Drew Anthony (born 14 January 1969) is an Australian performer, director, choreographer, and producer. He has directed productions including '' Grease'', ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'', ''

Strictly Ballroom ''Strictly Ballroom'' is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann in his feature directorial debut. The film is the first in his '' Red Curtain Trilogy'' of theatre-motif-related films; it was followed by 1 ...

'', ''

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells th ...

'', and ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American Dance in film, dance Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian Americans, Italian-America ...

''. Other works include ''

42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...

'' at Limelight Theatre and ''The Boy From Oz'' at The Empire Theatre. In 2021, he directed and choreographed ''

The Boy From Oz ''The Boy from Oz'' is an 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 o ...

'' at Crown Theatre.

Early life

Anthony was born in

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

, and raised on the Gold Coast.Daily News/Gold Coaster 28 July 1984 His mother, Kay, ran a performing arts school, and his father, Bryan, worked for the Queensland Tourist Bureau in

Coolangatta Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 6,491 people. History Coolangatta is situat ...

. He began dance lessons at age four and performed in musicals for the local Spotlight Theatre Company while attending Currumbin State Primary School and Palm Beach Currumbin State High. In 1984, Anthony gained recognition by winning the

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

International Jazz and Tap Championship in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in both tap and jazz categories for his age group.

Career

Anthony began his career performing in concerts, corporate shows, and local theatre restaurants. At 16, he joined Regmat Productions as a dancer at

Wrest Point Hotel Casino The Wrest Point Hotel Casino is a casino in Tasmania. It was Australia's first legal casino, opening in the suburb of Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Sandy Bay in Hobart, on 10 February 1973. The hotel tower is the List of tallest buildings in Hobart, ta ...

. Shortly after, he was cast in the Australian tour of ''

Me and My Girl ''Me and My Girl'' is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, wh ...

''. Anthony was later cast in several Australian musical theatre productions, including ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', ''Rasputin'', ''42nd Street'', and '' Hot Shoe Shuffle''. He appeared on television shows such as ''

Midday Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cloc ...

'', '' Good Morning Australia'', and ''

Mornings with Kerri-Anne ''Kerri-Anne'' was an Australian morning television program shown on the Nine Network, hosted by Kerri-Anne Kennerley. It was broadcast on weekdays at 9am for two hours. The final episode of the series was on 25 November 2011. It was replaced b ...

.'' In 2006, he worked on the feature film ''

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed and produced by George Miller and written by Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hug ...

''. As a choreographer, Anthony worked on productions such as ''The Boy From Oz'', ''Jolson'', '' Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story'', and ''Jailhouse Rock: The Musical''. He also choreographed ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' for

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

and other shows for

Rhonda Burchmore Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM (born 15 May 1960) is an Australian entertainer, most notable as an actress, recording artist and singer in musical theatre, she has appeared in numerous television shows and briefly ...

and

Rachael Beck Rachael Elizabeth Beck (born 2 September 1971) is an Australian stage and television singer-actress. From 1991 to 1994 Beck had a major role on the popular sitcom, '' Hey Dad..!'', as Samantha Kelly. From 2006 to 2008, Beck appeared on all thre ...

. Anthony has directed various productions through his company, Drew Anthony Creative, including ''Grease'', ''Chicago'', ''42nd Street'', ''Strictly Ballroom'', ''A Chorus Line'', ''Saturday Night Fever'', and ''The Wedding Singer''. He has also directed productions like ''The Boy From Oz'', ''High School Musical'', ''Carlotta's KingsX'', and ''A Very PBC Christmas''. He served as Associate Director for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, and the 2010 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies in Vancouver.Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music
He has directed events such as the

NRL State of Origin The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons. Referred to as "Australian sport's greatest rivalry", the State ...

, the

2015 World Men's Handball Championship The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship was the 24th staging of the IHF World Men's Handball Championship, World Men's Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The final tournament was held for the first ...

, and the Olivia Newton-John and Friends charity gala in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In 2008, Anthony organized and directed ''A Musical Send Off'', a concert benefiting the Australian Paralympic Team, which raised over $100,000.Latest Theatre News

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Drew 1969 births Australian male soap opera actors Australian male stage actors Australian choreographers People from Mackay, Queensland Living people Male actors from the Gold Coast, Queensland People educated at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School