I’m an Australian actor telling stories with versatility, a big heart and a playful spirit.
Photograph: Jessie Lu
// Download
// Introduction
Hi!I’m André — a theatrically trained actor with a love of great stories and vibrant characters. I graduated from the VCA School of Drama in 2005 and since then have appeared on stage, film and television in Australia and overseas. Until very recently I featured as Zazu in the International Tour of Disney’s The Lion King, and was seen on stages all across Oceania and Asia, from New Zealand to the Philippines to South Korea and Abu Dhabi.
Closer to home, I’ve worked for Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre, and a lot in the independent sector — from La Mama to BSharp to Griffin Stablemates. Voice work includes ABCTV documentary Revealing Gallipoli and online monodrama The Empty Cage.
I love theatre. I love good stories. And I love connecting with people.
My sense of adventure and thirst to develop my skills led me to Paris, France where I trained for two years with master theatre teacher Philippe Gaulier.
When I’m not at the beach or playing piano, I like to teach myself something new, read a decent book, build websites (argh!), cook or watch top-notch films and TV. I’m never too far away from a wintry mulled wine or an excellent coffee or a dinner party with dear friends. And I’m forever searching for the perfect lemon meringue pie.
I am very proud to be a founding board member of The Melanie Jewson Foundation. I also serve as the foundation’s Marketing & Fundraising Manager. A small but mighty charity, the MJF was launched in 2012 in memory of my beautiful sister Mel and is dedicated to advancing health and education in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu.
Photograph: Lachlan Woods
// Summary
Victorian College of the Arts
2003 — 2005
The Lion King
2013 — 2022
Ecole Philippe Gaulier
2010 — 2012
Freelance Actor
2005 — present
// Recent
Disney’s The Lion King
Sydney // Brisbane // Melbourne // Perth // Manila // Singapore // Daegu // Seoul // Busan // Taipei // Bangkok // Hong Kong // Auckland // Abu Dhabi
What a fussbudget.
Part Basil Fawlty, part Niles from The Nanny, Zazu’s pomposity, acerbic wit and high status clowning are a favourite with audiences around the world.
The audience experiences the character both through the intricate puppetry and the physical presence of the actor, exemplifying what director Julie Taymor calls the “double event”.
I understudied Zazu on the Australian tour of the show, and have made the role my own since premiering in the 20th Anniversary Production and first International Tour in Manila, Philippines in May 2018.
Photograph: Zhang Kaihua
// Recent
Disney’s The Lion King
Sydney // Brisbane // Melbourne // Perth // Manila // Singapore // Daegu // Seoul // Busan // Taipei // Bangkok // Hong Kong // Auckland // Abu Dhabi
What a fussbudget.
Part Basil Fawlty, part Niles from The Nanny, Zazu’s pomposity, acerbic wit and high status clowning are a favourite with audiences around the world.
The audience experiences the character both through the intricate puppetry and the physical presence of the actor, exemplifying what director Julie Taymor calls the “double event”.
I understudied Zazu on the Australian tour of the show, and have made the role my own since premiering in the 20th Anniversary Production and first International Tour in Manila, Philippines in May 2018.
Photograph: Zhang Kaihua
// Recent
“I’m changing, I know. I’m changing into whatever I’m going to be without you.
“I don’t want to.”
MOUNTAIN // JUNE 2022
Mountain is the story of a man in pieces. This new solo work follows a bereft young man, set adrift following the death of a loved one.
Writer/director Kit Brookman and I developed this quirky, poetic play across continents before and during the global pandemic. We premiered at Geelong Arts Centre in June 2022 to capacity audiences and reached an interstate and international viewership through Australian Digital Concert Hall’s online broadcast program.
Shifting perspectives from the deeply personal to the epic, Mountain is a determined search for hope amidst utter devastation. It is a hymn to the transformative power of grief; to the wonder of the unknown.
Co-produced by Sweet Reason, Performing Lines, Geelong Arts Centre, The Art House Wyong and Goulburn Performing Arts Centre, Mountain is currently available for national touring through Performing Lines.
“With whip-smart writing and a solid directorial hand from Kit Brookman and a carefully nuanced performance from André Jewson, Geelong Arts Centre has showcased an exemplary piece of work in Mountain.”
ROHAN SHEARN, AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW
Photographs: Sarah Walker
// Reviews
// Upcoming
An immersive, multi-generational epic, Wild Rice Singapore’s Hotel explores the notions of empire, nationhood, migration and identity against the backdrop of a shrinking world.
HOTEL // JUNE 2023
// Reels
Voice Actor
Screen Actor
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// Highlights
Le Vide 2019
Le Vide 2019
Sydney Fringe Festival
Steps & Holes Theatre Co. // directed by Kate Walder
Le Vide or “the empty’“ is an exploration of the space that opens up after a sudden, unexpected force hits our lives. What happens when we’re knocked off our feet and there is nothing to hold onto? Must we admit our vulnerability, our fragility and become the tragic hero of our story? Do we enter the darkness in search of the shadow, so that we can rescue ourselves and eventually find the light?
Explored through the poetry of T S Eliot, Ted Hughes and classical archetypes, Le Vide is a journey into the dark, chaotic and beautiful world of the unknown.
Photographs: Emily Elise
Thérèse Raquin 2017
Thérèse Raquin 2017
National Tour
Critical Stages // directed by Gary Abrahams // role of Camille
Thérèse lives a life of servitude, married to her sickly cousin in a loveless, arranged marriage. But her melancholy is marred by the arrival of Laurent, her husband’s friend, with whom she begins a passionate, feverish affair.
A remount of a critically acclaimed independent production that was nominated for six Green Room Awards across categories of design, direction and performance.
Photographs: Jeff Busby
As Told By The Boys Who Fed Me Apples 2017
As Told By The Boys Who Fed Me Apples 2017
Return Melbourne Season
La Mama // directed by Greg Carroll // role of Major/Vet/Private
“The performance in the extremely demanding role played by André Jewson (Soldier) was nothing short of an astonishing tour de force. Jewson’s versatility is exquisitely demonstrated in the range of emotions he displayed and the physical feats he performed.” – Stage Whispers
This unique, poetic piece of theatre captures the brutality of war and the heroism of the soldiers and horses who served.
Photographs: Matthew Myers
The Lion King 2013 – 2016
The Lion King 2013 – 2016
Australian National Tour
Disney Australia // directed by Julie Taymor // role of Ed, understudy Scar & Zazu
The Lion King continues ascendant as one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. Based on Disney’s 1994 animated feature film and winner of six Tony Awards®, The Lion King’s archetypal coming-of-age tale of hope and redemption is a favourite the world over.
Having played over 100 cities in 20 countries on every continent except Antarctica, The Lion King’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.
Backstage photograph: Michael O’Donnell // Production photograph: Deen van Meer ©Disney
Heaven 2013
Heaven 2013
Premiere Melbourne Season
La Mama // directed by Kit Brookman // role of Max
I feel kind of okay – I actually feel like I should be more fucked up about it than I am, y’know?
When Angela Farnsworth is run over by a bakery van and killed after walking home from school one day, the world starts to look very different to Max. Death seems just around the corner, and whatever it is that comes after becomes a terrifying mystery.
So, despite the scepticism of his friends, Max decides to ask the only person he knows who might be able to shed some light on the whole mystery of the universe.
Summoning the dead can have unforeseen consequences.
A bittersweet comedy about death, growing up, and the perils of becoming an amateur medium.
Photographs: Margaret Swan