Jump to content

Rowan Witt

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Citation bot (talk | contribs) at 23:35, 16 October 2022 (Alter: title. Add: date. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Whoop whoop pull up | #UCB_webform 461/3800). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Rowan Witt
Rowan Witt at the 2016 Helpmann Awards
Born
Sydney
Alma materSydney Conservatorium of Music
OccupationActor
Relatives(sister)

Rowan Witt is an Australian film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his roles in The Book of Mormon, Gloria, She Loves Me, Into The Woods, South Pacific, Dogfight, Home and Away, and The Matrix.

Early life

Witt was born in Sydney, Australia.

He went to high school at the International Grammar School. Witt's graduating artwork topped the state, and was exhibited at the NSW Art Gallery, and was awarded the Julian Ashton drawing scholarship.

He undertook intensive acting training and received his tertiary degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music University, where he majored in Classical Voice.[1]

Witt trained in acting at various institutions including ATYP and NIDA, and has a family background in theatre and improv.

Career

Witt was discovered at an early age and started working in film and television, with roles including The Matrix (credited as "Spoon Boy"),[2][3] Somewhere in the Darkness, Escape of the Artful Dodger, Underbelly and Home and Away.[4] He was short-listed to the final four for the role of Harry Potter in the series of feature films and was the only Australian actor to be flown to Leavesden Studios in England to screen-test.[5]

After graduating study, Witt performed across Australia in concerts, recitals, oratorios and operas, before making his musical theatre début at the Sydney Opera House in The Lincoln Centre's production of South Pacific in which he played Professor.[6] The production was directed by Bartlett Sher and starred Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Lisa McCune.[7]

This was followed by Witt's breakout role as Jack, in the Australian production of Into The Woods, at the Melbourne Arts Centre,[5] which garnered him considerable critical acclaim.[8][9][10]

Witt was then cast in the Australian premiere of Pasek and Paul's musical, Dogfight, at the Hayes Theatre, as the Vietnam marine, Bernstein.[11][12] AussieTheatre named Witt's performance a highlight of 2015, stating "Witt is the kind of actor that musical theatre needs."[13]

During the Dogfight season, Witt started work on Cameron Mackintosh's production of Les Misérables (25th Anniversary Production) with which he subsequently toured Australia.[14]

Other theatre roles during this time include John Hinckley in the Australian tour of Sondheim's Assassins,[15] Danny in Baby at the Hayes Theatre, Leaf Coneybear in William Finn's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Young Buddy in the acclaimed concert production of Sondheim's Follies – opposite Philip Quast, Debra Byrne, Lisa McCune, and David Hobson.[4][16]

Witt starred as Elder McKinley in the original Australian cast of The Book of Mormon at The Princess Theatre in Melbourne and the Sydney Lyric Theatre in Sydney,[17][18] for which he won several awards including a Sydney Theatre Award, and a Helpmann Award nomination.[19][20][21][22]

Witt then lead the acclaimed revival of Bock and Harnick's, She Loves Me, as Georg Nowack, at the Hayes Theatre, and starred as Dean in the Sydney premiere of Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins' play, Gloria. For both roles he was nominated for BW and Sydney Theatre Awards.[23][24]

In 2021, Witt starred opposite Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) in the Paramount+ original television series, Spreadsheet.[25][26][27]

As a voice-over actor, Witt's credits include animation, advertising, radio, television shows and movie soundtracks.[1]

Personal life

Witt has a sister, a pop musician, who performs under the stage name, ELKI.[28][29]

References

  1. ^ a b "Rowan Witt " EM Voices". www.emvoices.com.au.
  2. ^ Rowan Witt at IMDb
  3. ^ "Spoon Boy in 'The Matrix'". TMZ.
  4. ^ a b "FOLLIES in CONCERT". www.folliesinconcert.com.au.
  5. ^ a b "Victorian Opera 2014 – Into the Woods Programme". Issuu.
  6. ^ "Aussie cast of South Pacific is filmed for DVD | News". AussieTheatre.com.
  7. ^ "South Pacific – Sydney | Reviews". AussieTheatre.com.
  8. ^ "Review: Into the Woods (Victorian Opera)". www.limelightmagazine.com.au.
  9. ^ "Into the Woods review (Arts Centre Melbourne) | Daily Review". dailyreview.com.au. 21 July 2014.
  10. ^ "Victorian Opera: Into the Woods | Reviews". AussieTheatre.com.
  11. ^ "Review: Dogfight — Hayes Theatre Co | Reviews". AussieTheatre.com.
  12. ^ "Dogfight – Review". Jo Litson: Scene and Heard. 16 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Favourite moments in 2015: Sydney theatre | News". AussieTheatre.com.
  14. ^ "Les Misérables wins 5 Helpmann Awards, including Best Musical!". Michael Cassel Group.
  15. ^ "Assassins | Australian Arts Review". artsreview.com.au. 12 September 2014.
  16. ^ "Rowan Witt - ACTOR". Rowan Witt. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  17. ^ "The Book of Mormon breaks box office records in Melbourne but only opens in 2017". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  18. ^ "Cast - The Book of Mormon Musical - Melbourne | Official Website". The Book of Mormon Musical - Melbourne. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  19. ^ "2017 Nominees | Helpmann Awards". www.helpmannawards.com.au.
  20. ^ Cooper, Nathanael (25 July 2017). "Helpmann Awards 2017: What about the locals?". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  21. ^ "2018 Sydney Theatre Awards: The Winners". AUDREY Journal. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  22. ^ Jefferson, Dee (22 January 2019). "Sydney Theatre Awards Winners 2018". ABC NEWS. Retrieved 20 March 2019. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  23. ^ "BWW REVIEW: SHE LOVES ME Is An Utterly Adorable Confection Of Captivating Classic Musical Charm". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Rowan Witt | film theatre actor | ABOUT". Rowan Witt - Australian Actor. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  25. ^ Mitchell, Thomas (November 2021). "The very best of TV: everything you should be streaming in November". Sydney Morning Herald.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ Croot, James (9 November 2021). "Spreadsheet: Katherine Parkinson in outrageous new Aussie comedy". Stuff.co.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ Frater, Patrick (11 July 2021). "Paramount Plus Starts 'Spreadsheet' Sex Comedy in Australia". Variety.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ "ELKI on Apple Music". iTunes.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ "ELKI". TripleJ.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rowan_Witt&oldid=1116511032"