Artists

The Wiggles have recently celebrated 27 years of entertaining millions of fans across the globe. They now have more than 385,000 social media followers and have sold over 30 million CDs & DVDs and 8 million books.  More than 70 CD and DVD releases later, The Wiggles have earned 18 x gold, 12 x platinum, 3 x double-platinum and 10 x multi-platinum awards for their music and DVD sales and have been awarded 13 x ARIA Awards for Best Children’s Album (making ARIA history as the most awarded ARIA winner in the one category, and being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame).

Since taking out the 2012 X Factor Australia win, Australia's sweetheart Samantha Jade has gone on to amass a total 81 million streams, released a single with Pitbull ('Shake That'), starred as Kylie Minogue in the Network Seven TV Miniseries 'The INXS Story' for which she was nominated for a LOGIE Award, and released her debut album NINE.  Having recently returned back to Australia, Samantha Jade recently released her spectacular 3rd studio album 'Best of My Love', a shimmering homage to the disco era, topping the ARIA charts in April and has just completed her ‘Best of My Love - Live’ national tour to sold-out audiences. Samantha’s Christmas album 'The Magic of Christmas' was released on the 2nd November 2018.

Penny McNamee is one of Australia’s most versatile actresses, forging an impressive career in all facets of the entertainment industry. Penny currently stars as Tori Morgan in HOME AND AWAY, a role which saw her nominated for a Logie Award. She returns this year for her second time performing at Carols In The Domain. 

Welcome back to the Domain - Isaiah Firebrace! In the past two years, the talented teen has transformed from a small town singer with big dreams, to one of Australia’s most successful artists.  Along the way he’s won The X Factor, was signed to Sony Music, released a debut single that charted all over the world notching up over 140 million international streams, he supported the incredible Jessica Mauboy on her Australian tour, and represented Australia in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, which amassed over 250 Million views, where he finished in the top 10. All that at just 17 years of age. 

A global icon and true original, Disney’s Mickey Mouse will be bringing his characteristic exuberance and a touch of Disney magic to Carols again this year, in celebration of his 90th anniversary. An internationally accomplished entertainer, actor and dancer, he is capable of nearly anything, charming audiences of all ages for the past 90 years. He is often busy welcoming his Guests at the Disney Parks, performing for fans, or spending time with his friends and we’re beyond excited to see his cheeky antics on the Carols stage again.

Troy Cassar-Daley has come a long way from the twelve year old boy from Grafton busking on Peel St at the Tamworth Country Music Festival -- all the way to the Domain! Throughout his thirty years of making music, Troy has been awarded numerous accolades including 4 ARIAs, 36 Golden Guitars, 2 APRA Country Song of the Year awards, 9 Deadlys (Australian Indigenous Artist Awards), 4 CMAA Entertainer of the Year awards plus 2 NIMAs. In 2017 Troy was honoured as the 50th inductee into the prestigious Australasian Roll Of Renown. With numerous gold and platinum records, Troy has achieved a staggering 31 number 1 chart singles, all of which are collected on his new compilation album Greatest Hits – along with signature album tracks and two brand new TCD originals.

These Aussie legends are joining the lineup at Woolworths Carols in the Domain for the first time! Thirsty Merc formed in Sydney in 2002 releasing their debut EP, First Work, in September 2003, before being signed to Warner Music. The bands big break came in 2004 with the release of their debut, self-titled, album which included the hits, Someday Someday and In The Summertime (the theme for Bondi Rescue since 2006).     Three more studio albums followed - Slideshows in 2007 (#4 ARIA Album) and Mousetrap Heart in 2010 (#14 on the ARIA Album chart) which included radio staples, 20 Good Reasons, Mousetrap Heart and Tommy and Krista. Their latest release, Shifting Gears, their first wholly independent and first new material in five years, was released in 2015.

Give a warm welcome to Ross Wilson - joining us in the Domain in 2018! From Daddy Cool to Mondo Rock and as a solo artist with no less than 26 ARIA Top 40 hits to his credit as a singer, songwriter and producer, Ross Wilson is one of Australia’s most awarded, respected and well-known artists!  From the legendary band Daddy Cool whose number one anthem Eagle Rock smashed all previous sales records in Australia, to the 1977 formation of Mondo Rock, delivering 80’s hits ‘Cool World’, ‘State of The Heart’, ‘Chemistry’, ‘No Time’, and ‘Come Said The Boy’ and into the 21st century as a solo performer, Wilson has never been out of the limelight. Twice inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, Wilson has written hits for Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham and Joe Cocker, and produced smash hit albums for Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, Skyhooks and Screaming Jets. Come Back Again to see an absolute solid gold legend of rock and his full band ‘The Peaceniks’ perform all his hits! 

Paulini is back in the Domain! With her incredible voice, stunning looks and engaging personality, Paulini is one of Australia’s most uniquely talented performers. The Fijian-born singer songwriter first enthralled the nation on the inaugural series of ‘Australian Idol’. Audiences instantly fell in love with Paulini’s impressive five octave range – a voice still unrivalled, and like no other in this country. Since then Paulini has forged a hugely successful career. Originally hailing from humble roots, her rise to the top has been nothing short of inspiring. Her debut album ‘One Determined Heart’ and smash single ‘Angel Eyes’ achieved double platinum status, both hitting the #1 spot. She is still one of only 10 Australian female solo artists to have a #1 album on the Australian ARIA Charts. Most recently, Paulini was announced to play the lead role of Rachel Marron in the international award-winning musical, The Bodyguard, throughout Australia. The shows commenced at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in April 2017 and will be touring all metro cities around the country until February 2018. Now back in Australia, looking and sounding more incredible than ever, Paulini is excited to be embarking on her theatrical debut and sharing her voice yet again with her fans and new audiences here in Australia and internationally. 

We are so excited to welcome the cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Woolworths Carols in the Domain  The spectacular new musical Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is coming to Australia and will be playing only in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre from 5 January 2019.  Four boys will share the role of Charlie Bucket in this delicious tale, Oliver Alkhair (11 years of age, from Panania), Tommy Blair (11, Engadine), Xion Jarvis (9, Burwood Heights) and Ryan Yeates (13, Canada Bay). Charlie lives with his mother and his four grandparents in a little wooden house near a great town, and is the final child to find a Golden Ticket.  Willy Wonka, the most amazing, fantastic, extraordinary chocolate maker the world has ever seen, will be played by Paul Slade Smith. Slade Smith is currently appearing in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center, and was part of the original Broadway cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, appearing as Grandpa George.  These plus a slew of other favourites of the stage will be taking up roles in the musical in 2019!

Singing from the age of 15, Mark Vincent has gone on to become one of Australia’s most beloved tenors, having released eight consecutive #1 ARIA Classical Crossover Albums, and having earned accolades both nationally and internationally. Vincent’s last album, A Tribute To Mario Lanza, contains the ground breaking ‘virtual duet’ of ‘Because You’re Mine’ with the Hollywood legend. The ‘duet’ made headlines and received the patronage of Mario Lanza’s daughter, Ellisa Lanza Bregman, who gave permission for the re-recoding of the ‘virtual duet’ and said, “I’m pleased to allow my father’s recoded voice to be joined on this historic recording by the exciting young tenor, Mark Vincent.” Like Lanza, Mark grew up in a family with strong Italian traditions and heritage and has always been inspired by the legendary Italian tenor. Tribute debuted at #3 on the ARIA Album Charts, and at #1 on the ARIA Classical Crossover Charts. The album went on to be the highest selling ARIA Classical Crossover album of 2017. Turning his focus to Musical Theatre, in 2014 Mark Vincent made his debut in the Australian production of Dirty Dancing, which played 130 shows around the country. In June 2016, Dame Julie Andrews, DBE cast Mark in her production of My Fair Lady, which toured nationally with Opera Australia to rave reviews. Vincent concluded a stellar 2017 with a national headline tour, followed by a sold-out tour of the UK with international soprano Katherine Jenkins, performing in iconic venues including Royal Albert Hall in London. This year has seen Mark perform in Ireland with Tommy Fleming whilst preparing his debut album The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year for the festive season. This will be Mark’s ninth album... an impressive feat for a recently turned 25-year-old. 

Jack’s back!  After more than a decade in America, Jack Jones has returned home.  Jack was still a teenager when he found fame in Southern Sons, who became one of the most loved Australian bands of the ’90s, with hits such as‘Heart In Danger’, ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’, ‘You Were There’, ‘Always And Ever’, ‘Waiting For That Train’ and ‘Lead Me To Water’. One of Australia’s most talented singers and guitarists, Jack relocated to the US after three albums with Southern Sons – 1990’s self-titled set, 1992’s Nothing But The Truth and 1996’s Zone. The ARIA-nominated Southern Sons album went double platinum, hit number five on the ARIA charts, and featured four singles – ‘Heart In Danger’, ‘Always And Ever’, ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’ and ‘The World Is Mine’.  After Southern Sons finished, Jack did an album with INXS’s Garry Gary Beers (2000’s Mudhead), and released the acclaimed solo album, The Evolution of Irwin Thomas, in 2002. Jack returned to the Top 10 in 2017 with California Dreaming, a collaboration with Rick Price.  Jack has also toured and played his own Signature Series Shabat guitar with John Farnham, Dweezil Zappa, Tina Arena, Daniel Bedingfield and Richard Marx, and has been a member of the bands Electric Mary and She Said Yes (with Bachelor Girl’s Tania Doko). 

Matt is thrilled to be a part of the incredible cast of the 2018 Woolworths Carols in the Domain! Matt Lee is a leading International dance and musical theatre personality and choreographer who has starred in television and stage productions all over the world from a young age.  Matt’s performance career so far has spanned 25 years, playing roles in such shows as RENT, Grease: The Arena Spectacular, Oh! What a Night, Miss Saigon, Hot Shoe Shuffle, The Witches of Eastwick, Hugh Jackman's: The Boy From OZ, Singin' in the Rain and We Will Rock You.  Matt is perhaps best known for Helpmann Award winning performance in the role of Bert for Disney and Cameron Macintosh's production of Mary Poppins in Australia, New Zealand and on the UK. When not in the cast of a musical, Matt can be found on stage with fellow Australian leading men Ben Mingay, Luke Kennedy, Rob Mills and Michael Falzon in Swing On This, a show of reworked classic swing and popular music arranged for an 18 piece big band. Matt is often recognised in Australia for his Logie-nominated role on the judging panel for the TV series So You Think You Can Dance Australia – a show on which he also served as a key choreographer. Behind the scenes, Matt has also worked in a creative capacity with Paula Abdul, Hugh Jackman and Ben Elton. He has choreographed for artists such as Hilary Duff, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Human Nature and Ricky Martin and TV shows including The Voice AU and Australia's Got Talent as well as The TV Week Logie Awards, The AACTA's and The Helpmann's.

The Tap Pack is a modern Rat Pack with World Class Tap, and have been wowing audiences both in Australia and internationally. They have just finished sold out performances at one of Australia’s most iconic venues - The Sydney Opera House, earning them rave reviews and critical acclaim; with the Sydney Morning Herald calling The Tap Pack "scintillating" and "tremendous" and their "high energy performance a winner”. Prior to this The Tap Pack made their “electrifyingly electric” debut on the London’s West End at the Peacock Theatre. The Pack also won the “Spirit of the Fringe” award at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and performed return seasons in Berlin, Germany. Mixing up the classics, serving up songs with a fresh new twist of tap, The Tap Pack delivers “knockout performances”, “sheer brilliance” and “genuinely breath-catching” performances and they are excited to now be part of the Carols in the Domain.

One of Australia's leading performers and educators, Rachael Beck is a multi-faceted, award - winning powerhouse whose talents span across stage and screen, as both an acclaimed vocal artist and actress. Rachael Beck is widely remembered for her award-winning role as Belle opposite Hugh Jackman in Beauty and the Beast, which won the 1996 ARIA Award for the Best Australian Soundtrack/Cast/Show Release.  Her outstanding credits include her Green Award nominated performance as 'Fantine' in Les Miserables and 'Rumpleteaser' in Cats, both produced by Cameron Mackintosh. Previously appearing as ‘Lisa Parker’ in Home & Away, Rachael’s screen credits include City Homicide, Stingers, Mercury, The Feds, This Man This Woman, GP, Flying Doctors, and Hey Dad. She also appeared in the film Ocean Boulevard and as a professional singer in Channel 7’s It Takes Two.  Late 2018 will see Rachael starring at the STC for the Wharf Review.

A household name in Australia, Todd McKenney’s versatile career has spanned three decades and shows no sign of slowing down. Already known as Australia’s leading man of song and dance musicals, he was also the ‘colourful’ and often controversial judge on the Channel 7 hit series ‘Dancing With the Stars’. No stranger to the stage, Todd has starred in stage shows with lead roles in Cats, 42nd Street, West Side Story, Camelot, Cabaret, Singin’ In The Rain, The Boy From Oz and more recently Annie the Musical and Anything Goes (just to name a few). At last years Carols, Todd made an ‘on stage surprise’ as a stand in for blue Wiggle Anthony- we wonder what tricks Todd might have up his sleeve this year! Todd’s outstanding on-stage presence will shine brightly on the Woolworths Carols In The Domain stage no matter what he does and we can’t wait to see his dancing AND singing talents! 

A Sydney girl, Ashleigh graduated from the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts with a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre in 2014.  While training, she played such roles as 'Mary Lane' in Reefer Madness, and received the Warnock Award for Most Promising Student in 2013.  Ashleigh made her professional theatre debut in Gordon Frost Organisation/Opera Australia’s 2015 national tour of Anything Goes, in the role of ‘Hope Harcourt’. She then toured Australia with the production of The Sound of Music, in which she understudied and performed the role of ‘Maria’ numerous times.  Most recently, Ashleigh toured with the production of My Fair Lady, directed by Julie Andrews.

Natalie Abbott - Muriel Heslop Hailing from the south coast of NSW, 23 year old Natalie Abbott has been ‘singing since before she could talk’ - according to her mother.  Much like Muriel Heslop, Natalie left her small coastal town and moved to the big smoke - Sydney, where she began her Bachelor of Music degree in Musical Theatre at the Australian Institute of Music (AIM) under the guidance of an array of illustrious industry professionals. Natalie is so thrilled that her professional debut is in Muriel’s Wedding the Musical and would like to give a huge thankyou to everyone who has helped her along on her journey.  Elizabeth Esguerra - Rhonda Born in the Philippines and Bred in the West of Sydney, Elizabeth is a trained actor, singer, and musician.  She moved to Melbourne in 2013 to study at The Victorian College of the Arts, from which she holds a Bachelor of Dramatic Art. Since graduating she has worked on several independent and professional film and television productions including ‘Offspring’, ‘Neighbours’ and Hamish and Andy’s ‘True Story’.  Her recent theatre credits include the Australian tour of ‘A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer,’ for Complicite Theatre UK, the critically acclaimed ‘Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.’ and ‘Turbine’ with Malthouse Theatre. She is excited to be taking on the role of Rhonda in Muriel’s Wedding the Musical and working with Global Creatures in this next phase of her career.  

Internationally known conductor, arranger, orchestrator, pianist, Graeme returns to Woolworth’s Carols in the Domain for the tenth year as Music Director. He has held that position since 2009 following seven years as the choral director for this same event. Some of the artists he has worked with include: Josh Groban, Engelbert Humperdinck, Katherine Jenkins, Leo Sayer, Jessica Mauboy, Kate Ceberano, Doug Parkinson, Lee Kernaghan, Troy Cassar-Daly, Samantha Jade, Dami Im plus more.  He has performed in a number of sell-out tours with THE SEEKERS as the Music Director, keyboardist and arranger for their 50th Golden celebration tours in Australia, UK and NZ. Graeme is also the MD for Andre Rieu's Australian soprano MIRUSIA, when she travels on her popular solo tours, and has recently concluded four European Tours, producing and arranging many 'live' CDs, two exquisite live DVDs, and two studio recordings.  With a Music Education background Graeme was the Head of Music at a private Secondary college for 13 years.  During this time he was, and continues to be, in great demand as a conductor, composer, arranger and clinician. He has over 50 choral works and instrumental arrangements published in USA, UK and in Australia.  “Graeme's reputation as a director, arranger and visionary extends across the globe, leading to many invitations to lead vocal and instrumental workshops or concerts or both.”  He resides in Sydney and If you ever have the opportunity to meet and talk with Graeme, the first thing you will notice is that he is a charming, warm, friendly and, above all, a most humble man.

Each year, Patrick Togher Artists’ Management assembles 8 of Australia’s most brilliant young opera stars to add a touch of classical glamour to Woolworth’s Carols in the Domain. This year, from Sydney we have soprano Bridget Patterson, mezzo-soprano Viktoria Bolonina, tenors Ryan O'Donnell and Matthew Reardon and baritone Eugene Raggio. From Melbourne, we welcome soprano Georgia Wilkinson and, from Brisbane, mezzo soprano Cassandra Seidemann and baritone Sam Hartley.