Drew Anthony
Encyclopedia
Drew Anthony is an Australian performer, director, choreographer and producer. He is currently the associate artistic director for David Atkins
Enterprises (DAE) and was the associate artistic director for the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
, in Vancouver.Anthony directed the Sony IFA event in Berlin, Germany and the Olivia Newton-John and Friends charity gala event at the State Theatre in Sydney.
star Marianne Howard, at the Holy Trinity Church at Berrima
in the NSW Southern Highlands. They have three children – a daughter Taylor (age ), son Benson (age ) and daughter Maelin (age ). He resides in Sydney, Australia.
, Queensland
, and raised on the Gold Coast
with his four brothers and sisters. At the age of 4, he had his first dance lesson. During his childhood years, and while a student at Currumbin SPS and later Palm Beach Currumbin State High, he performed in many musicals for the local Spotlight Theatre Company and won numerous trophies and awards in local dance competitions. Anthony gained notoriety when, in 1984, he won the Fred Astaire International Jazz and Tap Championship in New York City in both the tap and jazz finals for his age group. This experience was the beginning of his love affair with New York City and cemented his passion for musical theatre.
, and in his early teens, Anthony sang, danced and acted in a number of concerts, corporate shows and local theatre restaurants. At 16 years old, he was given an opportunity to join the famous Regmat Productions in Australia's (then) only casino, Wrest Point Hotel Casino
in Hobart, Tasmania, as a dancer. After six months he returned to Queensland
and immediately received a phone call from the producers of the J.C. Williamson production of Me and My Girl
(directed by Mike Ockrent
) offering him, without audition, an ensemble role for the Australian tour on the recommendation of Australian showbusiness legend Sheila Bradley, with whom he had performed a few years earlier in Brisbane.
, Drew was cast in a succession of Australian musical theatre productions including Cats (musical)
, Rasputin, 42nd Street (musical)
and Hot Shoe Shuffle. He was a member of the notorious Pardon Me Boys with Ignatius Jones
and made regular appearances on variety television programs Midday, Good Morning Australia and Mornings with Kerri-Anne. He has appeared in Home and Away
, Dirtwater Dynasty, Logie Awards, Royal Command Performances and worked on the Kennedy Miller hit feature film Happy Feet
. He continues to perform and recently played The Narrator in Stephen Sondheim
's Putting it Together.
, Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story
and the world premiere of the West End theatre musical Jailhouse Rock: The Musical and the John Williamson (singer)
Australian folk musical Quambatook (which costarred his son, Benson). He chorographed Orpheus in the Underworld
for Opera Australia
, segments of Red Hot and Rhonda for Rhonda Burchmore
and Young Judy for Rachael Beck
.
The line-up included Christine Anu
, Carl Barron
, Daryl Braithwaite
, Kate Ceberano
, Chantelle Delaney, Tim Freedman
, Mark Gable (The Choirboys), Todd McKenney
, Ian Moss
, Paulini, Carl Riseley
, Melinda Schneider, James Reyne
, Guy Sebastian
, Tempus, Axle Whitehead
and the Brent Street Dancers along with the 25-piece Symphony Orchestra.
In June 2008, Anthony wrote and directed A Musical Send Off, an all-star concert to benefit the Australian Paralympic Team, which raised over $100,000. A critic wrote:
"If any of the other charity benefits that hit Sydney each year wanted to really learn how to do a benefit properly, organisers should have been well and truly present last night at the Capitol Theatre for the spectacular A Musical Send Off, a charity benefit to assist the Paralympic team go to Beijing later in the year."
Anthony has directed Disney's High School Musical
, Carlotta's Kings Cross
and A Very PBC Christmas.
Anthony served as associate director on the Australian national tours of Pirates of Penzance, Me and My Girl
, Jolson (Mo Award Nomination), 42nd Street, Singin' in the Rain
and the US and UK tours of Hot Shoe Shuffle.'
Anthony has worked on countless corporate and large-scale events, both in Australia and overseas. He was associate director of the closing ceremony for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics
and in 2006 relocated to Doha
, Qatar, as the associate artistic director of the largest entertainment event staged in the world, the 2006 Asian Games
. He most recently served as the associate artistic director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, Vancouver 2010.
– recreated the famous 'Dancin Man' character to lead the VP Day Parade through the streets of Sydney
– received a Mo Award nomination for 'Achievement in Musical Theatre'
– taught 5000 people, in Melbourne's Federation Square
, the famous Gene Kelly
routine from Singin' in the Rain to open the 2003 'Dancin in the Streets' arts festival.
David Atkins
David Atkins, OAM was recognised in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours with a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the entertainment industry and is Australia’s most awarded producer, choreographer and director, and CEO of David Atkins Enterprises, a major-events production...
Enterprises (DAE) and was the associate artistic director for the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held on February 12, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm PST at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first Olympic opening ceremony to be held indoors...
, in Vancouver.Anthony directed the Sony IFA event in Berlin, Germany and the Olivia Newton-John and Friends charity gala event at the State Theatre in Sydney.
Personal life
Anthony is the son of Kay Horsey, who has run her own successful performing arts school the Coastal Dance Theatre for over 30 years. His father abandoned the family when Drew was 10. On 7 December 1991, Anthony married E StreetE Street
E Street is an Australian television soap opera created by Forrest Redlich and produced by the Ten Network from 1989 to 1993.Whereas Neighbours is set in a middle-class suburb, Home and Away in a seaside town, and Richmond Hill a semi-rural ordinary community, E Street was set in a tough inner-city...
star Marianne Howard, at the Holy Trinity Church at Berrima
Berrima, New South Wales
Berrima is an historic village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The village, once a major town, is located on the Old Hume Highway between Canberra and Sydney. It was previously known officially as the Town of Berrima...
in the NSW Southern Highlands. They have three children – a daughter Taylor (age ), son Benson (age ) and daughter Maelin (age ). He resides in Sydney, Australia.
Early life
Anthony was born in MackayMackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, and raised on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
with his four brothers and sisters. At the age of 4, he had his first dance lesson. During his childhood years, and while a student at Currumbin SPS and later Palm Beach Currumbin State High, he performed in many musicals for the local Spotlight Theatre Company and won numerous trophies and awards in local dance competitions. Anthony gained notoriety when, in 1984, he won the Fred Astaire International Jazz and Tap Championship in New York City in both the tap and jazz finals for his age group. This experience was the beginning of his love affair with New York City and cemented his passion for musical theatre.
Early career
While still a student in QueenslandQueensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, and in his early teens, Anthony sang, danced and acted in a number of concerts, corporate shows and local theatre restaurants. At 16 years old, he was given an opportunity to join the famous Regmat Productions in Australia's (then) only casino, Wrest Point Hotel Casino
Wrest Point Hotel Casino
The Wrest Point Hotel Casino was Australia's first legal casino, opening in the suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart, Tasmania, on 10 February 1973.-History:...
in Hobart, Tasmania, as a dancer. After six months he returned to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and immediately received a phone call from the producers of the J.C. Williamson production of Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
(directed by Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing Educating Rita and Follies, he became an established figure in London theatre...
) offering him, without audition, an ensemble role for the Australian tour on the recommendation of Australian showbusiness legend Sheila Bradley, with whom he had performed a few years earlier in Brisbane.
Performer
After finishing his contract with Me and My GirlMe and My Girl
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
, Drew was cast in a succession of Australian musical theatre productions including Cats (musical)
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
, Rasputin, 42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
and Hot Shoe Shuffle. He was a member of the notorious Pardon Me Boys with Ignatius Jones
Ignatius Jones
Ignatius Jones is an Australian actor and former lead singer of punk cabaret band Jimmy And The Boys.With David Atkins, he was the creative force behind the Opening Ceremony of Shanghai 2010 World Expo and the Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games...
and made regular appearances on variety television programs Midday, Good Morning Australia and Mornings with Kerri-Anne. He has appeared in Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
, Dirtwater Dynasty, Logie Awards, Royal Command Performances and worked on the Kennedy Miller hit feature film Happy Feet
Happy Feet
Happy Feet is a 2006 American-Australian computer-animated family film with music, directed and co-written by George Miller. It was produced at Sydney-based visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic for Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Kingdom Feature Productions and was released...
. He continues to perform and recently played The Narrator in Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's Putting it Together.
Choreographer
Anthony's choreographic credits include the Australian musicals JolsonJolson
Jolson is a musical with a book by Francis Essex and Rob Bettinson and a score composed of tunes by some of the all-time greatest songwriters of Tin Pan Alley....
, Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story
Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story is a jukebox musical in two acts with a book written by Alan Janes, and music and lyrics by a variety of songwriters. Based on the life and career of early rock and roller Buddy Holly, the musical hews closer to Holly's actual life story than the 1978 film version...
and the world premiere of the West End theatre musical Jailhouse Rock: The Musical and the John Williamson (singer)
John Williamson (singer)
John Robert Williamson AM is an Australian country music singer-songwriter. Williamson has released over thirty-two albums, ten videos, five DVDs, and two lyric books...
Australian folk musical Quambatook (which costarred his son, Benson). He chorographed Orpheus in the Underworld
Orpheus in the Underworld
Orphée aux enfers is an opéra bouffon , or opéra féerie in its revised version, by Jacques Offenbach. The French text was written by Ludovic Halévy and later revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux....
for Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
, segments of Red Hot and Rhonda for Rhonda Burchmore
Rhonda Burchmore
Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore is an Australian entertainer.Born in Sydney, Rhonda has been performing since the age of two, trained in singing, acting and dancing and was awarded a scholarship to the University of New England where she majored in Theatre Arts.She became internationally known for her...
and Young Judy for Rachael Beck
Rachael Beck
Rachael Beck is an Australian stage and television actress.-Career highlights:Beck's best known role is that of Martin Kelly's niece, Sam, on the popular sitcom, Hey Dad...!....
.
Director
Most recently, Anthony directed the Sony IFA event in Berlin, Germany and the Olivia Newton-John and Friends charity gala event at the State Theatre in Sydney. The night raised money for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal.The line-up included Christine Anu
Christine Anu
-Early life:Anu was born in Cairns, Queensland to a Torres Strait Islander mother from Saibai and Mabuiag Islands.-Career:Anu began performing as a dancer and later went on to sing back-up vocals for The Rainmakers, which included Neil Murray of the Warumpi Band. Her first recording was in 1993...
, Carl Barron
Carl Barron
Carl Barron is an Australian comedian. His style is based on observational humour. He was born in Longreach, Queensland, the son of a sheep shearer, and formerly worked as an apprentice roof tiler. Barron has released three DVDs, entitled Carl Barron LIVE!, Carl Barron: Whatever Comes Next and...
, Daryl Braithwaite
Daryl Braithwaite
Daryl Braithwaite is an Australian pop singer. Best known as the lead vocalist of Sherbet, Braithwaite has also sustained a successful solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including the No...
, Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano is an Australian singer. She achieved success in the soul, jazz and pop genres as well as in her brief forays into musicals with Jesus Christ Superstar and film...
, Chantelle Delaney, Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman
Timothy "Tim" James Freedman is the mainstay lead singer and keyboardist of the Australian band The Whitlams formed in 1993...
, Mark Gable (The Choirboys), Todd McKenney
Todd McKenney
Todd McKenney is an Australian entertainer. He is best known as a judge on Australia's version of Dancing with the Stars.He has won many dancing titles, and has trained in jazz, tap, acrobatics and ballroom dancing...
, Ian Moss
Ian Moss
Ian Moss is an Australian rock musician, best known as the guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial ten year career, Moss recorded eight albums, three of which were No. 1 national hits. His solo career began with a No. 1 album and single and five ARIA Awards...
, Paulini, Carl Riseley
Carl Riseley
Carl Riseley is an Australian singer and recording artist.-Early life and career origins:Born on the Gold Coast in 1982, Riseley started out playing the cornet, and progressed to the trumpet when he was sixteen. Riseley joined The Royal Australian Navy band in April 2003, as a trumpeter...
, Melinda Schneider, James Reyne
James Reyne
James Reyne is an Australian rock musician and singer/songwriter both as a member of the iconic 1980s band Australian Crawl and solo work.. He is a successful singer/ songwriter and prolific artist...
, Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
, Tempus, Axle Whitehead
Axle Whitehead
Axle Whitehead is a former Australian Video Hits TV host and current singer, musician, and actor. In 2008, he released his first studio album Losing Sleep which debuted outside of the ARIA top 50...
and the Brent Street Dancers along with the 25-piece Symphony Orchestra.
In June 2008, Anthony wrote and directed A Musical Send Off, an all-star concert to benefit the Australian Paralympic Team, which raised over $100,000. A critic wrote:
"If any of the other charity benefits that hit Sydney each year wanted to really learn how to do a benefit properly, organisers should have been well and truly present last night at the Capitol Theatre for the spectacular A Musical Send Off, a charity benefit to assist the Paralympic team go to Beijing later in the year."
Anthony has directed Disney's High School Musical
High School Musical
High School Musical is a 2006 American television film, first in the High School Musical film franchise. Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful film that Disney Channel Original Movie ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and...
, Carlotta's Kings Cross
Kings Cross
Kings Cross can refer to:* Kings Cross, London - an area of Central London, England** King's Cross Central a development of previously semi-derelict land in the King's Cross area** London King's Cross railway station a major London railway terminus...
and A Very PBC Christmas.
Anthony served as associate director on the Australian national tours of Pirates of Penzance, Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
, Jolson (Mo Award Nomination), 42nd Street, Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain (musical)
Singin' in the Rain is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown.Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name, the plot closely adheres to the original...
and the US and UK tours of Hot Shoe Shuffle.'
Anthony has worked on countless corporate and large-scale events, both in Australia and overseas. He was associate director of the closing ceremony for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and in 2006 relocated to Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Qatar, as the associate artistic director of the largest entertainment event staged in the world, the 2006 Asian Games
2006 Asian Games
The 15th Asian Games, officially known as the XV Asiad, is Asia's Olympic-style sporting event that was held in Doha, Qatar from December 1 to December 15, 2006. Doha was the first city in its region and only the second in West Asia to host the games...
. He most recently served as the associate artistic director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, Vancouver 2010.
Other
Anthony appeared as the Australian Olympic team mascot at the Seoul 1988 Summer Olympics1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
– recreated the famous 'Dancin Man' character to lead the VP Day Parade through the streets of Sydney
– received a Mo Award nomination for 'Achievement in Musical Theatre'
– taught 5000 people, in Melbourne's Federation Square
Federation Square
Federation Square is a civic centre and cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, the famous Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
routine from Singin' in the Rain to open the 2003 'Dancin in the Streets' arts festival.
External links
- http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/sunmorn/stories/s964424.htm
- http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2002/09/10/1031608245356.html
- http://www.brightstars.com.au/
- http://www.theblurb.com.au/Issue21/HotShoe.htm
- http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/09/1065676096113.html?from=storyrhs
- http://www.cqu.edu.au/cqcm/musictheatre/partners.htm