ANNIE LEE
Annie was born at the foot of a lighthouse in Northern Tasmania and spent her childhood writing poetry and songs and dreaming of travelling afar. Annie Lee has been creating and performing various quality shows for twenty-five years, from the large-scale festival and street theatre works to cabarets and stage shows, including the multi-award-winning Kransky Sisters, co-created with fellow performer Christine Johnston. The Kransky Sisters make regular television appearances and tour extensively nationally and internationally. Their awards include The Melbourne Age Critics Award, the Green Room Award for Best Cabaret Ensemble, the AustralianEntertainment Mo Award for Best Comedy Group, the Bank of Scotland Herald Angel Award for the best comedy show, a Barry AwardNomination, and most recently, a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Comedy Group.
Annie’s professional theatre career began in 1986 with a residency at TN2 Theatre Company in Brisbane, Queensland. She went on to work extensively with various theatre companies, her most notable leading character roles in Dario Fo’s Elizabeth, Steven Berkoff’sDecadence and Metamorphosis for Fractal Theatre Company, and Queensland Theatre Company and Adelaide State Theatre company’s-production of Moliere’s Scapin. Other credits include Lumiere and Son’s Vulture Culture, Edith Sitwell’s Facade with Gerry Connolly, Lindsey Pollak’s Bim Bam Boo and Children’s Theatre shows, The Paw for Out Of The Box Festival and Kite Theatre’s Round The Bend. For Queensland Music Festival, Annie played Annie Baggs in Charters Towers The Musical, the character of Dodgems in Cooparoo Sk8. She was the narrator of the poetry of Don Watson in Presidentsland.
Annie is a regular performer with the popular Brisbane cabaret series Women In Voice. She is best known for her original comedy cabaret shows and 1920s/30s German compilations performed in Germany, England, Ireland, and Australia. Her co-created festival music/comedy acts include Trio Lampooni, Otto Grosso and The Akapainters. She is also the creator, producer, and director of the unique ArtsQueensland-funded festival show, The Perkin Family Freak Show and The Cleavers Family Wreckers. Other original festival creations include The Welcome Hotel, Freek Street, and the original “Disturbia No. 1 The Village Of Stanmore” performed at the Woodford FolkFestival (Queensland) 2009, Fremantle Arts Festival (Western Australia) and Rockhampton Festival (Queensland). Annie’s large-scale live installation work, Woolfzingers’ Cider Show Alley, was staged at the Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival, Tasmania, in 2016. Her most recent festival comedy creation, Bogomila and Son, a faux Bulgarian psychic duo, performed at Fremantle International Street Arts Festival 2018, Agnes Waters Music Festival, and The Big Pineapple Music Festival Queensland in 2019.
Annie has directed several productions for theatre groups, music ensembles and solo artists. Most recently, Ten Hands and Sharehouse for Queensland music ensemble Topology was staged at the Brisbane Powerhouse, Jakarta Music Festival 2013, 2014. Annie has received several Arts Queensland and Arts Australia grants for her original productions. In 2014 she was awarded an Arts Queensland grant for her Weimar Cabaret show Dangling My Tootsies, the songs and stories of Agnes Bernelle and the lost poets of Weimar. The work was staged under its new title Lighthouse Berlin. At the Cremorne Theatre Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne Cabaret Festival June 2015 and Festival of Jewish Arts and Music Melbourne 2017. Her most recent solo production, the autobiographical one-woman show, Pawn Again Christian, was staged at the Butterfly Club Melbourne in 2018.