Todd McKenney | |
---|---|
Born | Perth, Western Australia, Australia | 31 March 1965
Occupations |
|
Todd McKenney (born 31 May 1965) is an Australian dancer, theatre performer and TV personality. He is best known as a judge on the Australian television talent show Dancing with the Stars .
As a theatre performer, he has appeared in numerous productions, including singer Peter Allen in the theatre production The Boy from Oz .
McKenney grew up in Perth, where his father was a jail warden and his mother a dance teacher. They separated when he was 9. [1] He began his entertainment career on a children's television show as Percy Penguin. [1]
McKenney trained in jazz, tap, acrobatics and ballroom dancing. He represented Australia in ballroom and Latin American dancing, and won many international awards. [2]
McKenney has performed on stage since 1983 in productions including 42nd Street , The Pirates of Penzance , Camelot, La Cage aux Folles , Singin' in the Rain , and Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the Musical . [3] In 1992, he played the role of ballroom dancer Nathan Starkey in Baz Luhrmann's film Strictly Ballroom , alongside his future Dancing with the stars Australia co-star Sonia Kruger, as well as Paul Mercurio. [4]
McKenney rose to fame in 1998 when he created the lead role of Peter Allen in the Australian production of The Boy from Oz. [1] He performed the role 766 times between 1998 and 2000. However, when the production went to Broadway in 2003, Hugh Jackman landed the role over McKenney. [1]
Outside musical theatre, McKenney is best known as a judge on Australia's version of Dancing with the Stars. [3] He has appeared on all fifteen seasons of the show since 2004. [5]
McKenney took on his first non-musical role in 2006, starring as Michael Minetti in the Ensemble Theatre production of Richard Alfieri's two-hander play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks with Nancye Hayes at the Playhouse Theatre in the Sydney Opera House. [6] [7] The play remains the most successful in the Ensemble Theatre's history, and the pair reprised these roles ten years later at the Concourse Theatre, Chatswood, reuniting with Sandra Bates for her final directorial role. [8] McKenney performed his Casting Couch production at the Ensemble's Kirribilli premises in 2016, interviewing Queenie van de Zandt, Georgie Parker, and Simon Burke in different performances. [9]
In 2006, McKenney hosted the television game show You May Be Right , which was cancelled after a month on air. [10] He hosted the breakfast program on Sydney radio station Mix 106.5 with Dancing with the Stars co-host Sonia Kruger, as well as Andy Grace, from January 2008 until September 2009.
On 19 May 2010 and on 27 December 2010, McKenney guest co-hosted The Morning Show alongside Kylie Gillies, while regular male presenter Larry Emdur was on holidays.
In 2011, McKenney portrayed Lord Evelyn Oakley in a limited showing of Anything Goes in Melbourne, alongside Amanda Harrison. [11] In 2012, he played the role of Rooster in the hit musical Annie alongside Anthony Warlow, Nancye Hayes and Alan Jones. [12]
McKenney plays Teen Angel in the 2013-2014 Australian National Touring Company production of the hit musical Grease , starring alongside Bert Newton, John Paul Young, Rob Mills, and Gretel Scarlett. Although he is on stage for less than four minutes, [3] critics have said he "steals the show." [13] [14]
In 2005, McKenney released an album, Just a Gigolo. The title track was a duet with Maggie Kirkpatrick. Seven of the twelve tracks were Peter Allen compositions. The album also included "I Don't Care Too Much", a Kander and Ebb song that was dropped from Cabaret. McKenney released a tribute album to Peter Allen on Friday 22 November 2013, called Todd McKenney sings Peter Allen. [15]
In 2019 he headlined a production of Barnum .
In 2022 he was in a production of Cinderella .
Beginning in 2023 he was in a production of Wicked as The Wizard. [16]
McKenney is gay. [17] He has a daughter (who was conceived via IVF), Charlotte Wood, who lives in Melbourne with her mother, Anne Wood. [2] McKenney has said his first girlfriend, at twelve years of age, was dancer and presenter Sonia Kruger. [18]
He is a student of Auslan sign language and has worked within the deaf community all around Australia. [19] Todd is also a keen supporter of The Grace Centre For Newborn Intensive Care [20] at the Children's Hospital at Westmead [21] and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. [22]
Another of Todd's passions is his greyhounds and for the past four years he has been the face of the Greyhounds As Pets National Adoption Day, and more recently a GAP NSW Ambassador. [23]
During the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020, Todd McKenney launched a website, Todd Creates, [24] in order for members of the theatrical and entertainment communities to pivot their skills in order to make face masks and continue to earn an income while all theatres were closed. He then forged a partnership with Everyday Market from Woolworths [25] in order for small-medium-sized Australian businesses to have a space to sell their products on the new marketplace, offering an unprecedented opportunity for these businesses to grow.
On April 7, 2017, he was banned from driving for three months and fined $375 with a charge relating to drink-driving. [26] [27] He was pulled over on George St in Sydney's CBD at 10.50pm on March 7, after police noticed the headlights of his car were off. He was breath-tested and blew a reading of 0.05.
In 2019, while speaking on a Melbourne LGBTQI+ podcast, McKenney revealed he had been in a relationship with his sister's husband, Simon Gallaher, prior to their marriage: "She married my ex-boyfriend and is still married to my ex-boyfriend but just has never mentioned it to me. It's weird isn't it? I don't think I've ever spoken about it publicly." [28] [29]
The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. [30]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Todd McKenney – The Boy from Oz | Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical | Won | [31] |
2009 | Todd McKenney – Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical | Best Male Actor in a Musical | Nominated | [32] |
2012 | Todd McKenney – Annie | Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Nominated | [33] |
2015 | Todd McKenney – Anything Goes | Best Male Actor in a Musical | Nominated | [34] |
Todd McKenney – La Cage aux Folles | Nominated |
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. Todd McKenney won three awards in that time. [35]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result (wins only) |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Todd McKenney | Male Musical Theatre Performer of the Year | Won |
1999 | Todd McKenney | Male Musical Theatre Performer of the Year | Won |
2004 | Todd McKenney | Versatile Variety Performance of the Year | Won |
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre.
Robert Mills is an Australian actor, television host and singer-songwriter. He was one of the finalists from the first season of Australian Idol in 2003. He co-hosted the late-night quiz show The Mint with his childhood idol, J-Dawg, the two would go on to star in the hit show Young Talent Time, and was a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network. Mills took part in the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars, and appeared on Celebrity Apprentice. In 2008, Mills won the lead male role of Fiyero in a production of Wicked, and continued the role when it moved around Australia. He has since starred in a number of popular large scale musical theatre productions. In 2012, Mills was announced as the host of Network Ten's revamped Young Talent Time. He played teacher Finn Kelly on Neighbours from 2017 until 2022.
Christine Joy Amphlett was an Australian singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the frontwoman of the rock band Divinyls. She was notable for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive humour in lyrics, performances and media interviews.
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia.
Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-born Cheryl Stone. Stephen Page was artistic director from 1991 to 2021, with Frances Rings taking over in 2022.
Marina Prior is an Australian soprano and actress with a career mainly in musical theatre. From 1990 to 1993, she starred as the original Christine Daaé in the Australian premiere of The Phantom of the Opera, opposite Anthony Warlow and later Rob Guest.
The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001.
Stephen George Page is an Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He is the former artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company. Page is descended from the Nunukul people and the Munaldjali of the Yugambeh people from southeast Queensland, Australia.
Cheryl Ruth Barker is an Australian operatic soprano who has had an active international career since the late 1980s. She has sung on several complete opera recordings with Chandos Records, including the title roles in Dvořák's Rusalka, Janáček's Káťa Kabanová and Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and Emilia Marty in Janáček's The Makropulos Case. She has also made two solo recordings of opera arias, one with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor David Parry and the other with Orchestra Victoria and conductor Richard Bonynge. On the stage she has had partnerships with the English National Opera (ENO) and Opera Australia.
The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales.
Caroline Ann O'Connor is an Anglo-Australian singer, dancer, and actress. For her theatre work she has won three Helpmann Awards: Best Female Actor in a Play for Edith Piaf in Piaf in 2001 and the same category for Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow in 2006, and Best Female Actor in a Musical for Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes in 2015.
Simon Gallaher is an Australian singer, actor, director and pianist.
Emma Matthews is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. A Principal Artist with Opera Australia, Matthews has received more Helpmann Awards than any other individual artist, nine Green Room Awards, the Mo Award and the Remy Martin Australian Opera Award.
The Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body in the live entertainment and performing arts industries in Australia. The accolade is handed out at the annual Helpmann Awards, which celebrates achievements in musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre. This is a list of winners and nominations for the Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play.
The Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body in the live entertainment and performing arts industries in Australia. The accolade is handed out at the annual Helpmann Awards, which celebrates achievements in musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre.
The 1st Helpmann Awards ceremony was presented by the Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA), for achievements in disciplines of Australia's live performance sectors. The ceremony took place on 25 March 2001 at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney and was hosted by Simon Burke. During the ceremony, the AEIA handed out awards in twelve categories for achievements in theatre, musicals, opera, ballet, dance and concerts.
David Harris is an Australian actor and singer. In Australia, he is best known for his performances as Chris in Miss Saigon, Fiyero in Wicked and Emmett in Legally Blonde having received Helpmann Award nominations for all three leading roles. Harris also starred as the Baker in Victorian Opera's production of Into the Woods and, in America, as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables opposite Terrence Mann in 2015. He has released two solo albums. Since early 2023, he has played the role of The Duke of Monroth in the Broadway theater production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical.
Nancye Lee Bertles AM, billed under her maiden name as Nancye Hayes, is an Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director and narrator. She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre since the 1960s. Although her roles have been almost exclusively in theatre, she has briefly worked in television in series and mini-series, as a character actress including filling in for an Judy Nunn in the series Home and Away.
The 4th Helpmann Awards ceremony was presented by the Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA), for achievements in disciplines of Australia's live performance sectors. The ceremony took place on 9 August 2004 at the Lyric Theatre. During the ceremony, the AEIA handed out awards in 35 categories for achievements in theatre, musicals, opera, ballet, dance and concerts.
Alex Rathgeber is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for his Helpmann Award-winning performance as Billy Crocker in Anything Goes. More recently he appeared as the Tin Man in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Wizard of Oz.