Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank met at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, where they workshopped their first musical, Prodigal. Prodigal was produced at Chapel off Chapel in 2000, winning the Green Room Award for Best Original Score. In 2002 the show premiered off-Broadway at the York Theatre Company, the first Australian musical to be produced in New York City. The off-Broadway cast recording is available on JAY Records. Virgins: A Musical Threesome premiered at the Tower Theatre, Malthouse in 2006 and toured to the New York Music Theatre Festival later that year. Once We Lived Here premiered at fortyfivedownstairs in 2009, winning the Green Room Award for Best New Musical. The Silver Donkey, based on Sonya Hartnett’s award-winning novel is currently in development. An evening of their work, All Roads Lead to Home, was part of the 2004 Melbourne Festival. Their songs were featured in the Amy Winehouse-inspired episode of Channel Ten’s Mr & Mrs Murder.
Dean and Mathew created Britney Spears: The Cabaret for Christie Whelan-Browne which has played numerous seasons around the country to rave reviews. Dean’s other cabaret work includes Liza (on an E) and I’m Every Woman for Trevor Ashley, which have played seasons from the Sydney Opera House to the West End, Newley Discovered for Hugh Sheridan (Opera House and Festival Theatre), Experiment: Cole Porter for Alex Rathgeber, and the saucy Josie in the Bathhouse for Josie Lane (Spiegeltent). With performer Michael Griffiths, Dean created In Vogue: Songs by Madonna, which has played Australia, NZ and NYC and the upcoming Sweet Dreams: Songs by Annie Lennox.
Most recently Dean created Gaybies for the Midsumma 25th Anniversary, which played a triumphant season at the Sumner Theatre, MTC featuring Magda Szubanski, Todd McKenney, Virginia Gay, Kate Kendall, Christie Whelan-Browne, Christina O’Neill, Ben Mingay and many other favourites.
As musical director Mathew’s credits include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring Geoffrey Rush, The Drowsy Chaperone and Next to Normal (Melbourne Theatre Company) and the upcoming The Pirates of Penzance (The Production Company). He has been associate on many more, including Spelling Bee, Urinetown, The Sapphires, Poor Boy (all MTC).Dean has directed for the MTC (Next to Normal), The Production Company (Anything Goes, The Producers and upcoming The Pirates of Penzance) and OzOpera (Hansel and Gretel) and directed the Australian premiere of The Last Five Years (fortyfivedownstairs, Stables and Q Theatre). He is worldwide Associate Director on Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - the Musical (Australia, NZ, West End, Broadway, Italy, Brazil, UK tour and Sweden).
