Ainsley Melham

Ainsley Melham was born in Australia on 2 December 1991, and raised in Bathurst with his sister Nadia. He graduated from Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA),^[4] graduating in 2012. He was also educated at the NIDA Open Program, the Australasian Tap Dance Academy and La Belle School of Dance. At WAAPA, Melham performed in a range of musicals, including Ragtime, Violet, Crazy For You, A Chorus Line, Xanadu, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Into The Woods.^[5]

In January 2013, Melham joined the Australian children's musical group Hi-5 as part of a new generation, after successfully auditioning in late 2012.^[6] He starred in the documentary style cinematic release, Some Kind of Wonderful, which depicted the audition process, and appeared in three television series of Hi-5 House.^[7][8] After touring nationally and internationally for three years, Melham departed from the group in January 2016. He stated that he felt it was time to transition back into his theatre roots after "an incredible experience" with Hi-5.^[9]

In March 2016, Melham starred as Sonny Malone in an Australian musical production of Xanadu for Matthew Management and Hayes Theatre Co.^[9][10] Later in 2016, he was cast as the title role in Disney Theatrical Company's production of Aladdin in Sydney, Australia. He starred as the title character, Aladdin, and was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical.^[11] After departing from the Australian cast in late 2018, it was announced that Melham would star in the Broadway production of Aladdin from 19 February 2019 at New Amsterdam Theatre.^[12] He rejoined Michael James Scott as Genie, and Arielle Jacobs as Princess Jasmine, the trio who formed the original Australian cast.^[12]

In November 2020, Melham played the title role in Pippin at the Sydney Lyric Theatre^[13] and in 2022 he played the role of Prince Topher in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.^[14][15] Melham was cast as Dwayne in the pre-Broadway world premiere of Boop! The Musical, which began previews in November 2023 at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago.^[16][17] In July 2024, he joined the Australian production of Wicked as the Fiyero replacement in Melbourne and Brisbane while original cast member Liam Head was recovering from a knee injury.^[18][19]