Melissa Madden Gray

Melissa Madden Gray, stage name Meow Meow, is an Australian-born actress, dancer and cabaret performer who tours internationally. Gray has been particularly active in the UK where she appeared in La Clique at the Roundhouse and created the rôle of the Maîtresse in the West End musical adaptation of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Gielgud Theatre.[1][2] In 2010 Meow Meow was awarded the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize.[3] In January 2011 she premiered "Meow Meow in Concert" for three nights at the Apollo Theatre on London's West End. She was named Best Cabaret Performer at the 2012 Helpmann Awards for her show, Little Match Girl.[4] She debuted "An Audience with Meow Meow" at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California as part of their Fall 2014 season.[5]

Meow Meow (Melissa Madden Gray) at the Spiegeltent, Manchester, as part of the Queer Up North Festival, 2010

Training

As an undergraduate, Gray studied at the University of Melbourne where she was a resident student at Trinity College.[6] She took the degrees of Bachelor Laws and Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and German (with honours).[2][7]

Gray is also a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts,[8] and has been a soloist with the Young Dancers Theatre (Victoria).[8]

Style

Gray performs a style of cabaret that has been called "kamizake cabaret." She may stagger onto the stage, appear later than scheduled, experience wardrobe malfunctions, shout unexpected things, and interact with audience members. However, "... this is a polished presentation of the spectacle of failure – a ruse that underlines the necessary collaboration between performer and audience, and creates a shabby frame within which Meow Meow's exquisite voice can shine all the brighter," as written in a 2018 Guardian article.[9]

Reviews

References
  1. "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: Cast Biography – Meow Meow". umbrellasofcherbourg.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  2. Scott-Norman, Fiona (2011). "What's new, pussycat". The Australian. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  3. "Edinburgh International Fringe Prize: Meow Meow". Edinburgh International Fringe. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  4. "Letters and Emails", Trinity Today, no. 79 (November 2012): 26.
  5. "Meow Meow in Concert". Time Out London. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  6. "Alumni News", Trinity Today, no. 82 (November 2014): 31.
  7. "Melissa Madden-Gray".
  8. Löhr, Heidrun (October–November 2001). "Woman on the verge". RealTime Arts (45). Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  9. Walters, Ben (15 May 2014). "Meow Meow: cat on a hot tin roof". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
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