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Elise Lamb
Australian actress, writer, dancer and director From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Rebecca Elise Lamb, known professionally as Elise Lamb, is an Australian actress, dancer, stunt performer, writer, director, and producer of theatre and film. Lamb is a graduate of the prestigious Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is known for her extensive stage work including her portrayal of Zelda Fitzgerald in the Australian premiere of William Luce's play The Last Flapper. As a writer, she has been Long-Listed twice for the Australian Writers' Guild Monte Miller Award with her screenplays The Australian Girl and Rocking Out.[1] As a writer/director her short film The Wilted Rose had its world premiere screening in competition at the Brisbane International Film Festival[2] where it won Best Brisbane Short Film and was a 2024 contender for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award (AACTA) for Best Short Film.[3]
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Early life and education
Lamb was born and raised in Brisbane, Australia.[4] She studied classical ballet through the Royal Academy of Dance from the age of three and studied musical theatre at the Australian Dance Performance Institute. When Lamb was 15 years old she was chosen to dance for Australian vocal artist Vanessa Amorosi and girl group Bardot at the Opening Gala of the 2001 Goodwill Games. She graduated from Canterbury College in 2003 where she studied drama and music and performed in the school's production of Guys and Dolls.[5]
Lamb studied acting in Los Angeles at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She then trained as an actor at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney before going on to study Classical Acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[6] In 2016, Lamb graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with a Master's Degree in Advanced Theatre Practice.[7]
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Career
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Acting
Lamb began her professional career in 2003 at the age of 17 when she was employed as a cast member at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia. There she spent her first 5 years out of high school portraying numerous roles including DC Comics hero Batgirl and supervillain Catwoman, The Justice League 's Hawkgirl, Shrek 's Princess Fiona, Scooby-Doo 's Daphne Blake and was a dancer in the Looney Tunes Musical Review.[6] She was the youngest performer to present the Movie Magic Special Effects Show and was a member of its closing cast in 2005. She also performed in the Police Academy Stunt Show and was an original cast member of the Scooby-Doo Disco Detectives.
In 2006, she made her theatre debut playing Vibrata in Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum directed by Tony Alcock.
In 2007, Lamb danced with The Australian Ballet for their Brisbane season of Don Quixote at QPAC and performed in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel at the Twelfth Night Theatre.
In 2008, Lamb relocated to Osaka, Japan for 2 years to work for Universal Studios Japan as an actor, dancer and stunt performer. There she reprised her role as Princess Fiona, impersonated Marilyn Monroe, originated the role of Cinderella in the Magical Starlight Parade (IAAPA Big E Award "Best Overall Production"), danced as a Rockette in the annual Christmas Parade and performed the roles of Wendy and Jane in the Thea (Themed Entertainment Association) Award-winning Peter Pan's Neverland. She was also a Show Captain and assisted with the choreography and character creation of Cinderella and Fairy Godmother in the Magical Starlight Parade. [6]
After completing her training at NIDA in 2012, Lamb appeared in numerous independent Australian films including The Pale Moonlight opposite Matt Boesenberg and Blown for Tropfest which she also wrote, directed and produced. She also appeared as Juliet in the Romeo and Juliet live marketing campaign performances for the Queensland Theatre Company.
In 2014, she starred as Zelda Fitzgerald and produced the Australian premiere of William Luce's one-woman play The Last Flapper at Brisbane Arts Theatre. AussieTheatre praised her performance "The Last Flapper offers Lamb an opportunity to showcase her talents as actor, singer and dancer. She fitted the role of Zelda Fitzgerald well, as she sang and twirled about using every inch of the stage, her delivery superb". [4][8]
In 2015, Lamb played Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew for Phoenix Ensemble[9] and reprised her role as Zelda Fitzgerald in The Last Flapper for Brisbane Fringe Festival.[10] In December 2015, she was awarded the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Award, a professional development grant for emerging Australian artists which allowed her to study at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.[11]
After graduating from Central in 2016, Lamb secured small roles in The Crown and feature films Stan and Ollie and All the Money in the World. She was also featured in a Commercial for Cadbury with fellow Australian Jesinta Franklin. Lamb performed in new writing at Off West End theatres Arcola Theatre, Theatre N16, Pleasance Theatre, The Vaults, Leicester Square Theatre and Battersea Arts Centre. She played WWI Correspondent Louise Mack in her debut play The Australian Girl and Australian Suffragette Muriel Matters in her short play "Deeds, Not Words".
In 2022, she played Lee in Marvin's Room by Scott McPherson at Ad Astra Theatre Company.[12] Reviewers described Lamb's performance as "a standout" and "a perfect casting choice".[13]
Directing
Lamb directed her debut short film Blown for Tropfest in 2012.
Lamb was a trainee director at the Brisbane Arts Theatre from 2014 to 2015. She had her theatre directorial debut with their 2015 season opener The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)[6][14][15][16][17] and was the assistant director/co-director for their 1000th production Noises Off. In 2015, she also directed Elvis Is Dead by Canadian playwright James Hutchison for the Short & Sweet Theatre Festival at The Arts Centre Gold Coast.[18] Lamb was a member of the Young Vic Directors Program (2016-2018) where she participated in Research & Development for Maria Aberg’s The Winter's Tale and Jeff James’ The Master Builder.
Lamb's 2019 Griffith Film School Thesis Film Method In Madness which she wrote, directed and produced, stars Ted Lasso's Cristo Fernández as Hamlet and was a Finalist in Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare Shorts and Won "Best Director" and "Best Cinematography" at the Paris International Film Awards.
Her short film Skin & Blister was nominated for Best Queensland Film at the WIFT (Women in Film & Television) V-Fest and screened at the Melbourne Women in Film Festival. Lamb has also shot two short films a director/cinematographer, Op Shop which was nominated for Best Short Film at the Bendigo Queer Film Festival and screened at ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival and A Message which opened for Event Horizon at Monster Fest.
In 2023, Lamb directed and was dramaturge for a new original stage play Bloom Girl at the Thomas Dixon Centre. The play was described as "Fleabag meets the digital world" with Lamb's direction being praised as masterful [19] and iconic.[20]
Lamb was made a Full Member of the Australian Directors Guild in 2023. She was endorsed by Queensland Chapter Head Mairi Cameron and the approval board included Daina Reid.
Lamb wrote, directed and produced The Wilted Rose, a social impact short film made in partnership with not-for-profit organisation The Centre For Women & Co. to raise awareness for domestic violence. The film had its world premiere screening in competition at the Brisbane International Film Festival where it won Best Brisbane Short Film and was a 2024 contender for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award (AACTA) for Best Short Film. The film was acquired by SBS Australia and premiered on SBS On Demand on November 1st, 2024.
Writing
In 2012, Lamb wrote her debut short film Blown for Tropfest and See You Soon.
Whilst a student at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Lamb began writing her debut play The Australian Girl, inspired by the life of Louise Mack, the first female war correspondent during World War I. Central funded research and development in Belgium for the play and the first draft was presented in a semi-staged reading at LOST Theatre in London during the summer of 2016. In 2017, The Australian Girl received further support from the Old Vic New Voices and a full length version of the play premiered Off West End at Theatre N16 as part of their Military Season Aftershock. Her short play A Dance Of Two Sisters about two sisters during World War II was presented at the Pleasance Theatre. In 2018, her second short play Deeds, Not Words about Australian Suffragette Muriel Matters was also presented at the Pleasance Theatre to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Vote for Women. Lamb was a member of the National Theatre's Writers Group (2018) and was an Associate Artist of Theatre 1880 (2016-2018).
In 2020, Lamb began adapting her stage play The Australian Girl for screen. The short Proof of Concept script was nominated for the Australian Writers' Guild Monte Miller Award, won "Best Short Screenplay" and the "Grand Jury Prize" at the Female Voices Rock Film Festival in New York, was runner-up "Best Unproduced Short Screenplay" at the Oscar-qualifying Raindance Film Festival and was also a semi-finalist at the Austin Film Festival. In 2022, she was awarded the inaugural Raindance Screenwriting Fellowship to develop the script into a long-form project.
Lamb received her second Australian Writers' Guild Monte Miller Award nomination in 2023 with her pilot script for her semi-biographical TV Series Rocking Out.[21] The script was also long-listed for the Stan. and Screen Queensland Premium Drama Development Fund.
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Personal life
There was already a Rebecca Lamb registered with Spotlight and Equity, as a result Lamb changed her name professionally to "Elise Lamb". She was previously credited as "Rebecca Elise Lamb".[22]
Although born in Australia, Lamb has Scottish, Irish, English and French ancestry.
Filmography
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Theatre
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Awards and nominations
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References
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