1980s

After graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art 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.^{[4][citation needed]}

In 1981, Quast also 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.

Quast shot to prominence in 1987 when he appeared as Javert in the original Australian production of Les Misérables. This performance won him a Sydney Critic Award and a MO Award. In 1989, he traveled to London to play Javert on the West End stage.^[5]

Quast never expected to gain such a prominent role, going to the auditions hoping simply for a place in the chorus.^[6] Because he was not able 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.^[6]

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."^[6]

When playing Javert, Quast gained a reputation as a perfectionist. He also 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."^[6]

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 and 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, and waited for the impending birth of his first son, who was due five days after opening night.^[7]

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. ^{[citation needed]}

2000s

Laurence Olivier Awards

Quast has won three Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.^[19]

• 1991 – for Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George in the role of Georges Seurat and George
• 1998 – for the Dempsey and Rowe musical The Fix as Grahame Chandler
• 2002 – for Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific in which he played Emille de Becque

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Philip Quast won three awards in that time.^[20]

Other awards

• 2022 – Appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the arts as a performer, mentor and educator".^[21]
• 2011 – Helpmann Awards – Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Mary Poppins)
• 2011 – Green Room Awards – Male Artist in a Featured Role (Mary Poppins)
• 1993 – Sydney Theatre Critics Award – Best Actor in a Leading Role (Into the Woods)
• 1988 – Sydney Theatre Critics Award: Best Actor of the Year (Les Misérables)