# Darren Yap

Darren Yap is an Australian actor and director based in Sydney, Australia.

## Family and education

He was born in Sydney and grew up in the South Western Sydney suburb of Cabramatta. He was the third child of a Malaysian-born father and his third-generation Australia-born ethnically Chinese mother. His father, Robert Yap, was a medical practitioner in the western suburbs of Sydney, his brother is a pharmacist in the inner eastern suburbs of Sydney and his sister is a medical practitioner in Victoria.
Yap was educated at Newington College (1980–85).
He initially applied to do the stage management course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) but he was not accepted. When the degree course in acting at University of Western Sydney's Theatre Nepean was first offered he chose to do that. Following UWS, Yap graduated from the director's course at NIDA.
His life partner is the composer Max Lambert.

## Career

Yap has a successful career in acting and directing theatre.

## Directing
### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1998 | The Boy from Oz | Resident Director | World Premiere |
| 2005 | The Admiral's Odyssey | Director | Action Theatre, Singapore – World Premiere |
| 2006 | Dick Lee’s Man of Letters | Director | Singapore Repertory Theatre – World Premiere |
| 2006–08 | Miss Saigon | Associate Director | Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manchester, Dublin & Edinburgh with Cameron Mackintosh |
| 2009 | I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change | Director | NSW regional tour with Seymour Centre & Kookaburra Musical Theatre & Singapore with Mediacorp VizPro International |
| 2009 | Steel Magnolias | Director | Seymour Centre with Blackbird Productions |
| 2009 | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | Director | Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore |
| 2009–10 | Mamma Mia | Resident Director / Associate Director | 10th Anniversary Australasian tour – Perth, Adelaide, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brisbane & Melbourne |
| 2010 | Pinocchio the Musical | Director | Vizpro International & Singapore Repertory Theatre |
| 2010 | A Night with the Phantom concert | Director | Brighton, UK |
| 2010–11 | Miss Saigon | Associate Director | Korea with Cameron Mackintosh |
| 2011 | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Director | Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore |
| 2011 | Miss Saigon | Associate Director | Holland with Cameron Mackintosh |
| 2012 | Miss Saigon | Associate Director | Japan with Cameron Mackintosh |
| 2013 | King King Live on Stage | Associate Director | World Premiere with Global Creatures |
| 2013 | Babies Proms | Director | CDP Theatre Producers |
| 2013–14 | A Murder is Announced | Director | Australian national tour with Michael Coppel, Louise Withers & Linda Berwick |
| 2014 | Miss Saigon | Associate Director | Tokyo with Cameron Mackintosh |
| 2014 | Miracle City | Director | Hayes Theatre with Luckiest Productions |
| 2014 | The Serpent's Table | Co-director | Sydney Festival with Griffin Theatre Company & Performance 4a |
| 2015 | Lotus Sydney & Playwriting Australia Playreadings | Director | Performance 4a |
| 2015 | Little Diana and the Big Fuzz | Director | Hayes Theatre |
| 2016 | Ladies Day | Director | Griffin Theatre Company |
| 2017 | Diving for Pearls | Director | Griffin Theatre Company |
| 2017 | The Great Wall (One Woman's Journey) | Director | Drama Centre, Singapore with Glowsticks Productions – World premiere |
| 2017 | Miracle City | Director | Sydney Opera House |
| 2018 | Letters to Lindy | Director | Australian national tour with Merrigong Theatre & Canberra Theatre Centre |
| 2018 | Spot the Dog | Director | CDP Productions |
| 2018 | Ghost, The Musical | Director | Tokyo with Theatre Creation |
| 2018 | All Out of Love: The Musical | Director | Newport Performing Arts Theater, Manila |
| 2018; 2020 | Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam | Director | Riverside Theatres Parramatta, Belvoir Street Theatre & Merrigong |
| 2020 | Double Delicious | Director | C.A.A.P, Sydney Festival & Asia Topia 2020 |
| 2020 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Director | Tokyo with C.A.T Productions & Shinjuku Productions |
| 2020–21 | Next to Normal | Director | NIDA graduation season |
| 2022 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Director | Tokyo with C.A.T Productions and Really Useful Group |
| 2022 | The Last Five Years | Director | La Boite Theatre, Brisbane |
| 2022 | The One | Director | Ensemble Theatre |
| 2022 | Yong | Director | Sydney & Victoria with Monkey Baa Theatre |
| 2023 | Tim | Director | Glen Street Theatre, Sydney, Newcastle Civic Theatre, Riverside Theatres Parramatta & NSW regional tour with Christine Dunstan Productions |
| 2023 | Clyde's | Director | Ensemble Theatre |
| 2024 | Zombie! The Musical | Director | Hayes Theatre |
| | David Williamson’s The Great Man | Affiliate Director | Sydney Theatre Company |
| | Katherine Thomson’s Navigating | Affiliate Director | Sydney Theatre Company |
| | Miracle City | Affiliate Director | Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts |

### Events

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 2000 | 2000 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony | Associate Director | Homebush Stadium, Sydney |
| 2006 | 15th Asian Games Closing Ceremony | Segment Director | Doha, Qatar |
| 2006; 2007; 2010 | NSW Premier's Gala Concerts | Director | Sydney Entertainment Centre with Venables Entertainment |
| 2008; 2009 | Chinese New Year Parade | Director | City of Sydney |
| 2011 | SpongeBob SquarePants Parade | Director | Sea World for Gold Coast for Nickelodeon |
| 2015 | Opening of the National Gallery & Art Carnival, SG50 Celebrations | Artistic Festival Consultant & Art Carnival Director | Singapore |
| 2016 | NSW Premier's Gala Concerts | Director | Allphones Arena, Sydney with Venables Entertainment |
| 2016 | Cairo MISR Pre-Show Celabrations | Associate Director | Cairo with World Events |
| 2019 | Abu Dhabi 48th National Day Celebrations | Associate Director | Abu Dhabi with Betty Productions |
| | Red Sea International Film Festival | Director | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 2020 | World Expo Dubai 2020 | Staging Director | Al Wasal Plaza, Dubai with Artists in Motion |

## Acting
### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1989 | Anything Goes | John | Hayden Attractions |
| 1990 | Shadow and Splendour | Mori / Local Policeman / Mozart Singer | Queensland Theatre |
| 1990 | Capricornia | Cho Sek Ching | STCSA |
| 1991 | Chess | Ensemble | Victoria State Opera |
| 1992 | Cockroach Opera | Roima | Belvoir Street Theatre with Company B |
| 1993 | M. Butterfly | Song Liling | Melbourne Theatre Company |
| 1994 | The Wedding Song | | NIDA |
| 1995 | Miss Saigon | Thuy | Capitol Theatre, Sydney for Cameron Mackintosh |
| 1995 | The Quartet from Rigoletto | | Ensemble Theatre |
| 1995 | Sydney Stories | Various characters | Sydney Theatre Company |
| 2003 | Songket | Koua Neng Vang | Griffin Theatre Company |
| 2006 | Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset | Hop Lee | Bille Brown Theatre with Queensland Theatre |
| 2019 | Aladdin | | Disney Theatrical Productions |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1988 | Mission: Impossible | Quon | TV series, season 2, episode 5: "Countdown" |
| 1988 | Richmond Hill | | TV series |
| 1989–92 | Tanamera - Lion of Singapore | Paul | Miniseries, 7 episodes |
| 1991 | Embassy | Hung | TV series, season 2, episode 3: "The East Wind Blows West" |
| 1992 | Bony | Chang | TV series, season 1, episode 1: "Bird in the Hand" |
| 1993 | G.P. | Jimmy Lee | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1993 | The Leaving of Liverpool | Dave | Miniseries |
| 1992 | Children of the Dragon | | Miniseries |
| 1994 | Heartland | Dr Nguyen | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1994 | Over the Hill | Kevin | TV series, |
| 1998 | A Difficult Woman | Dr Wei | Miniseries, 3 episodes |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1996 | Floating Life | Lone | Feature film |
| 2007 | The Home Song Stories | Adult Tom | Feature film |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Nominated work | Award | Category | Result |
| 1999 | The Boy from Oz (world premiere) | Green Room Awards | Best Re-Staging by a Resident Artist | Won |
| | Diving for Pearls | BroadwayWorld Regional Award | Best Director of a Play | Won |
| | Miracle City | Glugs Theatrical Awards | Outstanding Mainstage Musical | Nominated |
| | Diving for Pearls | Glugs Theatrical Awards | Outstanding Mainstage Production | Nominated |
| 2022 | Monkey Baa Theatre Company's Yong | Sydney Theatre Awards | | Won |