Director & Choreographer
In 2006 Kelley co-choreographed Hugh Jackman’s The Boy From OZ Australian Arena tour for producers Ben Gannon and Robert Fox. Kelley and co-choreographer/director Kenny Ortega won the Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in a musical for this production.
Kelley has choreographed many other stage musicals including Footloose for Gordon Frost/SEL, for which she earned a Helpmann Award nomination, the Sydney Opera House concert production of Follies, and Fame The Musical (1999 - 2003) in Australia, Asia and South Africa.
Whilst playing Rizzo in Grease – The Arena Spectacular in 1998 she was also Assistant Choreographer and Assistant Director. In 2005 Kelley choreographed a new arena production of Grease for Gordon Frost/SEL. She most recently choreographed a new production of Hedwig and The Angry Inch for Showtune Productions.
Other theatre credits as a performer include Dancin’ Man and Dynamite! with David Atkins, West Side Story for the Victoria State Opera and the role of Rizzo in the return Melbourne and Sydney seasons of Grease – The Arena Spectacular.
From 1991 to 1993 Kelley first came to public notice as Jo-Jo in the popular television drama E-Street on Network Ten Australia and Britain’s Sky Network. She has also performed on many other television shows as an actor, dancer and singer. She sang at the 1997 Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and at the Opening of the Olympic Stadium in Sydney.
Kelley is also one of Australia’s leading music video choreographers working with many pop artists and award-winning international acts. Her directorial debut in music video was nominated for Best Video at the Australian Music Awards.
Kelley staged and choreographed Human Nature on their international tours with Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Celine Dion. She has choreographed many Logies performances for Pop Idol’s as well as staging Ricky Martin’s Logies performance.
Kelley was also choreographer and staging director of the hugely successful The Main Event arena concert starring John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John and Anthony Warlow.
Costume Design
Janet started her costume design career in musical theatre then progressed to film, television, and large scale live events. She’s styled rock stars and celebrities at the ARIA’s, film stars and even presidents. (APEC Australia 2007).
Her involvement in theatre costuming has taken her around the globe working on 42nd Street, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, Dynamite, Hot Shoe Shuffle, Chicago, Oliver, Dirty Dancing, We Will Rock You, Spamalot and High School Musical.
Janet has designed costumes for Sweet Charity, Man From Snowy River, Burn the Floor (Broadway production), Santa’s Kingdom, Full Monty and Saturday Night Fever (Green Room Design Award 2007). Her most challenging experiences have been the 2000 Paralympic Games Ceremonies in Sydney; 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester; and as designer/supervisor for the 2007 Asian Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Qatar.
Most recently her highly acclaimed work on So You Think You Can Dance has allowed her to regularly work with Kelley Abbey, who Janet is excited to be working with in her directorial debut on FAME.
Lighting Design
Trudy Dalgleish studied technical production at NIDA and has won numerous awards including the 2000 Helpmann Award for White Devil, the 2002 'Entech' Award and the John Truscott Design Award for Excellence and for Best Lighting Design for Eureka at the Green Room Awards.
Lighting credits include: Sweeney Todd, Manon, HMS Pinafore, Trial by Jury, Pirates of Penzance, A Little Night Music, My Fair Lady, Orlando (Opera Australia); Eurobeat (UK); Sid’s Dancing Masquerade, Inuk 2 (SDC); Bubble (Legs on the Wall); Little Women, Pippin (Kookaburra); Kaiden (Sydney Festival); King and I (Broadway Asia); Eureka – The Musical; God of Carnage, White Devil, The Way of the World (STC); The Man From Snowy River; Singing in the Rain; Shout; The Boy from Oz; Man of La Mancha; Wizard of Oz; Annie; Grease; The Sound of Music; Cabaret; The New Rocky Horror Show; Steel City; Beauty and the Beast; Dein Perry’s film Bootmen; Associate Lighting Designer The Producers.
2010 engagements include A Little Night Music for Opera Australia, Chooky Dancer’s Ngurrumilmarrmeriyu (Wrong Skin) at Adelaide Festival and in Melbourne and Sydney; and Hairspray.
Sound Design
Michael’s sound designs include Priscilla - Queen of the Desert, currently playing the West End, London; Breast Wishes; High School Musical; Little Women; Mum’s The Word 2; Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (China/Asia); Rocky Horror Show; We Will Rock You (Asia/New Zealand); Company; Pippin; The King and I (China/Asia); The Boy From Oz with Hugh Jackman (2007 Helpmann Award - Best Sound Design nomination); The Woman In Black (2007 Helpmann Award - Best Sound Design winner); Dusty – The Original Pop Diva (2006 Helpmann Award - Best Sound Design); Grease – The Arena Spectacular; Saturday Night Fever (Australia/New Zealand/Asia - 2005 Green Room Award - Best Technical Design nomination); Dirty Dancing (2005 Green Room Award - Best Technical Design winner) and The Full Monty. Sound Co-Designs include Singin’ In The Rain (2001 Helpmann nomination) and The Boy From Oz with Todd McKenney (2000 Helpmann nomination).
Michael’s symphonic and operatic works includes Dead Man Walking; Lesley Garrett and Anthony Warlow with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras; and Anthony Warlow with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Upcoming projects include West Side Story and Hairspray.
Musical Supervisor
Max Lambert is one of Australia’s most talented and prolific composers, arrangers, musicians and musical directors.
Max studied at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney. His composing credits for the STC include Two Weeks With The Queen, Miracle City (New Stages, with Nick Enright), The White Devil, Arcadia, St. Joan, The Temple, Coriolanus (with Martin Armiger), The Girl Who Saw Everything, Harold In Italy, Darlinghurst Nights, Siestas In A Pink Hotel, and Philadelphia Story. Other credits include M Butterfly, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Kid Stakes (MTC), A Month In The Country and After The Ball (QTC), You and the Night and the House Wine (Nimrod), On The Wallaby and Sweeney Todd (Q Theatre), Gentlemen Only (Kinselas), Sydney Dance Company’s An Evening, Sirens, Flashbacks and Deadly Sins.
Max has recorded albums with Kate Ceberano and Wendy Matthews, and with Grace Knight and Vince Jones for Stringer and Come In Spinner. He has also recorded with Judi Connelli, Renee Geyer, Paul Kelly, Iva Davies and Icehouse. He has accompanied many of Australia’s most popular artists including Judi Connelli, Rhonda Burchmore, Geraldine Turner, Todd McKenney, Christine Anu, Kerrie Biddell and Su Cruickshank. Max is also known for his Playschool albums There’s A Bear In There and In The Car, for which he won an Aria Award in 1997.
In 2005, Max worked as a musical consultant on George Miller’s highly anticipated feature film, Happy Feet. Max has previously arranged orchestrations for Jane Campion’s film Sweetie and coached Miranda Otto in Gillian Armstrong’s film The Last Days of Chez Nous. Max was Dame Nellie Melba’s accompanist in Melba and has played for silent films at The Sydney Film Festival. Other credits have included David Atkins’ critically acclaimed production of Hot Shoe Shuffle, in Australia, London’s West End, Canada and the U.S. He composed the music for Gale Edwards’ London production of St. Joan, co-composed and appeared in Berlin for the Sydney Dance Company and was Musical Supervisor on The Boy From Oz, the album of which won an ARIA award in 1998. Max was the Musical Director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the XXVII Olympiad. He co-wrote Tivoli for The Australian Ballet as well as writing songs for Old Masters by Beatrix Christian.
In 2002 Max was Musical Director for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, and Musical Director of the Gay Games in Sydney. In 2003 he was the Musical Director of the Sydney Opera House’s 30th birthday concert and in 2005 and 2006 the Musical Director for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Max was the Music Supervisor for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 New Years Eve Celebrations in Sydney and both Australia Plays Broadway concerts, the most recent held in Carnegie Hall, New York. In 2009 he was Consultant on Jerry Springer the Opera and Musical Supervisor for The Premier’s Concerts held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. In 2010 Max again acted as Musical Supervisor for the Premier’s Concerts and is currently Musical Supervisor on the musicals Hairspray and FAME and the Director of Music for the Opening Ceremony of the World Expo in Shanghai.
Musical Director
Born and raised in Queensland, Dave studied at Q.U.T. under Steve Russell and Max Olding and then left Australia for several years as Band Master/Musical Director on various ships for N.C.L., P.C.C. and P.&.O. Cruise Lines.
Dave then moved to Tokyo with a jazz trio before returning to Australia where he has been in demand not only as a pianist/conductor, but also for his work as a composer, arranger and programmer.
Dave has worked with a wide variety of people from Glenn Shorrock to Caroline O'Connor and was a part of the ABC's triple platinum selling Long Way to the Top Tour. His first album of original work, Duty Free Happiness was recorded in 2005 and Dave has now finished writing his second album Thespianage due for release later this year.
Theatre credits include Hair - The Musical, as Assistant M.D, and Musical Director on the Australia/N.Z./S.E. Asian tour of Saturday Night Fever. Dave then conducted the U.K production of the same name and returned to Australia to work on the world premiere of Priscilla – Queen of the Desert the Musical where he worked as Associate Musical Director.
Most recently, Dave has just finished working as Musical Director on the Australian tour of the Broadway smash Avenue Q.
Assistant Choreographer/
Assistant to the Director
Leanne Cherny is an accomplished choreographer and performer.
This year Leanne was the choreographic dance consultant on So You Think You Can Dance Australia. Leanne was Assistant Choreographer to Kelley Abbey on the feature film, Happy Feet, and a Principal Motion Capture performer and a dance consultant for Happy Feet 2. She assisted Kelley on Grease The Arena Spectacular and on the US So You Think You Can Dance. Leanne was Associate Director & Associate Choreographer for High School Musical in Australia.
Leanne’s choreographic credits include: Opening & Closing Ceremonies of the Asian Games in Doha (David Aktins and Jason Coleman) and the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympic Games in Shanghai.
As a performer, Leanne has appeared as Anybodys in West Side Story, Carmen in Sweet Charity, Missie in Oh What A Night, as well as in Sisterella, Fame The Musical (1999), Footloose and Madame Butterfly.
Leanne was also the Dance Captain for Fame The Musical (1999), Footloose and Oh What a Night. She has also produced and choreographed events for: Australian Mercedes Fashion Week, Melbourne & Sydney Fashion Festivals, Nike, Bonds, Love Kylie Lingerie, Speedo’s, Dolly Magazine and L’Oreal.
