CAST ANNOUNCED FOR PREMIERE MELBOURNE SEASON

Young Melbourne actors get a chance to shine in a controversial musical.

“I honestly think this is one of the most exciting casts ever assembled for this production. I’m absolutely thrilled!” – Director Robert Coates

 

“This cast contains some of Melbourne’s most promising young talents”.

– Music Director Mathew Frank

 

 

The cast for the Melbourne premiere season of Spring Awakening, A New Musical was announced earlier this week as excitement began to mount about the performance season scheduled for early 2011. The cast is exclusively made up of talented young Melbourne-based actors, most of who already have extensive full-scale production experience.

 

Spring Awakening has toured extensively globally with great success, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, since the 2006 Broadway premiere. In 2007 the production won 8 Tony^® Awards including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Direction and the cast members are understandably excited to be part of such a prestigious production. Aleksa Kurbalija, who will play Melchior in the Melbourne production, said he was ecstatic after being cast as a male lead in a premiere season. “I’m really happy because it’s a well known show and the theme in it aren’t covered in other musicals. I’m looking forward to working with Matthew Frank and the rest of the crew and you never know who will be in the audience. I was a big fan of the show previously so it’s very exciting and will be a great experience to perform for a large audience,” the 16 year-old from Bentleigh added. Shannen Chin-Quan, 16, who plays the female lead Wendla, reiterated these sentiments. “I was really shocked when I got the role but also very excited. It will be a totally new experience and I think it’ll be very fun to work with the rest of the cast. I can’t wait,” the Forest Hill teen said.

 

Spring Awakening features lyrics by Steve Sater and music by Duncan Sheik and is the adaptation of the controversial 1891 German play by Frank Wedekind, banned in Germany for a century. The Melbourne season is being produced by the Young Australian Broadway Chorus and features a cast of 24 young actors from all over Melbourne.

 

Aleksa Kurbalija is a talented actor and dancer who hails from Bentleigh East in Melbourne’s South East. Aleksa has been with the Young Australian Broadway Chorus for the past 6 years and rehearses in the top-level group. The talented 16 year old has built up an impressive body of work since appearing in TV shows As The Bell Rings and Dead Gorgeous. Aleksa has also featured as a soloist in past Young Australian Broadway Chorus productions and attends McKinnon Secondary College.

 

Shannen Chin-Quan is currently enjoying her second stint with the Young Australian Broadway Chorus since rejoining the company in 2002 after a short break. Shannen rehearses in the top-level group alongside Aleksa and is also about to undertake VCE Theatre Studies at Kingswood College. Shannen’s past stage credits include ‘Annie’, ‘Grease’, ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’.