# Ben Mingay

Ben Mingay (born 1979) is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for having played Buzz Graham in the series Packed to the Rafters and Rob Duffy in Wonderland. He played the role of Billy in the stage version of Dirty Dancing in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Mingay together with Michael Falzon, Luke Kennedy, and Matt Lee appeared in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2014. In 2015, Mingay joined the cast of soap opera Home and Away in the recurring role of Trystan Powell.

## Background

Growing up in Elermore Vale, New South Wales on the outskirts of Newcastle, Mingay went to boarding school, The Armidale School, from age 12. His mother suggested he do the school play to occupy his spare time. He thought it was for losers, but agreed to do it for her. He had to perform a song and discovered that he had a bass baritone voice. Mingay studied opera voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He plays both piano and acoustic guitar. He is also a fire breather and a stunt driver. He was married to actress Kirby Burgess, but they divorced after two years.

## Career

In 2004 he appeared as a guest on the police series Blue Heelers where he played Troy Baxter. That same year he starred as Jim Beatson on the medical series All Saints.
In 2013, Mingay scored his first major role on television when he joined the main cast of the sixth season of Australian series Packed to the Rafters. He played the young electrician Fergus "Buzz" Graham, father of Jackson Graham (Narek Arman) and employee of Dave Rafter (Erik Thomson). Mingay's Graham enters into a relationship with Emma Mackey (Zoe Cramond) until the series finale on 2 July of that year. That same year, Mingay joined the main cast of Wonderland in the role of Rob Duffy.
Mingay performed in the new cabaret act Swing on This at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival on 7 June 2014 with a cast that included Luke Kennedy, Michael Falzon, and Matt Lee. Festival artistic director, and singer in her own right, Kate Ceberano appeared as a special guest. Following Adelaide Cabaret Festival, they performed as the headline act at both the official black tie launch of the refurbished Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on 25 July and at the community concert the next evening, again playing to a full house.
Mingay joined the cast of Home and Away as Trystan Powell in 2015.
Mingay has performed at several concerts including the charity benefit Pants Off for Beyond Blue, a concert involving several performers each singing in their underwear.
His professional opera debut came in 2024 in the role of Papageno in an English-language production Mozart's The Magic Flute for Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House. He had sung in this opera before in a school production in 2000.
Mingay in 2019 appeared in ABC series Frayed, Mingay would reprise his role from the first season in the second series of the show that aired in 2021 In February 2021, Mingay was announced as part of the cast for the first series of Foxtel legal drama The Twelve.

## Training

* 1997 – Higher School Certificate (The Armidale School) – Ranked top 10% of State in Music
* 1998 – NIDA: workshop stage, acting and improvisation skills
* 1999–2000 – Awarded the Florence Austral Scholarship for Voice from the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music
* 1999–2001 – Newcastle Conservatorium – vocal coach: Christopher Allan
* 2000–2003 – Classical training at Sydney Conservatorium of Music
* 2001–2003 – Sydney Conservatorium, vocal coach: Maree Ryan
* 2002 – Agent Showcase with REACTOR acting services at Fox Studios

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Company | Location |
| 2003 | Sideshow Alley: The Musical | | The Production Company/ Gale Edwards | Melbourne |
| 2003 | Hair | Berger | The Production Company/ David Atkins | Sydney Melbourne |
| 2004–2005 | Dirty Dancing | Billy | Nina Lannan & Associates Mirvish Productions/ James Powell Jacobsen Entertainment/ Karl Sydow Jacobsen Entertainment | US National Tour North American Premiere UK Premiere Australian Tour |
| 2011 | Jersey Boys | Tommy Devito | | Sydney |
| | South Pacific | | | |
| 18 May – 1 July 2012 | An Officer and a Gentleman | Zack | Gordon Frost Organisation | Sydney Lyric |
| 2015 | The Phantom of the Opera | The Phantom | Packemin Productions | Riverside Theatres Parramatta |
| 2020 | Shrek the Musical | Shrek | | Sydney Lyric, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne & Queensland Performing Arts Centre |
| 2022 | Bright Lights and Big Dreams | | | Adelaide Symphony Orchestra |
| 2022 | La Cage Aux Folles | George | | The Concert Hall |
| 2023 | Sweeney Todd | Sweeney Todd | | Sydney Opera House |
| 2024 | The Magic Flute | Papageno | Opera Australia | Sydney Opera House |

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2004 | All Saints | Jim Beatson | Episode: "Meltdown" |
| 2004 | Blue Heelers | Troy Baxter | Episode: "Headless Chooks" |
| 2013 | Packed to the Rafters | Fergus 'Buzz' Graham | 11 episodes |
| 2013–15 | Wonderland | Rob Duffy | Regular role |
| 2015 | Home and Away | Trystan Powell | Recurring role |
| 2017 | House of Bond | Alan Bond | TV mini-series, 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Behave Yourself! | Himself | Contestant, episode 1 |
| 2019-2021 | Frayed | Jim | 12 episodes |
| 2021 | Amazing Grace | Jim Delaney | 8 episodes |
| 2022 | The Twelve | Flip Menelaus | 10 episodes |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | The Gift | Joel | Short – with Mark Lee, Hannah Marshall, Anne Tenney and Harry Greenwood |
| 2016 | Hacksaw Ridge | 'Grease' Nolan | |
| 2018 | Paper Cut | Pisser | Short |
| 2024 | Cut Short | Sid | Short |

## Awards and nominations
### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2005 | Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story on Stage (with Deone Zanotto) | Best Original Cast or Show Album | Nominated | |