Mathew Frank and Dean Bryant met while studying Musical Theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Their first musical, Prodigal, won the Green Room Award for Best Original Score, and was the first Australian musical produced off-Broadway, at the York Theatre in 2002. The cast album is available on JAY records. Virgins: A Musical Threesome was produced in the Tower Theatre at Malthouse in 2006, and was nominated for 6 Green Room Awards. Virgins toured to NYC as an invited show for the New York Music Theatre Festival, and received funding to tour Victoria the following year. Once We Lived Here was commissioned by Playbox under Aubrey Mellor and won a Pratt Prize Commission in 2007. This year it won Best New Musical at the Green Room Awards for its debut production at 45 Downstairs. Their adaptation of Sonya Hartnett’s The Silver Donkey has toured US high schools twice and been read at Melbourne Theatre Company. A compilation of their work, All Roads Lead to Home, was part of the 2004 Melbourne International Arts Festival.
Their cabaret ‘Tegrity: Britney Spears Live in Cabaret starring Christie Whelan was produced at the 2009 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, and later that year by Luckiest Productions (Sydney Theatre Critics nom – Best Cabaret). Dean has also written and directed Newley Discovered (starring Hugh Sheridan) which debuted at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and is being produced at the Sydney Opera House in June; and Liza on an E (two Sydney seasons and upcoming Adelaide and Brisbane seasons) and the upcoming Sydney Opera House premiere I’m Every Woman for drag performer Trevor Ashley.
As director, Dean’s credits include The Last Five Years at 45 Downstairs, Stables and Q Theatre (Green Room and Helpmann nom – Best Director of a Musical), Once We Lived Here and Virgins (Green Room nom – Best Director of a Musical). He is Worldwide Associate Director of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and has worked on the MTC productions of The Drowsy Chaperone, Urinetown (and STC), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (and STC) and Hitchcock Blonde.
Mathew’s musical director credits include the Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Drowsy Chaperone this year, and Prodigal (off-Broadway at the York Theatre). He was Assistant MD on the MTC’s Urinetown, Poor Boy, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Sapphires, as well as working on the STC remounts of the first two.
