Lionel Theunissen was born in Brisbane, Australia. He commenced vocal studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 1991, studying with the renowned Australian tenor, Donald Smith OBE, and continued his studies with Joseph Ward OBE, completing a Bachelor of Music (Voice) degree in 1995. His Conservatorium awards include the Lewis B.J. Reid prize for 1991, the Donald Penman prize for voices in combination for 1992, the Victoria League Betty Fadden bursary for 1993, and the Italian Lyric Diction prize for 1994. He was a finalist in the 1995 and 1996 Shell Covent Garden Scholarships and won the Bathurst Singer of the Year Competition in 1996, and the Brisbane Musical Theatre competition in 1998 and 2000.
In 1997, Lionel was selected for Opera Queensland’s Young Artist Program and performed the roles of Malatesta in Don Pasquale and Marcello in La Boheme. In 1998 he performed the challenging role of the Hotel Manager in the Australian premiere of Thomas Ades' chamber opera Powder Her Face for the Brisbane Festival. He also appeared in the Brisbane Festival’s production of Kiss Me Kate, for which he covered renowned baritone Thomas Allen in the lead role.
Lionel’s roles include Mr. Redburn in the Australian premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd, Frilly in Snugglepot and Cuddlepie - The Musical, Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore, Michele in Puccini’s II Tabarro, Javert in Les Miserables, the title roles in Jekyll and Hyde, Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me Kate, Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf in Sondheim’s Into the Woods, and Sir Dennis Galahad in the Brisbane premiere season of Spamalot.
In 2007, Lionel performed the role of Judge Turpin in the Gold Coast Arts Centre production of Sweeney Todd and covered the late great Rob Guest in the title role. In 2010 and 2011 he played Pilate in Harvest Rain’s critically acclaimed production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Recently he played the title role in Spotlight Theatre's production of Sweeney Todd for which he won Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 2014 Gold Coast Area Theatre Awards
