Theatre veterans to train rising stars

With some of the biggest musicals ever currently taking the Australian stage by storm, demand for exceptionally talented performers is high.

Queenie van de Zandt, one of Australia’s leading musical theatre stars, is joining with the industry’s biggest names to give upcoming performers the training they need to succeed in the business.

For the past 10 years Queenie has been running workshops in Audition Technique for Musical Theatre, with many of her students being cast in musicals such asWicked, Jersey Boys and Billy Elliot. She’s now taking this one step further and over the next two months in Sydney, Queenie will be running an “Advanced Audition Technique for Musical Theatre” Master Class Series, and also presenting two other Workshops for performers who want to extend their dance and comedy skills by working with two of Australia’s finest performers/teachers in those areas; Nathan M. Wright – choreographer on Avenue Q and So You Think You Can Dance? – and Darren Gilshenan – of Bell Shakespeare and Chandon Pictures fame.

What makes these Master Classes and Courses unique is the amazing standard of the teachers performers get to work with – they are the elite in their fields.  These Short Courses provide the first taste of Queenie’s series of Workshops and Master Classes, with more fantastic Short Courses led by the industry’s best creative artists scheduled for later in the year.

Queenie van de Zandt is a Sydney based performer and teacher, having most recently wowed Sydney audiences as the Bearded Lady in the Sydney Festival’sSmoke and Mirrors. She has been nominated for numerous Helpmann, Sydney Theatre and Green Room awards for her performances in shows such as: Oliver!, Women Of Troy, I GET THE MUSIC IN YOU, an evening with Jan van de Stool, The Full Monty, The Boy From Oz, and she will soon be seen in Floyd Collins – In Concert.

She currently teaches in the music department at NIDA and over the past 10 years, Queenie has garnered the reputation of being Australia’s leading teacher of Audition Technique for Musical Theatre.

“After 10 years travelling around the country, I have a very wide network of students and performing arts schools who are eager to be exposed to and learn from professionals in the business,” Queenie said.

“After 21 years working in the arts in many different areas, from musical theatre to straight theatre, in film and tv, writing, recording, doing comedy etc, I have a wide network of fantastic performers who have so much to pass on.

“Because of this, late last year I realised I was in the ideal position to bring these two networks together. So I hooked up with Brisbane’s Harvest Rain Theatre Company to produce the inaugural “Musical Theatre Summer School”.  It was a huge success, with 94 students, being taught by some of the country’s best including: Max Lambert, Todd McKenney, Craig Ilott, Nancye Hayes, Mitchell Butell, Simon Lind, Cameron Mitchell, Margi de Ferranti, and Rachael Beck.

“So I thought – why stop there. This year I plan to help bring more professional creative artists and performers together with performing arts students.”

Queenie said there were many benefits of working with her on her new concept, such as the level of talent people will be working with.

“There are lots of places people can go to learn to practice their craft – but it’s not often that you will be working with and learning from one of the BEST artists in that field – someone who is currently working in the business,” Queenie said.

“That’s what makes my Master Class Series unique and stand out from other similar courses – you get to learn from the best in the business and you also get to network and be noticed by the people that matter.”

For more information, check out the variety of classes here.

Anyone interested in attending the Master Class Series should email admin@queenievandezandt.com .