Mathew Frank
About
Mathew Frank is a Melbourne-based director and composer.
Mathew was Music Director of the smash-hit Melbourne Theatre Company production The Drowsy Chaperone (starring Geoffrey Rush) earlier this year. He has been Associate Musical Director on the MTC productions of Poor Boy, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (STC remount), Urinetown (STC remount) and Assistant Musical Director on The Sapphires.
With writing partner Dean Bryant, he composed Prodigal, produced in Melbourne in 2000 (Green Room Award – Best Original Score), then off-Broadway at the York Theatre Company in 2002, the first Australian musical produced in NYC. Mathew was Musical Director off-Broadway (cast recording available on JAY Records and iTunes).
The duo’s most recent musical was the premiere of Pratt Prize-winning Once We Lived Here at 45 Downstairs in September, for which they won the Green Room Award this year for Best New Musical. Other musicals include Virgins: A Musical Threesome (CUB Malthouse premiere, NYMF Invited Show and Victorian tour), The People in Your Pocket (Centenary of Federation Tour), The Silver Donkey (American tours 2006 and 2008), Jumpin’ the Q (Old Fitz, AWGIE nom), The Virgin Wars (Next Wave Festival) and Rock Me Galileo (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne 2009), Wipeout and Dollars and Sense (both touring nationally this year).
A retrospective of their work was part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival called ‘All Roads Lead to Home’, as well the exhibition ‘Making a Song and Dance’ at the Victorian Arts Centre.
Most recently Mathew was Musical Director/Arranger of ‘Tegrity: Britney Spears Live in Cabaret for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, which played Sydney in October (nominated for Best Cabaret at the Sydney Theatre Awards) and is playing Melbourne in October. He is Head of Music for the Childrens Performing Company of Australia, for whom he is musically directing Spring Awakening at the National Theatre in 2011.
Mathew will musically direct the Australian premiere of the Pulitzer-prize winning musical Next To Normal for the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2011.
