Shura Taft
OW2000
Host of Kids’ WB on Channel 9
Weekend/late-night announcer at Nova 100
Having appeared in numerous plays and musicals throughout his years at Wesley, Shura had emerged as something of an ATC star by the time he graduated to Senior College. His exuberance and natural abilities as a performer were harnessed to crowd-pleasing effect in his roles in Woody Allen’s God (1999) and West Side Story (1999), the latter involving his Action (a member of the Jets) in some pretty nifty footwork choreographed by Tony Bartuccio.
But it was Shura’s all-singing, all-dancing role as Will Parker in Oklahoma (2000) that became the pinnacle of his artistic achievement in theatre to that date. As the cowboy newly returned from a first-time visit to Kansas City (where he found everything to be completely “up-to-date; they’ve gorn about as fur as they can go”), he acted, sang and danced with professional aplomb, winning hearts. It was easy to imagine a future in the performing arts for one so at home on the stage.
And it was indeed to be the performing arts that would claim Shura’s time and talents in due course, but not before he graduated as a Bachelor of Biomedical Science from Monash University in 2003. Throughout 2004-2005 he roamed the globe, finally settling in the USA for a time and availing himself of audition opportunities and short courses in between waiting jobs in cafes. His return to Australia in 2006 gave him his first break in showbusiness – a job with the street team at Nova 100. This led to his role as co-host of a documentary filmed in India with Channel 7 newsreader Jennifer Adams and a strong foothold in the promotions, video and festivals arena. Currently Shura is a weekend/late-night announcer on Nova 100 and in his second year as host of Kids’ WB on Channel 9.
