Dancing With The Stars

Dancing With The Stars

Todd McKenney

A former champion in Ballroom and Latin, singer/dancer Todd McKenney competed internationally for more than 10 years before breaking into theatre. McKenney began dancing at three at his mother's dancing school in Perth, training in jazz, tap, acrobatics and ballroom.

He was cast in his first professional musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber's ‘Song and Dance’ in 1983. Many stage shows followed including; ‘Cats’, ‘42nd Street’, ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Crazy For You’. He was cast as Nathan Starkey in Baz Luhrmann's 1992 internationally acclaimed film Strictly Ballroom, alongside Sonia Kruger. A career highlight, Todd did 766 performances as Peter Allen in ‘The Boy From Oz’, winning two Mo Awards, the Variety Club Heart Award, the Glugg Award, the Green Room Award, the Australian Dance Award and the Helpmann Award. He recreated Gene Kelley’s original famous tap dance on stage in ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ - a performance that won him another Australian Dance Award.

In 2002, Todd performed his one-man show around Australia and in 2003 he had sell out performances of his show at Taronga Zoo, then went home to Perth to appear in Cabaret. In March 2004, Todd starred in his own production, ‘Todd McKenney LIVE’, at Sydney's Star City for a week of sell-out shows. In August 2004, he and Rachael Beck performed with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Tommy Tycho. The same month, he sang with the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra and, in September 2005, presented his 'Todd McKenney Song And Dance Spectacular' on the Gold Coast. In 2005, Todd released his debut CD Just a Gigolo, and toured Sydney, the Gold Coast and Melbourne in his own stage show.

In 2006, he toured Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne in Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks with Nancye Hayes and was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Award for his role as Michael Minetti. In 2007, Todd and Nancye continued their tour across Australia with the show. Todd is studying sign language and is patron of the Australian Theatre of the Deaf.

McKenney and Dancing With The Stars co-host Sonia Kruger can be heard mornings on MIX FM’s breakfast program in Sydney.

Primetime TV Guide