Tanika Anderson | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2014–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 1 |
Tanika Mei Anderson (born 8 January 1994) is an Australian actress and performer, best known as a former member of Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 2014 to 2016.
She has also starred in the Australian stage productions of Frozen and Beauty and the Beast , as well as a guest role in the television series Fisk .
Anderson's mother is Chinese Singaporean and her father is Australian with a Scottish heritage. [1] Anderson attended Model Farms High School, Baulkham Hills in New South Wales, until Year 10, when she departed to study at the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. [1] Anderson is also a graduate of the Brent Street Studios. [1] Anderson began teaching at her own dance studio, 360 Dance, at the age of 17. [2]
Anderson performed for a year as a singer and dancer at Universal Studios Singapore. [1]
In June 2014, Anderson joined the Australian children's musical group Hi-5, replacing Lauren Brant. She had already worked with the group as an understudy and puppeteer for the previous nine months. [2] [3] Anderson departed the group at the end of 2016. [4] During a promotional tour to Myanmar in 2015, Anderson experienced young women living and working in poverty, which led her to found her own ethical fashion business, You & Mei. [5] She returned to the group as a guest performer in December 2018 and November 2019.
Anderson was cast in her first musical production, Frozen , in March 2020, as Queen Iduna. [6] The production was due to premiere in Sydney in July 2020, [6] but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The production debuted at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney in December 2020.
Anderson joined the cast of Beauty and the Beast in February 2023. The production debuted at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, in June 2023. [7]
Anderson married fellow former Hi-5 member Stevie Nicholson in November 2019. She gave birth to their daughter, Wild Mei Nicholson, in November 2022.
Year | Production | Role | Venue | Dates | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020–21 | Frozen | Queen Iduna, Ensemble | Capitol Theatre, Sydney | 1 December 2020 – 23 May 2021 | Original Australian cast | [6] |
2021–22 | Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne | 14 July 2021 – 26 January 2022 | ||||
2022 | Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane | 12 February 2022 – 8 May 2022 | ||||
Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide | 26 May 2022 – 7 August 2022 | |||||
2023 | Marina Bay Sands, Singapore | 5 February 2023 – 19 March 2023 | ||||
Beauty and the Beast | Ensemble | Capitol Theatre, Sydney | 14 June 2023 – December 2023 | 2023 Australian revival tour | [7] | |
2024 | Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane | February 2024 | [8] | |||
Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne | June 2024 |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014–16 | Hi-5 House | Presenter | Series 2–3 | |
2022 | Fisk | Jess Bunting | Series 2, Episode 6 | [9] |
Hi-5 were an Australian children's musical group formed in 1998 in association with the children's television series of the same name. Helena Harris and Posie Graeme-Evans created the television series for the Nine Network, which premiered in 1999. The group were made up of five performers who entertained and educated preschool children through music, movement and play. Kellie Crawford, Kathleen de Leon Jones, Nathan Foley, Tim Harding and Charli Robinson were the founding members. By the end of 2008, all of the original line-up had left, and the group's membership changed several more times after that. They collectively starred in several television series, released albums, and performed on worldwide tours. The television series features puppet characters Chatterbox and Jup Jup, who were included in the group's live stage shows.
Beauty and the Beast is a Disney stage musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton. Adapted from Walt Disney Pictures' Academy Award-winning 1991 animated feature musical film of the same name – which in turn had been based on the classic French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont – Beauty and the Beast tells the story of an unkind prince who has been magically transformed into an unsightly creature as punishment for his selfish ways. To revert into his true human form, the Beast must learn to love a bright, beautiful young lady who he has imprisoned in his enchanted castle before it is too late.
Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a major division and business unit of The Walt Disney Company.
Rachael Elizabeth Beck is an Australian stage and television singer-actress. From 1991 to 1994 Beck had a major role on the popular sitcom, Hey Dad..!, as Samantha Kelly. From 2006 to 2008, Beck appeared on all three seasons of Seven Network's celebrity singing competition It Takes Two, as a singing coach successively for Mark Furze, Ernie Dingo and Mark Wilson. She has appeared in the Australian musical theatre productions of Cats (1985), Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1995–96), Les Misérables (1995–96), The Sound of Music, Cabaret, Singing in the Rain and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Beck released her first solo album This Girl on 7 March 2014.
Stevie Nicholson is an Australian television personality and performer. He is a former member of the Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 2007 to 2015.
Caissie Levy is a Canadian-American actress and singer, mainly known for her work in musical theatre on Broadway and in the West End. Her early Broadway credits included Penny Pingleton in Hairspray and Sheila in Hair, a role she also played in the West End. She originated the role of Molly Jensen in the West End and Broadway productions of Ghost: the Musical and played Fantine in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables. Levy also originated the role of Elsa in Frozen on Broadway. For her performance on the cast recording of Caroline, or Change, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2023.
Lauren Marie Brant Hall is a South African-Australian television personality, singer, dancer and actress. Brant was a member of the Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 2009 to 2014.
Jemma Rix is an Australian theatre performer, who has played the role of Elphaba in the Melbourne, Sydney, Australian and Asian touring companies of Wicked. Rix first performed the role in the shortened 30-minute version of the show at Universal Studios Japan. She was an original cast member of the Australian premiere production as the standby for Elphaba.
Christine Whelan Browne is an Australian performer who has worked extensively in musical theatre as an actress, dancer and singer. She has also appeared on television shows and in films. In March 2012, she married fellow performer, Rohan Browne.
Elizabeth Debicki is an Australian actress. After studying drama at the Victorian College of the Arts, she made her film debut with a brief role in the Australian comedy A Few Best Men (2011). Debicki's role in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby (2013) won her the AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played Ayesha in the Marvel films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). She gained critical attention for her performance in Steve McQueen's heist thriller Widows (2018). The following year, she received the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard. She then co-starred in Christopher Nolan's science fiction thriller Tenet (2020).
Kristen Anderson-Lopez is an American songwriter and lyricist known for co-writing the songs for the 2013 computer-animated musical film Frozen and its 2019 sequel Frozen II with her husband Robert Lopez. The couple won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Let It Go" from Frozen and "Remember Me" from Coco (2017) at the 86th and 90th awards respectively. She also won two Grammy Awards at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
King Kong is a musical with music by Marius de Vries, lyrics by Michael Mitnick and Craig Lucas, a book by Lucas and additional musical and lyrical contributions by 3D, Sarah McLachlan, Guy Garvey, Justice and The Avalanches. It is based on the 1933 film of the same name. The original production was mounted in Australia in 2013. A re-worked Broadway production premiered in October 2018.
Hi-5 House is an Australian children's television series and a spin-off of the original Hi-5 series, which was created by Helena Harris and Posie Graeme-Evans. The series stars the children’s musical group Hi-5, with the spin-off being created to continue the series after the brand was sold by the Nine Network in 2012. Hi-5 House premiered on 4 November 2013 on Nick Jr. Australia.
Frozen is a musical with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, based on the 2013 film of the same name. The story centers on the relationship between two sisters who are princesses, Elsa and Anna. Elsa has magical powers to freeze objects and people, which she does not know how to control. After inheriting the throne, Elsa flees, inadvertently causes the kingdom to become frozen in an eternal winter, and nearly kills her sister. She must sacrifice and show true love to save the day.
Beauty and the Beast is a 2017 American musical romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, from the screenplay by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, this film is a live-action/CGI remake of Disney's 1991 animated feature film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's 1756 version of the fairy tale. Starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the eponymous Belle and the Beast, this film features the supporting ensemble and choir cast including Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, and Emma Thompson.
Ainsley Melham is an Australian actor, best known as a former member of Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 2013 to 2016 and for playing the title role in Disney's Aladdin in Australia and later on Broadway.
The thirteenth series of the children's television series Hi-5 aired between 17 October 2011 and 16 December 2011 on the Nine Network in Australia. The series was produced by Southern Star and Nine with Noel Price as executive producer.
The eleventh series of the children's television series Hi-5 aired between 31 August 2009 and 30 October 2009 on the Nine Network in Australia. The series was produced by Southern Star and Nine with Noel Price as executive producer.
Patti Murin is an American actress, singer and dancer. On Broadway, she has originated the title role in Lysistrata Jones (2011) and Princess Anna in Frozen (2018). She also had a recurring role as Dr. Nina Shore in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med from 2016 to 2019.