Greek Cypriot Zakaria Vasiliou is among the cast bringing the classic tale “The 3 Little Pigs” back to stage these July school holidays in Melbourne.

The children’s musical returns for a limited season at Melbourne’s National Theatre in St. Kilda from 9 July.

“It’s something that I was excited to tell as an adult to sort of be [part of] maybe the first imagining of ‘The 3 Little Pigs’ for younger generations and younger children in the audience,” Zakaria Vasiliou tells Neos Kosmos.

Greek family values in “The 3 Little Pigs”

Family is a core Hellenic value Vasiliou has carried with him throughout his life.

One he also sees “reflected” in the story of “The 3 Little Pigs”.

“Greek families can be very loud and opinionated and sometimes siblings can bicker and fight, but at the end of the day, we all know that we have each other’s backs when it really matters. And we all really love each other and support one another when it counts.”

Though currently based in Melbourne, he remains closely connected with his family in Adelaide.

“There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t at least message or call someone of the family.”

“The Three Little Pigs Musical” offers a playful twist on the classic tale, following three pig siblings as they set out to build their own homes.

Along the way, they face challenges from the Big Bad Wolf.

Written by Stiles and Drewe, the award-winning team behind “Mary Poppins, Honk!” and “Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure,” the show explores themes of resilience, creativity and teamwork.

In the production, 28-year-old Vasiliou plays the role of Que, “the clever pig who builds the house of bricks.”

“The Three Little Pigs are named Bar, B, and Que which cleverly and hilariously spell BBQ,” he says with a laugh.

“It all comes down to empathy”

Besides being a children’s performer, Vasiliou is also a queer comedian and a disability support worker.

The skills he’s developed across these different fields blend and support each other, he explains.

“The things I’ve done in comedy really helped with ‘The 3 Little Pigs’ — to be able to pull out comedic moments, timing, and physical comedy that children love.”

In disability support work, he supports people with a wide range of needs, including blindness, Down syndrome, and autism.

“I think that having that sort of perspective on life, being able to communicate with people of so many different needs just overall help in communication which you know is telling a story.”

“All of the things that I’m doing, they all help with communication styles.”

Originally from Adelaide, Vasiliou moved to Melbourne to study musical theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), all while continuing to work in disability support.

His journey into support work began unexpectedly, when he was teaching theatre after school.

There, he met a child with a disability whose mother suggested he consider the field.

Curious and eager to learn, he gave it a try — and it grew into a lasting passion.

At the same time, performing has always been at the “core” of Vasiliou’s interests.

From a young age, he took classes and performed regularly, and his commitment to the stage has remained strong.

Over the years, his two passions — performing and disability support — have come to complement each other.

Both are grounded in empathy, communication, and human connection.

“I think it all potentially just comes down to empathy,” he says.

In acting, he explains, you need to understand characters and stories and see things from different perspectives.

That helps you connect with what the character is going through — to truly feel it, so you can share that emotion with the audience.

“I think that there’s something there in the empathy and the understanding that lends itself to both careers really well.”

The power of representation

Growing up with his dad’s car filled with Greek CDs, Vasiliou developed a deep love for music — one shaped early on by his exposure to Greek sounds.

“It was pretty much only Greek music in the car,” he remembers.

Vasiliou, along with Greek choreographer Louise Panagiotidis, brings a Hellenic presence to the production and believes representation and diversity of all cultures is “really important” in theatre.

While he’s “thrilled” to bring a touch of “opa” to The 3 Little Pigs, he says “there’s always more that can be done.”

“The conversation about diversity and race is still there, but it’s a little bit quieter and I think that it really needs to be picked up again because it’s so important for children as well, to be able to see themselves on stage.”

Vasiliou recalls a seeing “Wicked” for the first time at age 12, with Anthony Callea in the role of Boq.

“I just saw that he sort of looked like me. We both looked ethnic and that was something that I went, ‘oh my God, I suddenly see myself and my culture on stage’.”

That moment was a turning point which inspired him to pursue a career in theatre.

“I knew that I wanted to do theatre because I could suddenly see myself on stage.”