Ainsley Melham Is Charming As A Prince In Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella
When Star Observer managed to snag some of Ainsley Melham’s valuable time, he was in rehearsals for an upcoming play in Adelaide, while officially on a break between Brisbane and Sydney seasons of playing Prince Topher in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella!
“We’re about to jump into our Sydney season of Cinderella, which is thrilling, we were meant to start our tour with Sydney at the end of 2021 but covid was still closing theatres, so we moved our Sydney season to the end of the tour, so we’ve been to Melbourne, Brisbane and now we’re very excited to get to Sydney finally and share Cinderella with Sydney audiences!”
When asked if creatives ever actually take a break when they are supposedly on ‘holidays’ he laughs, saying, “I mean the allure and the attraction with Cinderella as a longer tour and being able to fit another job in there, it allows me to escape creatively for a moment and be able to come back and approach Cinderella again for Sydney with a renewed energy, which I think is always important on a long-running contract.”
Melham had a taste of Broadway in 2019 when he was playing Aladdin, with another stint booked for 2020 before covid told us it had other plans and when asked if he was impatient to get back to the ‘Great White Way’ it was obvious he appreciates performing in Australia.
Melham: I Really Do Love It Here, Being In This Country
“I really do love it here, being in this country, I think it’s so wonderful and we’re so lucky to live in Australia. I think we learnt that over the last couple of years, even touring around with Cinderella and being in Adelaide and doing ‘The Normal Heart’, it’s such a beautiful country to live and work in as an arts worker.
I definitely have plans to return [to Broadway] though I wouldn’t say it’s impatience to get back. I’m excited to go back and reconnect with people but in saying that it doesn’t mean that I’m keen to get out of the Australian industry because I really do love performing here and I think we have such wonderful talent in this country as well.”
Melham’s take on Aladdin was immortalised in 2019 when he played the role for Disney’s recording of the production for their streaming platform, coming soon!
Catch him in Cinderella, Sydney Lyric Theatre from October 23
