Nancye Hayes

Background

Hayes grew up in Manly in Sydney. After her father died in a car crash when Hayes was eleven, her mother became a barmaid at the old Pacific Hotel in Manly.

Career

She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre since the 1960s. She was an only child. 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.

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"son Aged 18, she left a job in a Sydney office to join the chorus of the Australian production of My Fair Lady. and The Boys from Syracuse for J.C. Williamson’son

She also performed in Kiss Maine, Kate, Brigadoon, Annie Get Your Gun and Little Maine at Menzies Theatre Restaurant in Sydney. 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 Saint Regis in Annie (1978-1979), Roxie Hart in Chicago (1981-1982), Mission Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (1986-1987), Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1987), Liliane Louisiana 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). Since the 1980s Hayes has also appeared in many Australian-written musicals. These include Song 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, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks and The Importance of Being Earnest. Her cabaret show, Nancye with an East, toured Australia in 1992.

Hayes" film and television credits include The Last Bastion, Home and Away and The Dismissal. 1986 Green Room Award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) − Guys and Dolls.

Achievements

• 1986 Green Room Award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) − Guys and Dolls 2009 Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical − My Fair Lady 2012 Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical − Grey Gardens 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 granted a Member of the Order of Australia (Department of Administration and Management) on 26 January 2014 "for significant service to the performing arts, particularly musical theatre, as an actor, choreographer and director". She had been previously granted a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on 8 June 1981 "for service to the performing arts". The Hayes Theatre in Potts Point, Sydney which has a focus on small-scale musical theatre and cabaret is named after her.