Amanda Harrison

In 1993 Harrison graduated from the Talent Development Project – a program aimed at identifying and supporting students with talent and an interest in a career as an entertainer.

Harrison made her professional debut playing Jenny in Aspects of Love.

Other theatrical credits include Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables, The Journey Girl, and as Liza Minnelli in The Boy from Oz with Todd McKenney.

For The Production Company, she has appeared in Mame, She Loves Me, Guys and Dolls, and a Green Room nominated performance of Ado Annie in Oklahoma!

Harrison attended short courses at The Actors Centre and started the Musical Theatre BA at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 1997, but left after only six weeks to take the role of Betty Schaefer in the Original Australian Production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard.

In 2001 Harrison moved to London and made her debut in the West End as Ali in Mamma Mia!

She was an Original London Cast member of the Queen and Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You, starring Tony Vincent and Hannah Jane Fox which opened at the Dominion Theatre on 14 May 2002.

Harrison understudied the roles of Scaramouche and Meatloaf.

She returned to Australia in 2003 for the Australian Tour, which ran from 7 August 2003 – 13 March 2005 in the role of Oz – short for Ozzy Osbourne (formerly Meatloaf in London) The production also starred Michael Falzon as Galileo, Kate Maree Hoolihan as Scaramouche, and Jason Chong– (later Daniel Fletcher) as Brit.

For her portrayal of Oz, Harrison was awarded the 2004 Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

In 2005 Harrison appeared in Leader of the Pack – The Ellie Greenwich Musical playing Ellie Greenwich, an inspirational songwriter of the 1960s.

Her performance was nominated for both Helpmann and Green Room Awards.

Harrison performed her own cabaret "The Story Goes On" at Statement Lounge Bar, in Sydney from 13 July 2006 to 15 July 2006 describing the show as "'... a little tongue-in-cheek, piss-take of my life,' Harrison says. 'When I was looking at my life trying to make something for this show I [realised] I've done some really cool things, but in essence I'm still a really big dag.'"

With Wicked castmate Lucy Durack, she sang the Australian national anthem Advance Australia Fair at the opening of the AFL Grand Final.

Taking over the role from Sophie Katinis, Harrison played Ellen in Miss Saigon for the Brisbane and Sydney seasons in 2007.

This production featured David Harris as Chris and Laurie Cadevida as Kim.

In 2008, Harrison originated the role of Elphaba in the Australian production of Wicked which opened in Melbourne at the Regent Theatre.

Harrison performed the song "One Short Day" with fellow Wicked cast members at the 2008 Melbourne Myer Windows display to kick off the Christmas Parade.

On 24 December, Harrison and Durack sang at Vision Australia's Annual Carols by Candlelight Concert at the Sydney Meyer Music Bowl.

Harrison took a leave of absence from the show in November 2009 citing health and family reasons, with the intention of returning in 2010, however by February the leave would be permanent.

For playing the role, Harrison was nominated for Green Room, Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

Harrison appeared as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes for The Production Company.

She starred alongside Todd McKenney (Lord Evelyn Oakleigh), Wayne Scott Kermond (Moonface Martin), Christie Whelan (Erma) and Alex Rathgeber (Billy Crocker).

On 20 January 2009, Harrison performed at Carnegie Hall as part of Australia Week in "Australia Plays Broadway", where she sang "The Wizard and I" from Wicked, "Arthur's Theme" from The Boy From Oz and "I Still Call Australia Home" alongside Olivia Newton-John, Simon Burke and David Campbell.

For the 2010 Rob Guest Endowment Concert, held on 4 October Harrison sang The Story Goes On.

Anything Goes ran from 20 – 24 July 2011 at the State Theatre in The Arts Centre, Melbourne, Victoria.

In conjunction with Sharon Millerchip and Caroline O’Connor, Harrison performed a tribute to JC Williamson Award winners Nancye Hayes AM, Toni Lamond AM and Jill Perryman AM MBE at the 2011 Helpmann Awards.

On 13 February 2011 at the Seymour Centre in Sydney and then on 28 August at the National Theatre in Melbourne, Harrison performed for Hats Off! an annual fundraising concert presented by Oz Showbiz Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (OSCEFA), then in its 12th year.

Martin Crewes performed with Harrison at QPAC Spirit of Christmas on 9–10 December 2011.

Harrison performed as a guest at We Will Rock You castmate Michael Falzon's cabaret "Michael Falzon—Plugged In!"

Harrison originated the role of Paula Pokrifki in the World Premiere of An Officer and a Gentleman at the Sydney Lyric Theatre which ran for six weeks in 2012.

Harrison was cast opposite Ben Mingay as Zack May, in a production that included Alex Rathgeber, Kate Kendall, Bert Labonte, Bartholomew John and Tara Morice.

Despite its short run (18 May 2012 to 1 July 2012) An Officer and A Gentleman was nominated for five Helpmann Awards and five Theatre People Pro Choice Awards including Best Female Actor in a Musical and Best Actress nominations for Harrison.

Harrison also performed at the 2012 concert in Sydney on 13 February.

Hats Off raises money to support Australians living with HIV.

Amanda Harrison is an Australian actress and singer, known for her roles in Wicked (Elphaba), We Will Rock You ("Meat" understudy in the UK, and “Oz" understudy in Australia), and for originating the role of Paula Pokrifki in the world premiere of An Officer and a Gentleman. She has performed in cabaret several times, including her current production Up Close and Reasonably Personal which she is expected to perform at Melbourne Cabaret Festival in June 2014 and recently David Harris, Michael Ball, Lea Salonga and Marie Zamora for Enda Markey Presents Do You Hear The People Sing at Shanghai Grand Theatre. She voiced characters for Get Ace an animation series released in January 2014. She appeared with Mig Ayesa, Michael Falzon and Carly Thomas-Smith for three performances of The Music of Queen - Rock and Symphonic Spectacular.

The concert series began on 7 February 2014, at Sydney Opera House supported by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra before three performances in Perth, Western Australia (Joondalup Resort, Riverside Theatre and Boardwalk Theatre) between 13–15 February.

Harrison grew up in Bangor and attended Menai High School in Sydney's Sutherland Shire.

Harrison stepped in to sing the role of Anita in The Production Company's 2015 West Side Story, when actor Deone Zanotto suddenly came down with laryngitis.

Anita's spoken dialogue was provided by assistant director Natalie Gilhome, while Zanotto continued to provide the physical performance.