Leading Man Takes A Shot With Assassins

Media Alert: 28th June 2010
For Immediate Release

Australian Musical Theatre’s Leading Man Takes A Shot With Assassins

Silo Theatre is delighted to announce a casting coup for their forthcoming production of ASSASSINS – they’ve managed to convince one of Australia’s most versatile and respected actors – Mitchell Butel - to join their subversive chorus line of lunatics.

Fresh from his success in the Australasian tour of the hit Broadway musical AVENUE Q, where he played the leading roles of Princeton and Rod, Mitchell has squeezed Sondheim’s masterpiece into his busy 2010 schedule – which has also seen him perform his solo show Killing Time at the 2010 Adelaide Cabaret Festival and will see him detonate The Grenade for Sydney Theatre Company later in the year. He’ll lead the cast as John Wilkes Booth, the man accused of assassinating Abraham Lincoln.

Described by the Sydney Morning Herald as “deeply charismatic, smoothly sanguine and one of the finest voices you'll ever hear”, Butel has appeared in over 30 stage productions (including two previous cabaret shows, Mitchell Butel’s Excellent Adventure and And Now For The Weather), numerous television appearances and has shared the stage with the likes of Toni Collette, Magda Szubanski, Bernadette Peters, Caroline O’Connor, David Wenham, Marcus Graham, Garry McDonald, Jacki Weaver and Lisa McCune.

His many awards and nominations include:

2009 Green Room Nomination Best Actor: Musical AVENUE Q
2008 Helpmann Award Nomination Best Actor: Musical LITTLE ME
2006 Helpmann Award Nomination Best Supporting Actor: Musical THE REPUBLIC OF MYOPIA
2006 Green Room Award Best Featured Actor: Musical OKLAHOMA
2005 Helpmann Award Winner Best Actor: Musical THE VENETIAN TWINS
2005 Mo Award Nomination Best Supporting Actor THE REPUBLIC OF MYOPIA
2004 Helpmann Award Nomination Best Supporting Actor: Musical SUMMER RAIN
2003 AFI Award Nomination Best Supporting Actor: Feature Film GETTIN SQUARE
2003 Green Room Award Best Featured Actor: Musical HAIR
2003 Mo Award Nomination Best Supporting Actor HAIR
2000 Green Room Award Winner Best Featured Actor: Musical PIAF
1999 AFI Award Nomination Best Supporting Actor: Feature Film STRANGE FITS OF PASSION

Alongside the musical theatre work on his resume, Mitchell has worked for all of the major theatre companies in Australia, performing in everything from Arthur Miller to boulevard comedy – and on the small screen in MDA, All Saints and Wildside amongst others. He is also the voice of the Play School theme song!

Butel will join a cast which includes Bronwyn Bradley (Go Girls) Cameron Rhodes (Loot; The Importance of Being Earnest), Andrew Grainger (Le Sud; That Face; The Cult), Roy Snow (The Threepenny Opera) and newcomers Kyle Chuen, Cameron Douglas, Natalie Medlock and Gareth Williams. Theatrical icon Oliver Driver directs the production which will see the Auckland Town Hall’s Concert Chamber transformed into an anarchic carnivale – complete with cabaret seating. ASSASSINS is an utterly original entertainment which is not to be missed.

ASSASSINS plays July 24th – 14th August 2010 at the Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall, THE EDGE
Tickets: $25 - $55 (booking fees apply)
Bookings through THE EDGE: 09 357 3355 or www.buytickets.co.nz

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