Matt Lee is an Australian dancer and actor. He has starred in ''

Bootmen ''Bootmen'' is a 2000 Australian-American romantic comedy film directed by Dein Perry. It was distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures and funded by the Australian Film Finance Corporation. Production was from 19 June to 18 August 1999 in Sydney ...

'', ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...

'', ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', '' Grease'', and ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

'' for which he won a

Helpmann Award The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical th ...

for Best Actor in a Musical. He was a motion capture principal for the Oscar winning film ''

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 E.G ...

'' where he brought to life the loveable tap dancing penguin ''Mumble''. He has choreographed for, and worked alongside

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

Samantha Jade Samantha Jade Gibbs (born 18 April 1987) is an Australian singer and songwriter. She has written tracks for artists including JoJo and Ashley Tisdale. In 2012, Jade won the fourth season of ''The X Factor Australia'', the first woman to win ...

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her act ...

and

Christine Anu Christine Anu (born 15 March 1970) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She gained popularity with the cover song release of the Warumpi Band's song " My Island Home". Anu has been nominated for 17 ARIA Awards. Early life Anu was bo ...

. He was also a judge and choreographer for ''

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 has ...

''. Lee appeared at the

Adelaide Cabaret Festival The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is an annual arts festival featuring cabaret held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It has been held in June each year since 2001, with the exception of 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, ...

in June 2014, performing a new show '' Swing on This'' together with

Ben Mingay Ben Mingay is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for having played Buzz Graham in the series '' Packed to the Rafters'' and Rob Duffy in '' Wonderland''. He played the role of Billy in the stage version of ''Dirty Dancing'' in Au ...

Luke Kennedy Luke Kennedy is an Australian performer best known for placing second on The Voice (Australia series 2), the second season of ''The Voice (Australia)''. He has also toured internationally with the Ten Tenors and performed the title role in ''Je ...

, and Michael Falzon. '' Swing on This'' is a collection of classic swing songs reworked with a more contemporary style, as well as more recent popular music arranged for an 18 piece big band.

Biography

Lee started dancing at the age of six, and began his professional career at thirteen.

"I think I was just very lucky to have found what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life at a young age,"

During his acceptance speech at the 2011 Helpmann Awards, Lee claimed to have always wanted to sing like fellow nominee,

Anthony Warlow Anthony Warlow (born 18 November 1961) is an Australian musical theatre performer, noted for his character acting and considerable vocal range. He is a classically trained lyric baritone and made his debut with the Australian Opera in 1980. ...

Career

The first international production of ''

The Witches of Eastwick ''The Witches of Eastwick'' is a 1984 novel by American writer John Updike. A sequel, '' The Widows of Eastwick'', was published in 2008. Plot The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the early 1970s, follows the witch ...

'' opened in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the Princess Theatre,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, with Lee as Michael Spofford, and starring comedian

Paul McDermott Paul Anthony Michael McDermott (born 13 May 1962) is an Australian entertainer, best known both for ''Good News Week'' and for his role as a member of the musical comedy group the Doug Anthony All Stars. He has frequently appeared at the Melb ...

as Darryl van Horne,

Marina Prior Marina Prior (born 18 October 1963) 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'', opposit ...

as Jane, Angela Toohey as Alexandra and

Pippa Grandison Pippa Jody Grandison (born 12 September 1970) is an Australian actress and singer. She currently lives in Sydney, with her husband Steve Le Marquand and son. Career Pippa Grandison was born in Perth, Western Australia. She made her debut in th ...

as Sukie, with

Sabrina Batshon The seventh season of ''Australian Idol'' began on 9 August 2009, to determine who would succeed season 6 winner, Wes Carr. Beginning amid controversy, judge Kyle Sandilands was replaced by Sony Music record executive, Jay Dee Springbett. It w ...

as The Little Girl. The show began previews on 19 August 2002. Revisions were made, including new lyrics and the excision of one number, 'Loose Ends'. However, the show never found an audience and closed on 17 November 2002. Lee was cast in the role of Bert in the first Australian production of ''Mary Poppins'' which began previews at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...

on 14 July 2010. The show officially opened on 29 July. The cast also included Australian theatre icons

as Mrs Banks,

Debra Byrne Debra Anne Byrne (born 30 March 1957), formerly billed as Debbie Byrne, is an Australian pop singer, variety entertainer, theatre and TV actress and writer, director and choreographer of cabaret. From April 1971 to March 1975 she was a founding ...

as The Bird Woman,

Philip Quast Philip Mark Quast (born 30 July 1957) is an Australian actor and singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, making him the first actor to have three wins in that category. He is perhaps best known ...

as Mr Banks,

Judi Connelli Judi Connelli AM (born 20 July 1947) is an Australian singer and actress in theatre, opera and television. Connelli is best known for her career in opera and stage musicals. As a singer she has starred in performable with the Sydney Symphony ...

as Miss Andrew, Sally Anne Upton as Mrs Brill, and Christopher Rickerby as Robertson Ay. Verity Hunt-Ballard played Mary Poppins. The Melbourne production closed on 1 April 2011. It was also confirmed that the musical would play in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

at the Capitol Theatre starting in April 2011 concluding its run mid December 2011. The musical then went on an Australian tour, playing at the Lyric Theatre in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

until March 2012 and the

Burswood Theatre Crown Perth (formerly Burswood Island Casino, Burswood Island Complex and Burswood Entertainment Complex) is a resort and casino located in Burswood, Western Australia, near the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River. The resort consists of ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

until June 2012. After a four-month break, the production opened at the Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, from 18 October until 30 December. An Australian Cast Recording was released on 18 February 2011. Lee reprised the role of Bert for the Mary Poppins 2015-2017 UK and International tour which began on 12 October 2015 at the Leicester Curve and concluded at the Dubai Royal Opera on 26 May 2017.

The Production Company The Production Company was an Australian not-for-profit theatre company that staged a series of usually three musicals at the Arts Centre Melbourne each year, until its closure in 2020. It was launched in 1999 by Jeanne Pratt AC with the goal o ...

2013 performance of

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...

saw Lee cast as Cosmo Brown opposite

Rohan Browne Rohan Browne (born ) is an Australian dancer, actor and singer. Career Browne's career started at age 18 in the original ''The Boy From Oz'' production. He went on to appear in over 20 musicals in Australia and internationally. Musicals includ ...

's Don Lockwood, with Alinta Chidzey as Kathy and

Christie Whelan-Browne Christine "Christie" Whelan Browne (born 6 August 1982) 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 marri ...

as Lina Lamont. Traditionally for The Production Company, Singin' in the Rain had a short season, running from 21 to 25 August. Lee performed in the new cabaret act '' Swing on This'' at the

on 7 June 2014 with a cast that included

, Michael Falzon, and

. Festival Artistic Director, and singer in her own right,

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song " Pash" received a gold ...

appeared as a special guest. Following Adelaide Cabaret Festival, they performed as the headline act at both the official black tie launch of the refurbished Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on 25 July and at the community concert the next evening, again playing to a full house. Notably, Lee performed the classic swing number Mr Bojangles, including a tap routine choreographed by Chris Horsey. Lee was a judge on the television talent show ''

'' along with Jason Coleman and

Bonnie Lythgoe Bonita Lythgoe (née Shawe; born 1949) is a British former dancer who, since the 1990s and 2000s, has been the producer and director of various theatre productions, including pantomimes. In 1969, aged 19, Lythgoe auditioned for the BBC's Young G ...

. Lee was a dance adjudicator at the Gold Coast Eisteddfod in August 2019.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Matt Australian male dancers Australian choreographers Australian television personalities Helpmann Award winners Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian male stage actors Australian male musical theatre actors Swing on This members