DANIEL ABINERI

Writer, director, performer

Daniel started writing songs in the early eighties and has had his musicals commercially produced in Australia and London. For twenty four years (74 - 98) he was an actor. Work from the 70's includes: The lead in the ITV playhouse The Best of Enemies by Christopher Fry, 'Lacy' the villainous biker in the BBC kids series King Cinder, starring opposite Nigel Hawthorne and Charles Gray in Pinero's The Schoolmistress for Yorkshire TV, Lord Boothby in The Wilderness Years (ITV) and Alan Wilson opposite Tatum O’Neal in the film International Velvet (MGM ‘77)

Daniel was then cast in the lead as the Catholic priest Father Neil, opposite the comic legend

Arthur Lowe of Dad's Army fame, in the hit comedy series Bless Me Father (ITV 78' – 81').

From priest to transvestite, in 1979 he was cast by Richard O'Brien in the role of Dr Frank’N’Furter in the original UK tour of The Rocky Horror Show. He went on to star in the West End production at Comedy Theatre in 1980. he subsequently played the role over three thousand times in various tours of Australia and New Zealand throughout the 1980's in productions that he also directed.

Whilst in Australia, he also played the Dentist in Little Shop of Horrors, the lead in the West End hit Crystal Clear, Gary Lejuene in Noises Off directed by Michael Blakemore and Arnold Beckoff in Torch Song Trilogy . He is probably best known around the world for playing super villain Jake Sanders in the Australian high gloss tv drama Return To Eden.

In 1986 he wrote the book, music and lyrics for his musical Bad Boy Johnny and The Prophets Of Doom. This rock’n’roll extravaganza about an altar boy who becomes the worlds first rock Pope, premiered in Melbourne in 1989 and featured a young Russell Crowe in the title role, and the author himself as the evil Father Maclean. Daniel had discovered Russell some years earlier when he had given him his first professional acting role in a New Zealand tour of ‘Rocky Horror’. ‘Bad Boy Johnny’ enjoyed a six month run in Melbourne and Sydney, won two International Pater Awards™ for best libretto and score, and spawned a cast album on WEA Records (which Daniel also produced) and a top ten single, performed by new 'Johnny' Troy Newman.

Returning to the UK in ‘93 Daniel mounted a showcase production of Bad Boy Johnny at The Union Chapel  in Islington - the show became a 'cause celebre' and made national headline news when a collection of irate nuns, the London arm of Opus Dei, The Daily Telegraph and the Church Council of Great Britain complained that it was 'offensive and blasphemous' to stage the piece in an actual church. Following protests,  the production was closed after just nine performances

Acting work from this period includes his final UK tour of Rocky Horror in 92', appearing in Mike Hodges film Mid-Atlantic, guest starring in The Bill, the lead role of Bruce Delemitri in Ben Elton's West End smash hit Popcorn, and appearing with Rick Mayall in the film Bring Me The Head Of Mavis Davis .

At the end of the 90's Daniel decided to retire from performing to concentrate on his writing and composing. In 1997 he produced, directed and narrated his first documentary, One Hit Wonders for the BBC . He followed this in 1999 with a study of androgyny and theatricallity in pop music called Walk On The Wildside (ITV Network), which featured interviews with Lindsay Kemp, Ray Davies, Dave Stewart, Mick Rock and others.

Other films he’s produced and directed include Hogarths’ London for BBC Manchester (2000), and Murder & Celebrity (Voodoo Films for Uktv), and a documentary feature entitled A Conversation With James Lovelock for Network Films. In September 2013 Daniel released a new semi-autobiographical cycle of self-pennd country style songs called Honey For Sale.

He is currently just completing his second solo album, Morning Songs.