Philip Quast

Early life and education

Quast, one of three children, was born in 1957 in Tamworth, New South Wales. His family lived and worked on a mixed, but predominantly turkey, farm. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1979.

Acting career

1980s

After graduating from NIDA in 1979 Quast began his career in the resident acting company of the State Theatre Company of South Australia. In the early 1980s he appeared in plays such as The Mystery Plays of Wakefield, Three Sisters, On the Wallaby, Pericles, A Month in the Country, As You Like It, Pygmalion, A Hard God, No End of Blame, The Threepenny Opera, Shark Infested Waters, Candide with Nimrod Theatre Company, and a musical adaption of Carmen which he debuted with the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Quast shot to prominence in 1987 as Javert in the original Australian production of Les Misérables, winning him a Sydney Critic Award and a Mo Award. In 1989, he traveled to London to reprise the role on the West End stage. Quast never expected to gain such a prominent role, going to the auditions hoping simply for a place in the chorus. Unable to sight-read music, he walked off the stage at the audition but was called back by Claude-Michel Schönberg and eventually given the part as Javert.

Quast credits much of his success as Javert to stage director Trevor Nunn. "Javert for me is not the Wicked Witch of the West," Quast has said. "In fact, there is very little material to work with in the script. Trevor would say things in passing like 'Have you read the Ten Commandments recently?' That's all he would say. If you're thirsty enough, you can follow it up ... there was the whole basis of our legal system and the explanation for the whole of Les Mis. For me, that's inspired directing. That's why he's such an awesome man."

When playing Javert, Quast gained a reputation as a perfectionist and began experiencing intense bouts of stagefright. "I had a terrible time," he said. "It took me a month to get over it. At one stage I wasn't sleeping at all but lying awake planning speeches to the audience about being sorry and could I start again."

In 1981, Quast began appearing as a presenter on the Australian children's show Play School, a program he would return to on-and-off again for 17 years.

From 1982 to 1983, he appeared in a recurring role as Dr Rod Hawkins in Australian medical soap opera The Young Doctors for 20 episodes. From 1984 to 1985, he had another recurring role as Bob 'Mitch' Mitchell in Australian drama soap opera Sons and Daughters for 30 episodes. Quast appeared in several miniseries including Colour in the Creek (1985), Flight into Hell, Fields of Fire (both 1987) and Cassidy (1989). He also made guest appearances in Patrol Boat, A Country Practice and Special Squad.

1990s

Quast's stage success continued as he won the coveted role of Georges Seurat and his act 2 counterpart George in the original London production of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George for the Royal National Theatre.

In 1991 he won his first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical as Georges Seurat / George. Quast was under a large amount of stress when preparing for Sunday in the Park with George, as he struggled to master Sondheim's complicated musical scores (Sondheim told him: "you don't play tennis against people you can beat."), learn to paint and sketch for the play, all while awaiting the birth of his first son, who was due five days after opening night.

In 1993 he returned to Australia to play in Sydney Theatre Company productions of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus and Sondheim's Into the Woods, in which he played The Wolf/Cinderella's Prince. He then played Dunois in Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan in the West End and on a UK tour in 1994. In 1994–96 he spent two seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing as Fred/Chorus in A Christmas Carol, and King of Navarre in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, as well as Lodovico in The White Devil, Banquo in Macbeth, and Achilles in Troilus and Cressida. Before returning for a second season with the RSC, he spent some time back in Australia, performing in the national tour of The Secret Garden as Dr. Neville Craven – along with Anthony Warlow and Marina Prior.

Quast continued to appear in both Australian and British television roles throughout the 1990s. In 1995 he starred in the miniseries The Damnation of Harvey McHugh as The Minister, Michael Muldoon for 13 episodes. From 1995 to 1996 he appeared as Simon Lennox in British drama series The Governor for 4 episodes, and in 1998 he played Father Pearse J. Harman in 6 episodes of Ultraviolet. In 1999 he played Cornelius in a 1999 miniseries adaptation of Cleopatra. He also had guest roles in Police Rescue, the miniseries Brides of Christ, Crime Story and Inspector Morse.

He had a sole film role in the 1990s, playing Bradley in 1999 thriller The Fall.

2000s

Quast played the part of Javert on the Les Misérables Complete Symphonic Recording, and in Hey, Mr. Producer, a concert in honour of Sir Cameron Mackintosh.

Though mainly a baritone, Quast has played some roles written for tenors, namely George (see above), Candide, and Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden. Although he is known for his serious roles, he has also performed comedic parts, such as his 2004 appearance as the pompous Miles Gloriosus in a limited run revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Royal National Theatre.

Quast more recently played the supporting role of Juan Peron in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2006 production of Evita at the Adelphi Theatre in London. He was nominated for an Olivier award for this role. In July 2007, Quast performed the role of Judge Turpin in a concert version of Sweeney Todd at London's Royal Festival Hall.

He was most recently in the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Jerry Herman's La Cage aux Folles as Georges. Quast rejoined the cast of La Cage on 4 May 2009 with Roger Allam. Coincidentally, both actors have performed in the role of Javert in Les Misérables. From July 2010, he played Mr. Banks in the Australian premiere production of Mary Poppins at Melbourne's Her Majesty’s Theatre, a part Cameron Mackintosh offered to him in the bathroom of The Ivy in London. He won the 2010 Victorian Green Room Award (Melbourne's top theatre awards) for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his performance. He also won the 2011 Helpmann Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Mary Poppins.

In March 2014, New York audiences were treated to a special limited engagement of Sweeney Todd at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. Quast, in his New York stage debut, performed as Judge Turpin, with Bryn Terfel as Sweeney Todd and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Lovett. The show was scheduled to be broadcast as part of Live at Lincoln Center's television special in September 2014.

In July and August 2026, Quast joined the world concert tour of Les Misérables as The Bishop of Digne which included performing at Radio City Music Hall. In July 2026, he performed in an encore performance of the song "Stars" along fellow past and current Javert actors Jordan Donica, Bradley Jaden, and Jeremy Secomb after a performance of Les Misérables.

Personal life

Quast and his wife Carol have three sons (Edwin, Harry and Toby). He also teaches at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Quast continued teaching through Zoom calls.

Quast married Carol in 1981 and they were married for almost ten years before having the first of their three sons. He has been noted for his humble nature, stating he doesn't seek after fame and is concerned that success is measured by notoriety instead of the respect of one's peers. He doesn't keep any of his awards, instead sending them to his parents' home in Australia.

Quast was named as one of the 25 Most Beautiful People for 1996 in Who Weekly magazine. In an article for the magazine he said, "The problem with this business is that you have to supposedly look as good as you can all the time. And I hate that. My idea of doing my hair is sticking it out of the window of a car when it's wet."

A bass-baritone, Quast has been universally applauded by critics for his singing voice, which has been described as "warm", and "glorious." He was named by British newspaper The Stage as "one of the most notable singing actors to come along in years".

Quast has a strong passion for fishing, and he spent his time during the COVID-19 pandemic fishing, cooking, pickling and preserving.

Filmography