Nancye Hayes

Nancye Hayes
Born Nancye Lee Hayes
1943 (age 72–73)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Citizenship Australian
Occupation
  • Actress
  • Dancer
  • Singer
  • Director/choreographer
Years active 1962–present
Spouse(s) Bob Bertles

Nancye Lee Hayes AM (born 1943) is an Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director. She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre since the 1960s.

Early life

Hayes grew up in Manly in Sydney. She was an only child.[1] At the age of seven, she had an operation to remove a growth in her hip joint, and the recovery included strapping her leg with irons. After her father died in a car crash when Hayes was eleven, her mother became a barmaid at the old Pacific Hotel in Manly.[2]

She began dancing lessons at age nine at Hazel and Violet Meldrum's studio. Hazel had been a choreographer for the leading Australian theatrical firm J.C. Williamson's.[3]

Career

Aged 18, she left a job in a Sydney office to join the chorus of the Australian production of My Fair Lady.[4] From 1963 she understudied or played small roles in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Hello, Dolly! and The Boys from Syracuse for J.C. Williamson’s. She also performed in Kiss Me, Kate, Brigadoon, Annie Get Your Gun and Little Me at Menzies Theatre Restaurant in Sydney.[5]

In 1967, Hayes received wide notice playing the title role in the original Australian cast of Sweet Charity.

Over the next thirty years, she performed leading roles in Australian casts of many musicals including Fastrada in Pippin (1974), Lily St. Regis in Annie (1978-1979), Roxie Hart in Chicago (1981-1982), Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (1986-1987), Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1987), Liliane La Fleur in Nine (1987-1988) and Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street (1989-1993). She later played supporting roles including Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! (The Production Company, 2005), Mrs Higgins in My Fair Lady (Opera Australia, 2008), Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music (Opera Australia, 2009) and Edith Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens (The Production Company, 2011).[6]

Since the 1980s Hayes has also appeared in many Australian-written musicals. These include Songs from Sideshow Alley (Classic Corporation, 1980), Variations (Nimrod Theatre, 1982), Summer Rain (Sydney Theatre Company, 1989), Jonah Jones (State Theatre Company of South Australia, 1991), Eureka! (Essgee, 2004) and Metro Street (STCSA, 2009). She appeared in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television special on Australian musicals Once In A Blue Moon and its soundtrack recording.

Her drama credits for Australia's major theatre companies and commercial producers include Born Yesterday, Danton's Death, Same Time, Next Year, Going Home, Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi, The Glass Menagerie, Steel Magnolias, Stepping Out, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Her cabaret show, Nancye with an E, toured Australia in 1992. In 2006, she performed with Todd McKenney in his first non-musical role in the Ensemble Theatre's production of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks at the Playhouse Theatre in the Sydney Opera House.[7] It became the theatre's most successful play ever, and the pair re-united ten years later for another season along with Sandra Bates in her final directorial role.[8][9]

Todd McKenney (kneeling) and Nancye Hayes (standing) while dancing in a performance of the play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
Todd McKenney (red rose in mouth) and Nancye Hayes dancing the tango in a performance of the play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
Todd McKenney and Nancye Hayes in a ballroom dancing pose while dancing in a performance of the play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
Todd McKenney with his arm over Nancye Hayes's shoulder as she takes a telephone call during a performance of the play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
Hayes and McKenney performing together in the 2016 Ensemble Theatre production of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (Photos by Clare Hawley, taken at the Concourse Theatre, Chatswood)

Hayes' film and television credits include The Last Bastion, Home and Away and The Dismissal.[10]

Awards and honours

Hayes has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from Live Performance Australia (JC Williamson Award), the Variety Club, the Green Room Awards Association and the Sydney Theatre Awards.

She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 26 January 2014 "for significant service to the performing arts, particularly musical theatre, as an actor, choreographer and director".[11] She had been previously granted a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on 8 June 1981 "for service to the performing arts".[12][13]

The Hayes Theatre in Potts Point, Sydney which has a focus on small-scale musical theatre and cabaret is named after her.[14]

Personal life

Hayes is married to jazz musician Bob Bertles, who she met when he played in the band of Chicago, in which she starred.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Their most memorable Christmas.". The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982). 1933 - 1982: National Library of Australia. 31 December 1969. p. 14. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "A Lady Named Nancye.". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 June 1989. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "THE GREAT TAP DANCE REVIVAL.". The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982). 1933 - 1982: National Library of Australia. 15 July 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "Taking a gamble on Nancye.". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 January 1967. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Nancye Hayes OAM 1943 - Live Performance Australia Hall of Fame http://liveperformance.com.au/halloffame/nancyehayes.html
  6. ↑ https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/1002
  7. ↑ Hallett, Bruce (13 February 2006). "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Hook, Chris (3 February 2016). "Ten years later, McKenney and Hayes bring Six Dance Lessons play back for another spin on stage". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  9. ↑ Huntsdale, Justin (17 February 2016). "Theatre legends Todd McKenney and Nancye Hayes unite for heart-warming play". ABC News. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  10. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0371165/
  11. ↑ https://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1148908&search_type=quick&showInd=true
  12. ↑ https://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=870086&search_type=quick&showInd=true
  13. ↑ "THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LISTS Commonwealth.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). ACT: National Library of Australia. 13 June 1981. p. 11. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  14. ↑ http://www.hayestheatre.com.au/about-us/hayes-theatre-co.html
  15. ↑ "Nancye Hayes' favourite things.". news.com.au. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
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