Судья Майкл Ли и продюсер Майкл Кассель вошли в совет директоров NIDA

Justice Michael Lee and live entertainment producer Michael Cassel have joined the NIDA board. NIDA chair Catherine West said she was delighted to welcome both Justice Lee and Cassel to the board, calling them “two outstanding leaders” whose combined skillsets would strengthen NIDA’s institutional governance. “Justice Lee brings significant legal and governance expertise from a distinguished career at the highest levels of Australian law. Michael brings strategic commercial acumen and a deep understanding of the global entertainment industry,” she said. Justice Lee graduated in law from the University of Sydney and began his legal career as a solicitor in 1989, becoming his firm’s youngest partner at age 29. He joined the New South Wales Bar in 2002, building a broad national practice and taking silk in 2011. As a barrister, he appeared in significant civil, criminal, commercial, and public interest matters across Australia, including major class actions, ICAC inquiries, and defamation and workplace disputes. He was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia in 2017 and serves as an Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT. Beyond the bench, he has contributed extensively to legal scholarship and public life, including roles with the Australian Law Journal, the University of Melbourne, Western Sydney University, the Victor Trumper Society and the Bell Shakespeare Company. “I am delighted to be joining the Board of NIDA, a remarkable Australian institution with an extraordinary record of developing creative talent. As someone with long standing interest in the arts, I look forward to helping NIDA build on that tradition of excellence and strengthen its place among the world’s leading dramatic arts institutions,” said Justice Lee. Already a member of NIDA’s Foundation Trust, Cassel is the founder and CEO of the Michael Cassel Group. He currently has Whispering Jack: The John Farnham Musical, The Castle and GRIM in development and recently produced the West End production of Dracula, starring Cynthia Erivo and directed by NIDA alum and Tony Award nominee Kip Williams. Cassel was lead producer of the Broadway premiere The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook, whose solo performance earned both Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actress. Following the record-breaking sold-out London’s West End season, the Broadway production earned six Tony Award nominations and won for Best Costume Design of a Play. He is also a co-producer of MJ the Musical on Broadway, with other credits including Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Dear Evan Hansen, Beetlejuice the Musical and Titanique. “NIDA has shaped so much of the talent I’ve had the privilege of working with, and no matter where I am in the world, it’s the institution that is referenced and admired most by people in the industry, proof of a reputation that travels far beyond these shores. I’ve been pleased to contribute to NIDA through the NIDA Foundation Trust, and to now join the Board feels like a natural next step in that commitment,” Cassel said. “Everything I do as a producer is built on the extraordinary talent NIDA sends out into the world, and I’m honoured to play a role in shaping what comes next, ensuring NIDA keeps producing not just world-class artists, but the leaders that our industry will need in the years ahead.” Lee and Cassel join NIDA Board members West (Chair) Darren Dale (Deputy Chair), Richard Refshauge (Deputy Chair), Peter Ivany, Sophia Zachariou, Professor Anna Reid, Professor Claire Annesley, Anthony Kerwick and Carole Campbell.