Australian Musical Theatre Academy

Queenie van de Zandt

Core Tutor/Director
(Next to Normal, Into the Woods, King Kong)
MELBOURNE & BRISBANE WORKSHOPS

Queenie van de Zandt moves through the world entertaining, educating and serenading the people she meets. She has the unique ability in all her work to make people feel deeply, and to awaken laughter, empathy and awareness in equal measure.

Her ability to seamlessly transition between various genres of entertainment sets her apart as a truly versatile performer, with a career spanning musical theatre, plays, cabaret, recording, film, and television, as well as acclaimed work as a comedian, writer, and arts educator.

Her career highlights include: on television: Upright II (Foxtel/Stan), Safe Home (SBS), The Newsreader - Seasons 1, 2 & 3, Very Small Business and Da Kath & Kim Code (ABC), and Five Bedrooms (Network 10), in theatre: Face to Face (STC), Women of Troy (Malthouse/STC), Rabbit Hole, Absent Friends and Abigail’s Party (Ensemble Theatre), Secret Bridesmaid’s Business and After January (La Boite) and The Road to the She-Devil’s Salon (QTC), on film: Scooby Doo and Girl Clock, in musical theatre: Next to Normal (James Terry Collective), Thoroughly Modern Millie (TDP), Into the Woods (Victorian Opera), Follies (Storeyboard Entertainment), Funny Girl (SSO), King Kong Live on Stage (Global Creatures), The Full Monty (IMG/David Atkins) and Oliver (Cameron Mackintosh/IMG), and in cabaret - Smoke & Mirrors (Sydney, Melbourne and Edinburgh Festivals), Moments in the Woods, BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell, CABARET - In 12 Easy Steps, The Best (and Worst) of Queenie van de Zandt and I GET THE MUSIC IN YOU, an evening with Jan van de Stool (Adelaide Cabaret Festival). Queenie has been nominated for 21 major theatre awards, winning 8, for her work in musicals, theatre, cabaret and television.

As the driving force behind her boutique production house Amazon Woman Enterprises, Queenie has released 4 albums (Amazon Woman, Other Stories..., Queenie van de Zandt – Live in Cabaret and Singing & Vocal Warm Up Exercises); created her award-winning show BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell which continues to tour around Australia and internationally, and continues to develop projects involving her cult, comedy alter-ego Jan van de Stool. As Jan, Queenie has twice co-hosted The Helpmann Awards (Foxtel/ABC), performed in Jan’s multi-award-winning comedy show I GET THE MUSIC IN YOU, an evening with Jan van de Stool (MICF) and continues to tour her latest show, Jan van de Stool in PARTING THE RED CURTAINS (BCF & SCF).

Alongside her performance work, since 2000, Queenie has presented master classes, workshops and courses in cabaret, song performance and audition technique for musical theatre around the country. She is writing a book about audition technique and in 2020 released a CD, with fellow vocal educator Beth Daly, called Singing & Vocal Warm Up Exercises – From Beginner to Professional. She has held teaching positions in numerous performing arts schools, has been invited to conduct master classes and seminars throughout Australia and internationally and has written musical theatre courses for several leading institutions. She has taught in the music department at NIDA and has held teaching positions in the music theatre courses at VCA and Federation University in Ballarat (formerly BAAPA).

In 2015 Queenie co-founded The Australian Musical Theatre Academy (AMTA). AMTA offers workshops, masterclasses, and courses for students of all skill levels, bringing them together with top-tier industry professionals to give students the tools to live creative, passionate and fulfilling lives.

Widely regarded as Australia’s leading teacher of audition technique for musical theatre, Queenie combined her 20+ years of studying audition technique with her 35+ years as a multi-award winning performer of musical theatre, to develop a unique audition and performance preparation method, that has helped her students gain leading roles in shows such as Beauty & the Beast, Wicked, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Hamilton, Six: The Musical, Chicago, Mary Poppins, Annie, Matilda and Grease, to name just a few. Queenie has been teaching her method to performers across Australia and internationally for the past 24 years. The remarkable number of her students who have gone on to become renowned performers in commercial musicals, has seen her hailed in the press as a ‘musical theatre star-maker’.

As a true champion of the arts, having joined Actors Equity, MEAA in her very first professional show in 1989, Queenie’s unwavering passion for her craft and commitment to the union has made her a powerful advocate for artists Australia wide. Queenie brings to all her work, not only this wealth of experience but also her fine communication skills, her passion for the arts, her warm and positive nature and her wonderful sense of humour.

With a staggering 22 theatre award nominations and 9 well-deserved wins under her belt, Queenie van de Zandt's talent continues to be recognized with each new achievement. To stay connected with her latest projects and performances on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok follow @QueenievdZandt | @JanvandeStool | @AMTAcademy.

Martine Wengrown

Musical Director
(In the Heights, Grease, Mamma Mia)
MELBOURNE WORKSHOPS

A pianist and composer from a young age, Martine holds an Honours degree in music composition from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, a music teaching qualification from the Yamaha Music Foundation, and is currently undertaking a Masters of Voice Pedagogy through the Voice Study Centre, London/University of Wales Trinity St. David. Martine is a passionate educator and has taught or musically directed for many leading music and musical theatre tertiary institutions including Victorian College of the Arts, Federation University, Box Hill Institute of TAFE, and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. She is currently lecturer for Voice Technique for the Performing Arts Diploma at Patrick School of the Arts, Melbourne.

Martine works across a diverse range of media and performance. She adores working within the improv comedy realms with Impromptunes and The Big Hoo Haa and has co-written and performed The Very Model of a Modern Major Musical with Andrew McClelland. Her professional musical theatre credits include musical director for A Very Naughty Christmas (Woodward Productions), assistant musical director on the nationally touring production of Chess (Storeyboard Entertainment), musical director and arranger for Bernadette Robinson and Richard Carroll’s devised work The Show Goes On (Duet Productions) and associate musical director and chorusmaster for Music Theatre Melbourne’s inaugural production of Paris: A Rock Odyssey. Her most recent music theatre keyboard credits include Beauty And The Beast (Disney), Carousel (Enda Markey Presents), Wicked (XRoads Live), Beauty And The Beast (Disney), 9 to 5 The Musical (XRoads Live), and Cinderella (Opera Australia & XRoads Live).

Martine’s composition, arranging, orchestration and score preparation work can be heard in the most recent productions of Bernadette Robinson’s DIVAS (Duet Productions), Muriel’s Wedding, The Musical (Global Creatures) and Chess (Storeyboard Entertainment). She also regularly arranges for such television programs as Dancing With The Stars, Australian Idol, and X Factor Australia.

Madeline Pratt

Choreographer
(Annie, Chicago, Wicked)
MELBOURNE WORKSHOPS

Maddy graduated from Federation University’s Music Theatre program in 2017 and trained at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts on a Music Theatre scholarship.

Her professional performance credits include Warner Brother's The Masked Singer and A Very Naughty Christmas (Woodward Productions), as well as playing iconic roles such as Heather Duke in Heathers, Maureen in Rent, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and Cassie in A Chorus Line.

She has also performed at major events like Carols by Candlelight and the Australian Open.

As a choreographer, Maddy has worked on Stranger Sings (Salty Theatre), Wicked, and Legally Blonde. She has created original works like Moments, brun, and the burlesque cabaret Undress Me, I’m Yours.

Maddy is also a passionate arts educator and currently serves as the National Programs Coordinator for Wakakirri.

Maddy will next be seen touring Australia in the musical Annie.

Eliza Carlin

Choreographer
(Annie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, AI Academy)
MELBOURNE WORKSHOPS

Eliza graduated from Showfit in 2019 and then completed a Bachelor of Arts (Music Theatre) at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2022. Before that, she also studied at New York University Steinhardt in 2017 in the Vocal Performance (Music Theatre) program.

At 11 years old Eliza made her professional debut as Duffy in the 2012 Australian production of Annie (GFO) after working with renowned audition coach, Queenie van de Zandt, attending the Australian Musical Theatre Academy’s popular Children’s Audition Preparation Workshop.

Her other performing credits include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (TML Enterprises), Maybe A Miracle, The Marine Team, Way Too Cool & AI Academy (Echelon Productions).

Eliza teaches across multiple studios in Melbourne and is a choreographer for the performing arts program at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar Schools.

She is so excited to work with a whole new generation of orphans and to help them have the same amazing experience she had preparing for her auditions that led to her being cast in Annie and the successful performing arts career she has today.

Heidi Loveland

Musical Director
(Wicked, TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, Beauty & the Beast)
BRISBANE WORKSHOPS

Heidi holds degrees in music, performance and education and is currently a lecturer in Musical Direction at the Qld Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre (QAEMT- Griffith University).

In recent years, she has provided musical direction for Queenie van de Zandt and Rachael Beck. She has musically directed numerous productions for Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University’s Bachelor of Musical Theatre including Edges, Legally Blonde The Musical, Cry Baby, Working Localised, Urinetown, Heathers, Forty-Second Street, Putting It Together, Grease, The Wedding Singer, It’s Only Life, Elegies, The Drowsy Chaperone, Les Misérables, Dogfight, Company, West Side Story, The Secret Garden, the touring productions of Personals, Godspell, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens and Working, as well as the graduating Musical Theatre Showcase tours.

Heidi has performed in the Brisbane QPAC seasons of Wicked, Tina: The Tina Tuner Musical, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Mamma Mia, 9 to 5 The Musical, Frozen The Musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chess The Musical, Muriel’s Wedding, Strictly Ballroom, The Sound of Music and backed the Brisbane leg of Natalie Weiss’ Australian tour.

She is a regular audition accompanist and was rehearsal pianist for Matilda the Musical and The Sound of Music.

Other engagements include the Queensland Symphony Orchestra Harry Potter In-Concert Series, QSO Wave Festival and QSO Musical Theatre Gala.

Demi Jenkins

Choreographer
(Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Peachy Skaterr, Lord Mayors Christmas Carols)
BRISBANE WORKSHOPS

Meet Demi, a Brisbane native whose dance journey kicked off at Intrinsic School of Dance. Trained at Dance World Studios and Raw Dance Company, she's transformed from a dancer to a versatile performer, embracing Musical Theatre, roller-skating, hula hooping, and fire twirling.

With credits in Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols, Baz Luhrmann's film, and more, Demi has left her choreographic mark on projects like Dairy Milk Classic TVC for Bega. Known as "Peachy Skaterr" on Instagram and TikTok, she connects with a global audience, collaborating with brands like Sony and Fanta.

Recently Demi has been enchanting audiences in Blanc De Blanc Uncorked by Strut N Fret aboard P&O Cruise lines, and you may even spot her roller-skating in a TV commercial for Personalized Plates QLD, currently airing.