Kelley Abbey (born 28 July 1966) is an
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
actress, choreographer, singer and dancer. She has been a leading performer and choreographer in TV, film and musical theatre for more than 20 years. She remains best known for her role on soap opera ''
E Street'' as Jo-Jo Adams.
Abbey played Sheila in the 2003 Australian cast of ''
Hair'' and Rizzo in an arena production of ''
Grease'', and later choreographed an arena stadium tour of ''Grease – the Arena Spectacular''. Other musicals Abbey has choreographed include ''
Follies
''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...
'' at the
Sydney Opera House, ''
Footloose
Footloose may refer to:
* ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film
** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack)
** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins
* ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film
** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...
'' and most recently
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
's ''
The Boy from Oz
''The Boy from Oz'' is a Australian jukebox musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen, featuring songs written by him. The book commissioned for the musical is by Nick Enright, based on Stephen MacLean's 1996 biography of ...
'' in the Arena for which she won a
Helpmann Award along with
Kenny Ortega
Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films '' Newsies'', '' Hocus Pocus'', ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', ''High School Musical'', '' Michael Jackson's T ...
.
Abbey has also choreographed Xanadu the musical, Funny Girl starring Caroline O'Connor, Jesus Christ Superstar, Miracle City and Cabaret the Musical. She has choreographed Gail Edwards Carmen on the harbour for Opera Australia and also Gail's Helpmann award-winning version of Salome and a different version of Carmen for John Bell on the Opera House main stage. In 2010 she directed and choreographed a new rebooted version of Fame the Musical where she won another Helpmann Award. She was also the associate director to
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...
on Strictly Ballroom the musical. She continues to mentor young performers around the country about mindset and nurturing your creativity whilst pursuing a career in the Entertainment Industry.
Choreography
Abbey was honoured at the Choreography Media Honours in Los Angeles for her choreography in the
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
-winning feature
Happy Feet
''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by George Miller. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, and ...
. She was also head
motion capture consultant on the film, ran "penguin school" and was the principal motion capture performer.
Abbey has also choreographed many music videos, pop concert tours, television commercials and awards specials. She appeared in the film
In Her Skin
''In Her Skin'' (also known as ''I Am You'' from the working title ''How to Change in 9 Weeks'') is a 2009 Australian drama movie written and directed by Simone North. The film is based on the true story of the murder of 15-year-old Rachel Bar ...
starring
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...
and
Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
which she choreographed and also plays a small role.
Abbey appears as a special guest judge and choreographer on the hit TV show ''
So You Think You Can Dance
''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...
'' and choreographs for the ''So You Think You Can Dance'' franchise internationally. She also was chosen to represent Australia on the reality television show
Superstars of Dance on the
NBC Network. As of the
sixteenth season, she has also been the
creative director
A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
and choreographer for ''
Dancing with the Stars Australia''.
Patronage
Abbey is the Patron of the Brisbane Performing Arts Challenge. She is the Ambassador of Dancelife Unite and also The Australian Dance Festival.
Awards
Abbey won the
Green Room Award
The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne.
The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...
and Variety Heart awards for her performance as the lead in ''
Sweet Charity''. She also won a Mo Award for playing the lead in ''
Fame the Musical'' which she also choreographed. She won the Green Room Award for her choreography in ''Fame'' and later restaged this show in Asia and South Africa.
Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the
Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...
), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Kelley Abbey won two awards in that time.
(wins only)
, -
, 1997
, Kelley Abbey
, Female Musical Theatre Performer of the Year
,
, -
, 1999
, Kelley Abbey
, Female Dance Performer/ Choreographer of the Year
,
, -
References
External links
*
*
DancelifeDance Train
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbey, Kelley
Australian choreographers
Australian film actresses
Australian television actresses
Australian stage actresses
Helpmann Award winners
Living people
1966 births
People from Brisbane