He graduated from Shepparton High School in 1995 bound for Melbourne, where he immersed himself in musical study, gaining a bunch of qualifications at Box Hill College of Music, before enrolling in the Australian Catholic University and then returning to Box Hill to complete his Masters in Conducting.
His journey to the big time was a “slow progression, but an enjoyable one”.
After collaborating with a friend for online productions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ross was offered the role of musical director for Melbourne-based theatre company Theatrical’s 2024 production of The Sound of Music.
He again sat in the musical director’s chair last year for Legally Blonde with the same company.
Now, he’s taken on the same position for AG Theatre’s Mamma Mia! The Musical, which is showing at St Kilda’s National Theatre until March 8.
Ross knew Mamma Mia! would be a vastly different gig to The Sound of Music, the first show he worked on at the same 783-seat heritage-listed theatre.
“There are 22 ABBA hits throughout, so I'm pretty sure most people would know, I'd say, about 80 per cent of them,” Ross said.
When he first saw the score, there were just two songs he wasn’t familiar with.
“I grew up with a lot of the ABBA music; my mum was an ABBA fan,” he said.
“I knew a lot of the music because it's, for want of better words, a jukebox musical.
“But it's still a great story and has been seen by I think 65 million people since its release in 1999.”
Ross — who is also a one-on-one piano teacher at Peninsula Grammar and Toorak College during weekdays, as well as the chief conductor for Casey Philharmonic Orchestra and Melbourne University-based Engineering and Music Society — said the Mamma Mia! musical wasn’t an assignment he was expecting to come his way, but he was glad that it did.
“This one, because it’s more popular, has still got a lot of moving parts, you've got to make sure that it is stylistically correct,” he said.
“Everybody has grown up with these songs, even in the background.
“If you take The Sound of Music, for example, which is more your classic, it's a 27-piece orchestra, so that has more your golden age of musicals where you’ve got strings, brass, all five reeds, which double on a lot of other instruments, percussion, drums, etcetera.”
Mamma Mia! requires a smaller band, including two guitarists, a bass player, drummer, percussion and four keyboards, but Ross said the preparation for him was the same.
“This one is actually really interesting because in almost every single song except, I think, bar two songs ... the entire cast is singing at some point,” he said.
“There’s a lot of harmonies, there’s a lot of backup vocals.
“Each cast member is individually miked, so they’re, so side of stage, they can, we get that wonderful mix, and to create that huge big harmony.”
He said working alongside director Pip Mushin, the pair knew what they were looking for vocally, theatrically and in dancing skill when they ran auditions for the 25-member cast.
“Each cast member is amazing,” Ross said.
“They’re all triple threats; they can all dance, act and sing.”
While his main driver for leaving the Goulburn Valley was to chase opportunities that weren’t available in the region, Ross still visits his parents, who have moved to Tatura, as often as he can.
“It's one benefit of being a teacher; you do get the school holidays in between to visit,” he said.
“There are times where I get, what's a good word for it, maybe country-sick, I suppose.
“Like, I feel a little claustrophobic in the city and ... I need to get back to the country for a while to kind of decompress or, you know, relax.”
He has also returned to the area for work, once involved with a dance company called Spark, which put on a concert at Dookie Quarry.
“That was cool,” Ross said of the first time time he had laid eyes on the unique venue.
Noting that he had never known Shepparton or the Goulburn Valley to be short on talent, he had advice for aspiring local musical directors.
“Part of the game is networking,” he said.
“Even someone at my age finding the next gig is tricky, but absolutely I think, my main advice there would be to reach out to any musical directors that you know or people that you admire and just say, hi, do you mind, can I have a chat or can you give me some advice?”
Ross hopes to see many Goulburn Valley faces in audiences at Mamma Mia! The Musical over the next month.
“Please come down and see the show, I think you’ll have a fantastic time — make a weekend of it,” he said.
“St Kilda is always buzzing with something on, not just the show.”
For tickets, visit the National Theatre’s website.
