On paper Bali Padda and Adam Majsay appear polar opposites, and in many ways they are. Padda is a “proud Westie” from Blacktown and a screen and theatre actor-director-producer. Majsay is a career educator who runs a co-ed independent high school in Sydney’s east.
But spend a bit of time in their company and you’ll find plenty of synergies between the couple, who share a home in Sydney’s inner west with their two dogs, Winnie and Peggy. Both are driven by a strong sense of community, both are fulfilled by bringing people together through creativity and both are the other’s greatest champion.
Padda and Majsay met online 11.5 years ago and immediately hit it off. After speaking on the phone they agreed to meet at Bourke Street Bakery for lemon curd tarts, a personal favourite of Padda’s. Within 18 months they moved in together in Stanmore on the street where they live to this day, albeit via three houses, now happily settled in their forever home. They married in 2019.
Their courtyard is sun-drenched and verdant with plants (Padda’s domain and a nod to his father’s farming background in Punjab). Inside there’s an upright piano (Majsay’s, although Padda is attempting to learn), family photos and an eclectic art collection accumulated together alongside various trinkets from life before their relationship. A number of large, brightly coloured macrame wall hangings adorn various rooms (Padda’s handiwork). In their bedroom there’s a wall of six artworks by local artist-author-illustrator and Padda’s dear friend Emma Magenta. A pair of wooden angel wings soar above the bed.
“We bought them from a slightly kooky home decor place in Mumbai when we were there to buy Bali’s wedding outfit – he bought two,” says Majsay. “We saw them and loved them.”
Home is a sanctuary, a place of comfort, particularly considering their hectic lifestyles and clashing timetables.
Padda has just finished a five-week shoot for an upcoming ABC TV series in which he plays his first lead role. Soon he’ll start rehearsals for the remount of Guards at the Taj, a heartbreakingly humorous work by Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Rajiv Joseph that Padda first directed in 2022 to critical acclaim. Then there’s Champions, the first play from Padda’s new production company Little Goat Arts and Entertainment, which he’s directing and producing at the Old Fitz in Woolloomooloo.
It all coincides with peak busyness for Majsay too. His workday begins online at 6.30am before heading to school for the day. Then he heads to rehearsals with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir, where he is the music director. It’s currently preparing for its major production Echoes of Pride, a retrospective of the past 10 years.
Majsay notes ruefully his one-night-only show coincides with the closing night of the Champions.
“As much as our lives can be totally unpredictable based on whatever projects we’re working on, and we’re rarely home at the same time, we love the regularity of some fairly nothing habits like takeaway night, and that’s sacrosanct,” Majsay says. “Tuesday night being the El Jannah crispy chicken burger night,” adds Padda. And no, he’s not tempted to try something else when he’s onto a good thing.
A creative life and career wasn’t always the path Padda trod. The youngest of four siblings and the first born in Australia to Indian migrant parents, Padda was expected to do something academic and IT-related. His older brother helped him choose his subjects at Blacktown Boys High, steering him away from anything arts or music-related. By 24 he was in a soulless web and multimedia design career questioning how he got there given his innate love for the stage and people.
In a leap of faith, he shifted to acting.
“It was blind optimism and naivety when I decided to go and be an actor, without knowing anyone in the industry and with no training. I didn’t know what NIDA was,” he says. “I decided that this brown face – and I was wearing a turban at the time – was never going to get work on Australian television. So I decided to go to London.”
There he found work at the Young Vic and things were looking up until the global financial crisis hit and he had to return home. He set his sights on success here instead. He performed with KXT and Bakehouse Theatre, and in TV shows Rake and Doctor Doctor.
“There was no room for failure because I thought, if I am going to pursue this passion that is very different from what my parents wanted me to pursue, then I’d better show them I’m great at it.”
He concedes it has taken time but every bit of success has been met with enthusiasm from his parents, particularly the 4.5 star review Guards received from the Sydney Morning Herald reviewer, John Shand, who noted: “It’s not just that directorial debuts don’t come any stronger than this, few productions of any sort do.”
Padda directed the queer Bollywood drag show Sunderella and was creative producer on Sex Magick for Griffin Theatre. He has also worked as an industry development executive for Screen Australia where he continues to advise on creative projects, industry strategy and diversity, equity, and talent development, particularly for people of colour.
Majsay, on the other hand, has always had a life steeped in creativity. He graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, has sung with Sydney Chamber Choir and the Sydney Philharmonia Choir, and has performed in music theatre and chamber opera. He always wanted to be a music educator. Before becoming head of school he was the head of music for many years, and has been working with the 180-strong Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir for seven years.
“There will be times I might go and sing with the choir,” Padda says. “And it’s nice having your energy in the room,” adds Majsay.
“We’re quite proud of each other. It’s not lacking in humility, we’re both really good at what we do and it’s really unique and we’re natural and authentic. I think what makes us tick in those environments is we’re just being ourselves. I like that we get to observe each other doing what we do well. It’s nice to be the proud husband.”
Guards at the Taj is touring nationally until October 11. Champions is playing at the Old Fitz Theatre, Sydney, from October 13–26. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir perform Echoes of Pride at Petersham Town Hall on October 26.
Read more in our Creative Couples series.
