Paul Capsis

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Capsis, Paul

Actor, Singer, Cabaret Performer

Paul was born at the Crown Street Women’s Hospital in Surry Hills, Sydney in 1964 and was raised by his grandmother Angela in her Landsdowne Street terrace house. His home since 1998 has been in Surry Hills just 3 blocks from where his grandmother lived. His mother (nee Bonnici), was born in Gzira and came to Australia aged 5 years with her family in 1948 on the SS Strathnaver. His father, a Greek Egyptian, was born in Cairo and migrated to Australia in the fifties. According to Michael Dwyer, he was “a bullied misfit who survived a violent high school to carve an uncompromising public profile”.

Paul is now one of the most popular entertainers in Australia, an actor, singer and cabaret star. He has performed both in Australia as well as overseas, including the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, the Schauspielhaus in Vienna, and the Sydney Olympic Arts Theatre.

He has performed in cabaret and concerts as a solo artist at the Melbourne Arts Centre and the Sydney Opera House, including Paul Capsis in Concert (2003) and the Tolarno Galleries ‘Luminous’ Tour (2005). He has also appeared numerous times on radio, television and film. Recent highlights include a role in a feature film, Head On, co-hosting Eurovision 2001 for SBS, acting in the popular Pizza on SBS TV with Paul Fenech, and a guest appearance on Spicks and Specks on the ABC. He played in The Lost Echo with the Sydney Theatre Company in 2006. He played Riff Raff in the Rocky Horror Show in 2008-9. He played a transsexual drag queen in All About My Mother in 2010 for the Melbourne Theatre Company. He played two roles in The Threepenny Opera for the STC in 2011, Jenny the prostitute and a vile archbishop. In 2012 he performed the Paul Capsis Revue at the Spiegeltent in Melbourne and possibly his best ever performance as several members of his family, most notably his grandmother Angela, in Angela’s Kitchen at the Malthouse Theatre. Ostensibly all about his grandmother Angela, it is also an autobiography of the actor himself. He also has several collections on CD, including Malta Souvenir (ABC Radio National).

Paul has won several awards, namely a Helpmann Award for Boulevard Delirium in 2005; the Green Room Award: Best Cabaret Artist (2004); the Helpmann Award: best live music presentation for Capsis vs Capsis at the Studio, Sydney Opera House (2002); the Film Critics Circle Award; and the AFI Nomination: best supporting actor in a lead role for Head On (1998). He is keen to expand his repertoire of roles and hopes to write and record an album of his own songs in the future.

Sources: 1. Dwyer,Michael, Pushing his boundaries, The Age, March 7, 2012 2. Blake, Elisse, At home with Paul Capsis, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 19, 2012

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