Stephen ‘Spud’ Murphy - Musical Supervision, Arrangements and Orchestrations

Stephen 'Spud' Murphy

Spud began his musical training in the country town of Lithgow at the age of six under the tuition of the Josephite nuns. He and his bruised knuckles survived the experience, and he moved to Sydney in 1969 to continue his tuition at the Conservatorium of Music.

After his training, Spud began writing arrangements for local artists and soon found himself working with international legends as diverse as Marlene Dietrich and Slim Whitman.

He entered the music theatre world in the 1970s as assistant musical director of Godspell. He moved to London’s West End to work on various productions and returned to Australia in the 1980s as assistant musical director of Evita. He later joined Channel 10 as musical director, then moved to the Nine Network as musical director of In Sydney Today with Ernie Sigley and Denise Drysdale.

Spud returned to theatre as musical director of Reg Livermore’s Firing Squad and later as co-composer of Reg’s production of Big Sister. He continued working in various Australian theatre productions such as Buddy and Shout.

In 2006 Spud was musical director and arranger for Dusty, for which he received the 2006 Helpmann Award for Best Musical Direction.

In 2008, he received his second Helpmann Award nomination and won the Green Room Award for his work on Priscilla. Spud musically directed the return season of Shout and was musical consultant for the Australian film Thunderstruck. In 2008, he also composed and orchestrated music for His Holiness Pope Benedict’s arrival in Sydney for World Youth Day.

Spud has recently returned to television as musical director of Starstruck for the Nine Network, and is currently musical director for The Pam Ann Show on the Comedy Channel. He has received a Mo Award and an award from Rotary for his contributions to the Australian music industry.

Spud is an avid supporter of the future of the Australian music industry and has recently dedicated his time to nurturing new talent. He is an artistic director of Sydney’s CaSPA (Catholic Schools Performing Arts) and is also a lecturer at the Australian Institute of Music.

Spud lives happily with his wife of 33 years and their three children in Sydney. He would like to thank the London producers for the opportunity to bring an Australian musical to the West End. His family would also like to thank the producers for getting Spud out of his music room so they can all have a decent night’s sleep.