|  |  | Andrea and Luke: The Musical |
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 Luke was born on April 4, 1972 at 1.55am at Gosford Hospital. First born to Allan and Lois, the family moved to Toongabbie in Western Sydney. Growing up Luke was a happy-go-lucky kid and made friends easily. His sister Keryl was born soon after he turned three and she was their parents' second and final child. Around this time he received a present from his parents of a drum kit, the kit that Animal from The Muppets used to play.
Luke attended Metella Rd Primary School for all his Primary years and showed promise in maths and some forms of sport. He loved to entertain and his career aspirations at the age of eight were to be a clown or a mathematician. Tennis became a passion and he became a prefect in grade 6.
Grade 7 came and Luke moved into High School at Grantham High in Seven Hills, a neighbouring suburb. He took along with him some Primary School friends and made several new friends. At the end of Grade 7 in 1984 though, the bombshell was dropped: the family would be moving to Hobart. Luke's father had accepted a transfer with his work, which was then known as the Wales Bank.
With initial reluctance Luke quickly took to the new city and made some great friends through school, youth group and Boys' Brigade. Traveling extensively through Tasmania both with his family and various school and other camps, he really took to bushwalking and commenced his Duke of Edinburgh Award. He also became actively involved in music at school and elsewhere.
But within two years it was time to move on to the next adventure and the family moved to Adelaide. Luke completed his last three years of school at Brighton High School which had a special music division. He took to this with gusto becoming involved in the concert band and choirs and undertaking several tours. His first proper job beyond delivering junk mail commenced in 1987 while in Year 10 when he started working at McDonald's.
At the end of Year 12, Luke had a year off school and worked as crew at McDonald's and at that time went and saw "Big River", the musical about Huckleberry Finn. He was hooked on musical theatre immediately and knew he wanted to be part of the action. Luke became heavily involved in musical theatre and made his debut as a suitor in "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" and performed in around 10 musicals in Adelaide in a few short years. In the meantime he undertook a Travel and Tourism Diploma and continued to work at McDonald's, moving into management in mid 1992.
After turning 21, Luke's family moved back to Sydney but Luke had bigger aspirations and soon after, headed to London to do the working holiday thing. He spent only 15 months there as he couldn't contemplate another winter. He worked at a West End Hotel restaurant and took the opportunity to see about 80 shows in 12 months. The last three months were spent traveling through Europe and coming back to the Edinburgh Festival.
On his return to Sydney he quickly grabbed another management role at McDonald's, this time at the Head Office store. He did a part time radio announcing and TV presentation course and also performed in a pro-am version of "Les Miserables". At the start of 1996 though, he took off to Melbourne where he's lived ever since.
The premise was a performing arts course which was heavily dance based. It was a year full time and the intention was to train to then perform in musicals. Somehow though, very quickly he ended up backstage and worked on professional shows in both props and as a mechanist including "Sunset Boulevard", "Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miserables". Other work included more McDonald's management, theatre ushering and gym management.
He broke into TV around 10 years ago, working on the first season of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire". It proved too casual and he needed something more secure so moved into banking. Luke worked at the Commonwealth Bank on the 13 2221 number which was general enquiries. He moved into home loans very quickly and before too long became a mobile lender. The rigours of constant 100 hour weeks and no office support took their toll and he left after six months, ending up managing a wrap and smoothie bar.
TV and film though still beckoned and in 2004 he worked casually on "Deal or No Deal". This casual work was balanced with theatre merchandising until 2006 where Luke decided to properly freelance in film and TV. Since then, the work has been constant and he's learnt an incredible amount. Around this time he also caught up with Andrea Davison, his future wife.
Now marks the biggest production of his lifetime: the marriage between him and Andrea. It's an incredible time and he undertakes a role which will continue for the rest of his life. |
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