Brian Thomson

For five decades, Brian Thomson has been one of Australia’s most influential designers. He started his career in close collaboration with the director Jim Sharman and created designs for three of the biggest rock musicals of all time: Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair and The Rocky Horror Show.

In the years since, he’s had an extraordinarily varied career, working on projects ranging from small-scale indie theatre to the biggest live performance events in the world. He designed the world’s most enduring cult film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and in 1996 won a Tony Award for his design for The King and I on Broadway.

In this interview with our Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, Brian talks about discovering his love for set design as a young architect and creating the extraordinary visual concept for our first Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, La Traviata. He also shares stories from his time as the production designer for the Sydney 2000 Olympics Closing Ceremony, and working with Australian icons.