017 on receiving the Moosehead Development Grant, the original trio have received multiple awards including the Best Cabaret Award at Adelaide Fringe 2018, the Spirit of The Fringe Award at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018, and nominations for Best Newcomer (Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2017), Best Cabaret (Melbourne Fringe 2017), Best Ensemble (Green Room Awards 2017), Best Overall Show (NZ Fringe Festival 2019) and for two Wellington Theatre Awards (2019). They have performed sell-out seasons at Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, Soho Theatre (London), Malthouse Theatre (Melbourne), BATS Theatre (Wellington, NZ) and Griffin Theatre (Sydney), and have been invited to perform at Darwin International Festival, Southbank Centre London, Woodford Folk Festival and the Famous Spiegeltent at the Melbourne Arts Centre amongst others.

★★★★★ "Victoria’s musical prowess was a highlight of the show as she transitioned seamlessly between instruments and appeared to masterfully improvise along with the banter of the audience.” Theatre People (Fringe Wives Club)

“Falconer stands out as the star all-rounder, with musical versatility, alluring jazz vocals and the impish shtick of a born comedienne.” – The Age (Fringe Wives Club)

Victoria is a founding executive member for The People of Cabaret, an artistic initiative formed in 2020 to amplify and advocate for artists in cabaret, circus, burlesque and associated disciplines who identify as Indigenous and/or Bla(c)k and/or people of colour.

Alongside their advocacy work, TPOC have curated two week residency of shows for Bloom Festival Sydney, created an online variety extravaganza for Melbourne Fringe (which won the Spirit of the Fringe Award and a Green Room Award for Best Ensemble), and presented the variety show We Are Here at Sydney Festival 2021. Victoria leads the Mentorship Programme empowering and upskilling emerging IBPOC artists across the country. And for the last three years she has also been a mentor for Midsumma's Pathways program, a nine-month mentorship and workshop program for LGBTQIA+ artists with disability.

Victoria’s screen composition work includes festival-selected documentary YER OLD FAITHER (dir. Heather Croall, 2020), animated short DOUBLE PORTRAIT (dir. Ian Bruce, 2019) which received prizes for Best Animation at Aesthetics Short Film Festival and Best in Category at the London International Animation Festival, as well as being long-listed for a BAFTA. She was sound designer for Trygve Wakenshaw's ONLY BONES 1.4 (Soho Theatre/London Mime Festival 2020).

Victoria's appearances as a musician in London include the Royal Albert Hall, the National Theatre’s River Stage and the Barbican, and she has played for recording sessions in famed London studios including The Church, Sofa Sound and Abbey Road Studios. Festival performances include Glastonbury, Latitude and Bestival (UK), Buskers Festival (NZ) and Clockenflap (Hong Kong). She performed on theremin, violin, accordion and musical saw accompanying artists including John Cameron Mitchell and Joey Arias at Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2019, played on the debut album of chamber-pop artist The Anchoress, duetted live with Amanda Palmer and Richard O'Brien at Koko London, and is a member of art-rock band Satan’s Cheerleaders.

In a previous incarnation (where she was known as Victor Victoria), she composed, scripted and performed as one half of EastEnd Cabaret, the salacious cult musical comedy duo. Playing cabaret and festival stages around the world, the pair sold out shows for 7 years at Edinburgh, Adelaide, Brighton and Perth Fringe Festivals, winning Best Cabaret (Adelaide Fringe 2012), Best Musical Act (London Cabaret Awards 2015) and described as “irresistible... shades of Victoria Wood and Julie Walters via Liza Minnelli” by The Guardian (2014).

TV appearances include The Courtney Act Show on Channel 4 (UK), BBC Three’s Live at the Electric (UK), ABC's Comedy Up Late and Q&A (Australia) and NBC’s Before The Morning After (US). Victoria has been named one of Time Out London's Top 10 cabaret performers, and was on the Hospital Club's h100 list as one of the top 100 influential and innovative artists working in the UK creative industries.

★★★★ “Victoria Falconer is an exceptionally talented woman… her musical skills are mesmerising… her creativity is impeccable.” The Advertiser on OXYMORON

★★★★ “An acclaimed multi-instrumentalist with excellent comic chops and an innate ability to steal a show.” - Broadway Baby on OXYMORON