Rowan Witt

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Rowan Witt
Rowan Witt at the 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 starring in The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Totally Completely Fine, She Loves Me, Dogfight, Gloria, Into The Woods, South Pacific, Home and Away, and The Matrix.

Early life[edit]

Witt was born in Australia.

A talented artist, his secondary school 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 throughout school, and received his classical degree from the highly-competitive Sydney Conservatorium, where he majored in Voice.[1]

Witt also trained in acting at various notable institutions including ATYP and NIDA, with a background in theatre and improvisation.[2]

Career[edit]

Witt was discovered at an early age and started working extensively in film and television, with credits including The Matrix (credited as "Spoon Boy"),[3][4] Somewhere in the Darkness, Escape of the Artful Dodger, Underbelly and Home and Away.[5] He was short-listed to the final few for the role of Harry Potter in the series of feature films and was notably the only Australian actor to be flown to Leavesden Studios in England to screen-test.[6]

He continued acting through school, and a few weeks after graduating university, Witt made his musical theatre début at the Sydney Opera House in The Lincoln Centre's production of South Pacific.[7] The production was the highest selling show in the opera house's history, and was directed by Bartlett Sher and starred Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Lisa McCune.[8] This was followed by the role of Jack, in the Australian production of Into The Woods, at the Melbourne Arts Centre,[9] for which he garnered considerable critical acclaim.[10][11][12]

Witt was then cast in the Australian premiere of Pasek and Paul's musical, Dogfight, at the Hayes Theatre, as the abusive Vietnam marine, Bernstein.[13][14] AussieTheatre named Witt's performance a highlight of 2015, stating "Witt is the kind of actor that musical theatre needs."[15]

Midway through the Dogfight season, Witt was cast and started work on Cameron Mackintosh's production of Les Misérables (25th Anniversary Production) performing and rehearsing two shows simultaneously.[16]

Other theatre roles during this time include John Hinckley in the Australian tour of Sondheim's Assassins,[17] Danny in Baby at the Hayes Theatre, Leaf Coneybear in William Finn's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, originating the role of Chandler Bing in the Australian production of Friends: the Musical, and Young Buddy in the acclaimed concert production of Sondheim's Follies – opposite Philip Quast, Debra Byrne, Lisa McCune, and David Hobson.[5][18]

Witt's breakout role came as Elder McKinley in the original Australian cast of mega-musical The Book of Mormon, both at The Princess Theatre in Melbourne and the Sydney Lyric Theatre in Sydney.[19][20] For this role he won several awards including a Sydney Theatre Award, and a Helpmann Award nomination.[21][22][23][24] The production boasted the biggest opening sales of any musical in Australia's history selling more than $5 million worth of tickets in the first few hours.

Directly after, Witt signed on as the romantic lead in the acclaimed revival of Bock and Harnick's, She Loves Me at the Hayes Theatre, before playing Dean in the acclaimed Sydney premiere of Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins' play, Gloria. For both roles he was nominated for BW and Sydney Theatre Awards.[25][26]

In 2021, Witt starred opposite Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) in the first Paramount+ original television series, Spreadsheet.[27][28][29][30] And across 2022-2023, Witt took up the iconic role of King George III in the Australian production of Hamilton.[31][32][33] It was during this period that he was cast in Sundance's "wild and darkly poignant" Totally Completely Fine, in which he starred as John, opposite Thomasin Mackenzie, John Noble, and Devon Terrell.[34][35][36]

Personal life[edit]

Witt has a sister, a pop musician, who performs under the stage name, ELKI.[37][38]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Rowan Witt " EM Voices". www.emvoices.com.au.
  2. ^ "ROWAN WITT | Actor". Rowan Witt. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  3. ^ Rowan Witt at IMDb
  4. ^ "Spoon Boy in 'The Matrix'". TMZ.
  5. ^ a b "FOLLIES in CONCERT". www.folliesinconcert.com.au.
  6. ^ "Rowan Witt is totally, completely fine". ABC listen. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Aussie cast of South Pacific is filmed for DVD | News". AussieTheatre.com.
  8. ^ "South Pacific – Sydney | Reviews". AussieTheatre.com.
  9. ^ "Victorian Opera 2014 – Into the Woods Programme". Issuu.
  10. ^ "Review: Into the Woods (Victorian Opera)". www.limelightmagazine.com.au.
  11. ^ "Into the Woods review (Arts Centre Melbourne) | Daily Review". dailyreview.com.au. 21 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Victorian Opera: Into the Woods | Reviews". AussieTheatre.com.
  13. ^ "Review: Dogfight — Hayes Theatre Co | Reviews". AussieTheatre.com.
  14. ^ "Dogfight – Review". Jo Litson: Scene and Heard. 16 May 2015.
  15. ^ "Favourite moments in 2015: Sydney theatre | News". AussieTheatre.com.
  16. ^ "Les Misérables wins 5 Helpmann Awards, including Best Musical!". Michael Cassel Group.
  17. ^ "Assassins | Australian Arts Review". artsreview.com.au. 12 September 2014.
  18. ^ "Rowan Witt - ACTOR". Rowan Witt. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  19. ^ "The Book of Mormon breaks box office records in Melbourne but only opens in 2017". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  20. ^ "Cast - The Book of Mormon Musical - Melbourne | Official Website". The Book of Mormon Musical - Melbourne. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  21. ^ "2017 Nominees | Helpmann Awards". www.helpmannawards.com.au.
  22. ^ Cooper, Nathanael (25 July 2017). "Helpmann Awards 2017: What about the locals?". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  23. ^ "2018 Sydney Theatre Awards: The Winners". AUDREY Journal. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  24. ^ Jefferson, Dee (22 January 2019). "Sydney Theatre Awards Winners 2018". ABC NEWS. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  25. ^ "BWW REVIEW: SHE LOVES ME Is An Utterly Adorable Confection Of Captivating Classic Musical Charm". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  26. ^ "Rowan Witt | film theatre actor | ABOUT". Rowan Witt - Australian Actor. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  27. ^ Mitchell, Thomas (November 2021). "The very best of TV: everything you should be streaming in November". Sydney Morning Herald.
  28. ^ Mathieson, Craig (24 July 2021). "From Succession to The Newsreader, here are 16 shows to watch next". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  29. ^ Frater, Patrick (11 July 2021). "Paramount Plus Starts 'Spreadsheet' Sex Comedy in Australia". Variety.com.
  30. ^ Donnelly, Keryn (20 January 2023). "'It's my job to recommend TV shows. Here are my favourite shows on each streaming platform.'". Mamamia. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  31. ^ "New Cast to join the Australian #HamFam". Arts Review. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  32. ^ "Hamilton Australian Cast EXCLUSIVE". StageWhispers. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  33. ^ "Broadways Smash Hit Musical 'Hamilton' Finally Heading To Australia In March 2021". forum-theatre.com. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  34. ^ Bałaga, Marta (22 May 2023). "In 'Totally Completely Fine,' 'Last Night in Soho' Star Thomasin McKenzie Proves There Can Be Joy in the Midst of Despair (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  35. ^ Masia, Laura (20 April 2023). "Stan's New Aussie Comedy 'Totally Completely Fine' Shows Us That Grief Really Isn't Linear". PEDESTRIAN.TV. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  36. ^ "Totally Completely Fine Review: A Dark Comedy That's Utterly Absolutely Good". MovieWeb. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  37. ^ "ELKI on Apple Music". iTunes.
  38. ^ "ELKI". TripleJ.
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