Chelsea Annie Needham

Chelsea is an engaging and accomplished artist who has received two CAT Awards (Canberra Area Theatre) in 2006 and 2010 - both for Best Actress in a Musical or Play. She is particularly proud of the most recent acting awards for her leading roles as Lyubov Ranevskaya in 'The Cherry Orchard, John Wilkes Booth in musical 'Assassins' and Elizabeth Proctor in 'The Crucible' as well as the success of her directing debut on an adaptation of Tennessee William's 'A Streetcar Named Desire' set within Operation Slipper (ADF) Kandahar - War on Afghanistan, 2007. Chelsea has just finished studying at Actors Centre Australia, graduating with the company of 2017 with an Advanced Diploma in Performance (Acting). She has, in the past, appeared in productions over a number of years and has attended many acting courses at NIDA, ACA and with private tutoring with well known names such as Lyn Pierse (Previous HOD Shakespeare NIDA), Andrew Lloyde (Previous Head of Acting WAAPA, HOD Full-time Course at ACA), Gale Edwards (Director), Adam Cook (Director), Dean Carey (Previous head of NIDA) Head of ACA), Anthony Skuse (Director), Briony Dunn (Director), Sarah Giles (Director), Elissa Down (Film Director) and Simon Hunt (HOD Acting RADA). During her time at Actors Centre Australia, she was delighted when asked to step into the role of assistant director, musical director/arranger, vocal coach, production manager and 1st AD by many different artists she met during her training (see credits). At this time, she also directed her first Cabaret show. Chelsea is also experienced in theatre training from her continuous involvement as Assistant Director (AD) for Child Players ACT from 2007 - 2010. Many of these students have gone on to win CAT awards for Best Youth Actress/Actor. On the musical side, Chelsea performs, composes (contemporary, jazz and film soundtracks), arranges and teaches. Whilst originally trained in classical voice, Chelsea is an accomplished jazz vocalist, pianist and trumpet player, holding a Bachelor of Music: Jazz Performance (Vocals & Trumpet) with Distinction (UNSW). While playing acoustic gigs around Sydney, Chelsea has a deep love for performing in cabarets, burlesques and musical theatre. Due to her theatre background, she is also widely hired by theatre companies to teach other performers (actors, dancers etc.) how to sing or vocalize. Chelsea is a believer in consistent training, even as a professional, therefore, currently she is focusing her studies in jazz vocals, piano and trumpet with renown Sydney jazz musicians Virna Sanzone, Adrian Klumpes and Simon Ferenci, respectively. Chelsea has also been dancing since she was a child. She is trained in tap, contemporary, commercial jazz, burlesque, JFH and urban hip-hop and still trains weekly with Tap Dogs. Chelsea also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) UNSW.