Ben Ross(II)
- Actor
Ben Ross is a seasoned actor, musician and musical director with a wealth of experience. After completing his training at the Western Sydney University School of Contemporary Arts, he became a member of the well-known Central Coast film collective Manic Bunny, receiving accolades from a variety of film festivals for his work, including Best Actor at Quickflix 2005 and Best Film at Tripod's Idioclips at the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Since then he has become a sought-after actor for a variety of Film, TV, Commercial and Music Video projects.
Ben has also quickly gained a reputation as an eminent musical director and conductor, overseeing musical direction for productions including West Side Story, The Mikado, Bugsy Malone, Hair, Footloose, The Little Mermaid, Honk, Evita, Aida and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In July 2022, Ben served as Musical Director for the premiere regional production of School of Rock: the Musical.
Ben is also a sought after performer, playing guitar and bass for productions including We Will Rock You, Strictly Ballroom, Grease, Mamma Mia!, Ghost, Avenue Q and Shrek: the Musical, and appeared on stage in shows such as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Addams Family and Jon English's Paris.
Ben is also an accomplished arranger and orchestrator, having co-written the score for the musical Trouble in Pantoland with long-time collaborator Andrew Sampford, and written orchestrations for Cinderella: the Pantomime and Johnny B Goode: the Musical.
Most recently, Ben has appeared onstage as a member of Peak Entertainment's The Rock Anthology, an authentic tribute to some of rocks greatest legends, and Brosie Productions' Great Southern Land, a celebration of the most-loved Australian pub rock hits.