Former Minnamurra resident Michael Cassel has come a long way since being involved in student productions at Kiama High School and helping out with annual Christmas shows in Wollongong and Kiama.
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Not long after that he started his company MC Productions, which produced the Illawarra Business Awards for more than a decade.
Mr Cassel started his production career in Kiama before working for Harry M Miller and then Disney, where he oversaw new productions such as Tarzan in Hamburg, High School Musical in the West End, the UK and Spain, The Lion King in Taipei and Beauty and the Beast in South Africa and Russia.
In that role he got to meet many big names in the entertainment industry.
In 2007, that included Oprah Winfrey when she attended the gala opening of The Lion King in Johannesburg, in a senior role with Disney Theatrical Group.
Mr Cassel then accepted an invitation to visit her leadership academy for girls. The academy is part of Disney's outreach program in South Africa.
Now Mr Cassel is back in Australia where he has just launched his first theatrical production under his new company the Michael Cassel Group (MCG).
But he still calls Minnamurra home and the opening night of that first production at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne earlier this month had plenty of support from many local Illawarra people.
When his production of Les Miserables with Sir Cameron Mackintosh opened earlier this month, it not only received phenomenal five-star reviews it was attended by a strong Minnamurra contingent he called the Minnamurra Connection, and the audience included his own family.
"My best friend, Renée Regal, from Minnamurra Street in Kiama Downs, was also in the audience," he said.
"Renée and I went to preschool, primary and high school together. My wife, Camille, from Werri Beach, attended along with my colleague, Lauren Wiley, who is the production administrator for MCG. She attended the opening with her boyfriend, Jack Yabsley, who I went to Kiama High School with and whose father, Ian Yabsley, is a former principal of Minnamurra Public School. My aunty Jenny Whyte, a teacher at Lake Heights Primary, attended along with her daughter, MCG marketing assistant Samantha Whyte.
"Shelly Lee, entertainment anchor for Sky News, who attended Kiama High School, was also there. And Lincoln Hall is a cast member. His parents also attended the opening, and Brenton Wilson was there to support his partner Liam McIlwain, who is in the show and is dance captain."
