Rhonda Burchmore

Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore (born 15 May 1960) is an Australian entertainer.

Born in Sydney, Rhonda has been performing since age 2, trained in singing, acting and dancing and was awarded a scholarship to the University of New England where she majored in Theatre Arts.

Burchmore gave her first major Australian breakthrough performance in the 1988 production of "Sugar Babies", opposite Garry McDonald and Broadway theatre performer Eddie Bracken. Later that year, she reprised her role opposite Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller in London’s West End theatre production. Whilst in the U.K she also starred in the revival of "Stop The World - I Want To Get Off".

After a string of further stage performances, playwright David Atkins wrote a role especially for Burchmore in his tap dancing musical, "Hot Shoe Shuffle". Then in 1997, she gave the Crown Casino in Melbourne its opening performance with her very own cabaret spectacular, "Red Hot & Rhonda", playing to an audience of over 60,000. The year proved to be big for Burchmore, she also secured a role on Broadway in the Irving Berlin classic, "Easter Parade", and later appeared in another show, Stephen Sondheim’s "Into The Woods".

After arriving back in Australia in 1998, Burchmore got straight to work on her first album, self titled "Rhonda Burchmore". To date, she has released a total of 4 albums; "Midnight Rendezvous", "Live At The Melbourne Concert Hall", and "Pure Imagination". She was also a regular guest on the long-running Australian variety show "Hey, Hey It's Saturday".

In 1999, Burchmore secured the lead role in The Production Company’s first show, "Mame". She would later receive the blessing of the show’s composer-lyricist Jerry Herman, who commented that of all his shows, Mame is the most difficult character to cast. Fittingly, Herman was inspired to write the character after seeing his first Broadway show as a child, "Annie Get Your Gun", starring Ethel Merman. This was a show that, years later, Burchmore would also perform to rave reviews in Australia.

Further roles would follow, including Adelaide in an Australian revival of "Guys & Dolls", Tanya in the famously successful "Mamma Mia", "Urinetown The Musical", "Tom Foolery", "Respect: A Musical Journey of Women", and her own productions; "Rhonda Burchmore Sings ‘n Swings, My Funny Valentines" and "Fever".

Other Australian stage credits include "Song and Dance", "They're Playing Our Song" - as one of the alter egos, and Diana in "Lend Me a Tenor". With the Victorian Opera Rhonda won critical acclaim for her performances as Queen of the Fairies in "Iolanthe", Prince Orlofsky in "Die Fledermaus" with Joan Carden, "Ruddigore", and "An Evening with Sondheim".

In 2008, Burchmore returned to the role she made so popular when The Production Company launched in 1999, receiving more glowing reviews and even a standing ovation for her portrayal of the title character in "Mame".

Rhonda Burchmore and her husband have one daughter, Lexie. [http://www.rhondaburchmore.com/index.html]

Trivia

During her appearance on the Spicks And Specks Christmas special aired in Australia 16th December 2007, Rhonda revealed that in her youth she cut off one of her toes on a toilet bowl she broke while dancing to the song Cocain, although it was later reattached.

External links

[http://www.rhondaburchmore.com/index.html Official Website]
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