Matthew Lee Robinson is an Australian composer/lyricist and actor, most known for his musical theatre and television work.

Career

Robinson was born in

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, and graduated from the

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...

with a Bachelor of Arts (Musical Theatre). Direct from graduating he was cast in the original Australian cast of '' Mamma Mia!'', during which time he began writing the songs which would form the basis of his first musical '' Metro Street''. Robinson was cast as Teague in the World Premiere of Australian play ''God's Last Acre'' for Playbox Theatre Company (now

Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. ...

) and appeared in guest roles on television's ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the ever ...

'' and '' Stingers'' as well as the telemovie ''Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes'', appearing opposite

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...

. Robinson's songwriting garnered national attention when '' Metro Street'' won the 2004

Pratt Prize for Music Theatre The Pratt Prize for Music Theatre was an award for an unperformed Australian musical. It was initiated through the Pratt Foundation in 2001 to stimulate music theatre writers and composers to create work with commercial appeal. The award originally ...

, an $80,000 award for the best new musical submitted from within Australia. Robinson and longtime collaborator

Lucy Durack Lucy Durack (born 17 November 1982) is an Australian actress, singer and television personality who played Glinda in the Australian production of ''Wicked (musical), Wicked'', and Elle Woods in the Australian production of ''Legally Blonde (musi ...

created and toured ''Immaculate Confection'', a showcase of Robinson's songs, through five states in Australia to critical acclaim before Robinson was cast as the title role in ''

Pippin Pippin or Pepin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pippin'' (comics), a children's comic produced from 1966 to 1986 * ''Pippin'' (musical), a Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz loosely based on the life of Pepin the Hunchback * Pippin T ...

'' for Peter Cousens' Kookaburra. On the back of this, director

Stuart Maunder Stuart Lionel Maunder (born 1957) is an Australian theatre director, currently appointed as the artistic director of State Opera of South Australia. He has also directed for Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, West Australian Opera, New Zealand O ...

cast him in three successive musicals for

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...

at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

: Freddy Eynsford-Hill in ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

'', Henrik in ''

A Little Night Music ''A Little Night Music'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film ''Smiles of a Summer Night'', it involves the romantic lives of several couples. ...

'' and Frederic in ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 ...

''. During this time, Robinson also appeared as a bit part in the

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

miniseries ''The Pacific'' and as a weekly on-screen vocal coach on the FOX8 reality TV series ''

The Singing Office ''The Singing Office'' is a television series that has an American and Australian version. It features ordinary citizens who form singing groups in their workplaces, then compete against other teams; the rights to the concept have been sold to 20 ...

''. In 2009, Robinson's first musical ''Metro Street'' had its World Premiere at the

State Theatre Company of South Australia The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. It ...

, co-produced by Arts Asia Pacific and Power Arts. It was then picked up by the Daegu International Musical Festival in South Korea where it was the festival's featured opening musical. In total, ''Metro Street'' was nominated for five

Helpmann Awards 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 t ...

(including Best New Australian Work), the

Victorian Premier's Literary Award The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...

for Best Music Theatre Script, three South Korean DIMF Awards and three Adelaide Curtain Call Awards. It won the Curtain Call Award for Best Musical. 2011 marked Robinson's television writing debut, contributing three songs to Series 2 of the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

TV series ''

Dance Academy ''Dance Academy'' is an Australian teen-oriented Dramatic programming, television drama produced by Werner Film Productions in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ZDF. Series one premiered on 31 May 2010, and series tw ...

''. The same year Neil Gooding Productions produced Robinson's musical revue ''Sing On Through Tomorrow'', with Robinson featuring on the original cast recording available on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. During ''Pippin'', Robinson contacted composer/lyricist

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...

, leading to a mentorship that continues today. Since 2010, Robinson has travelled to New York City once a year conducting readings of his current musicals in development ''Happy People'' and ''Atlantis'' which have been attended by Schwartz and representatives from a number of Broadway producing houses including Disney Theatrical Group, Manhattan Theatre Club, Araca, 321 Theatrical Management and Ambassador Theatre Group. These readings have been financially assisted by Power Arts, a

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

Churchill Fellowship and an

Australia Council for the Arts The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

Skills & Arts Development Grant. In 2013,

Village Theatre Village Theatre is a major regional theatre located in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. The theatre was founded in Issaquah, Washington, in 1979 and built a second lo ...

, Washington state, facilitated a workshop reading of ''Happy People''. With support from an

Music Fellowship, Robinson is currently embarking on a two-year calendar of events, generating new musical theatre works across Australia, the U.S. and U.K.. He now resides in New York City.

Personal life

Robinson was married to actor Scott Morris in May 2016.

Awards

External links

*
Winner announced for Pratt Prize 2004

2003 Cabaret winners

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Matthew Lee Australian male television actors Australian male stage actors People from Queensland Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian musical theatre composers Australian musical theatre lyricists Australian LGBT actors Australian LGBT dramatists and playwrights Australian LGBT screenwriters