Ma-Anne Dionisio
Encyclopedia
Ma-Anne Dionisio in is a Manila
-born, Winnipeg
-reared Canadian
singer.
Dionisio is the middle child of five sisters; her parents, both accountants, moved the family to Canada in 1989. She had begun singing at age 13 in the Philippines and won a nation-wide talent show there. After the relocation to Canada, she focused instead on dentistry. After some encouragement from people who had heard her sing, she won a leading role in Experience Canada, a musical tour that celebrated Canada's 125th anniversary. A TV presentation of the show was seen by someone in the Toronto casting department Miss Saigon
who arranged for an audition for the role of Kim in the musical. She won the award and was a celebrated success, earning a nomination for the Dora Mavor Moore Award
for Best Actress in a Musical in 1994. Dionisio has since performed as Kim in British, Australian and American productions of Miss Saigon.
She played the role of Éponine
in the U.S. touring company of Les Misérables
, joining Lea Salonga
as the second Asian to play Éponine in western theater.
She played Bertrande de Rols in Martin Guerre
in London, performed in West Side Story
as Maria at the Stratford Festival in 1999, and appeared on Broadway as Little Girl in the 2002 revival of Flower Drum Song
. Dionisio also performed as Sandy in a Toronto production of Grease
.
On August 25, 2007, she performed in the show A Little Hand, a fund raiser for Toronto's Kapisanan Philippine Center, a cultural centre for the development and exposure of Filipino talents in the visual and fine arts.
In July 2008, Dionisio reprised her original role as Kim in the seated production of Miss Saigon in St. Louis, Missouri
. In July 2010, she also reprised this role again in the second Toronto, Ontario, Canada production. She originally played this role in the original Toronto production in 1993, which also launched her career.
She is a Founding Artist of Theatre 20, a musical theatre company in Toronto formed by artists in 2009, and performed in Theatre 20's 2011 Concert Series at the Panasonic Theatre
.
She is the mother of three children: Niko, Cody and Anya.
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
-born, Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
-reared Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
singer.
Dionisio is the middle child of five sisters; her parents, both accountants, moved the family to Canada in 1989. She had begun singing at age 13 in the Philippines and won a nation-wide talent show there. After the relocation to Canada, she focused instead on dentistry. After some encouragement from people who had heard her sing, she won a leading role in Experience Canada, a musical tour that celebrated Canada's 125th anniversary. A TV presentation of the show was seen by someone in the Toronto casting department Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
who arranged for an audition for the role of Kim in the musical. She won the award and was a celebrated success, earning a nomination for the Dora Mavor Moore Award
Dora Mavor Moore Award
The Dora Mavor Moore Award is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance, and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre, the award was established on December 13, 1978...
for Best Actress in a Musical in 1994. Dionisio has since performed as Kim in British, Australian and American productions of Miss Saigon.
She played the role of Éponine
Éponine
Éponine Thénardier is a fictional character in the 1862 novelLes Misérables by Victor Hugo.- Éponine in the novel :As children, Éponine and her younger sister Azelma are described as pretty, well-dressed, charming and a delight to see. They are pampered and spoiled by their parents the Thénardiers...
in the U.S. touring company of Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
, joining Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
as the second Asian to play Éponine in western theater.
She played Bertrande de Rols in Martin Guerre
Martin Guerre (musical)
Martin Guerre is a two-act musical with a book by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Stephen Clark, and music by Claude-Michel Schönberg....
in London, performed in West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
as Maria at the Stratford Festival in 1999, and appeared on Broadway as Little Girl in the 2002 revival of Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...
. Dionisio also performed as Sandy in a Toronto production of Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
.
On August 25, 2007, she performed in the show A Little Hand, a fund raiser for Toronto's Kapisanan Philippine Center, a cultural centre for the development and exposure of Filipino talents in the visual and fine arts.
In July 2008, Dionisio reprised her original role as Kim in the seated production of Miss Saigon in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. In July 2010, she also reprised this role again in the second Toronto, Ontario, Canada production. She originally played this role in the original Toronto production in 1993, which also launched her career.
She is a Founding Artist of Theatre 20, a musical theatre company in Toronto formed by artists in 2009, and performed in Theatre 20's 2011 Concert Series at the Panasonic Theatre
Panasonic Theatre
Panasonic Theatre is a live theatre owned and operated by Mirvish Productions in Toronto, Canada.-Early years:The theatre was built in 1911 as a private residence and then converted as a movie theatre in 1919 known as The Victory...
.
She is the mother of three children: Niko, Cody and Anya.
External links
- http://www.broadwayworld.com/bios/viewstar.cfm?starid=416
- http://lesmis.cafemusain.com/cast/dionisio.html
- http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=102565