Elise McCann is a multi-talented artist whose career spans across stage, television, and behind the scenes in production. She gained national recognition while touring with the stage show "Mamma Mia" and is most celebrated for her role as Miss Honey in "Matilda the Musical," which earned her a 2016 Helpmann Award, a 2015 Sydney Theatre Award, and a 2016 Green Room Award nomination. Her versatility shines through with acclaimed performances as Lynne Woolnough in the TV series "Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door," Lucille Ball in "Everybody Loves Lucy," and Mary Flynn in Stephen Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along." Elise's foundation in the arts is solidified by her education at NIDA and her adventurous venture into law at the University of NSW.
Beyond her remarkable stage and screen achievements, Elise is an entrepreneurial force in the entertainment industry. In 2014, she founded Oriel Entertainment, producing an array of theatre, musicals, and concerts across prestigious venues and festivals. Her skills extend to screen production, where she has contributed as a producer, dramaturge, content developer, script editor, and writer's researcher, both in Australia and internationally. Notably, she spent 2019 in New York, working under a producer placement at Sarah Jessica Parker's all-female production company, Pretty Matches Productions.
Elise's passion isn't confined to the arts; she's also a foodie! Known for her delicious vegan orange cake, she views cooking as an act of generosity that fosters community, especially among her cast members. On tour, she carries her favorite spices and a personal recipe notebook, ensuring she can always prepare her signature dishes like red lentil dahl, herb and pesto falafel, and vegan cheesecake. Growing up with a mother who ran a catering and baking business, Elise developed an adventurous palate early on. Alongside her culinary adventures, she finds balance and peace in practicing yoga, further showcasing the depth of her interests and the richness of her life off-stage. We catch up with Elise and find out what a weekend in her busy life is like.
Friday PM
Friday nights Is the start of what we call the 'Five show weekend', so it is pretty much business for me. I get to the theatre about 6pm, we do physical and vocal warm up from 6.30 followed by makeup, mic-ing up, wigs and costume ready for a 7.30 start. When the show comes down around 10.30pm we do stage door signings and if I have friends in watching I will grab a quick drink with them, otherwise on Friday's I try to just get home as we have a full weekend of shows ahead!
Saturday AM
Saturday mornings are my favourite. I either do a hot yoga class followed by coffee and one of my favourite Italian ricotta handmade donuts. You can only buy them at this little deli on Park Street in South Yarra, and they only sell them on Saturday and Sunday mornings so it is a super treat! Or If I'm not doing yoga, I will meet a friend and grab a take away coffee and usually do a walk around the Tan, or if I'm feeling lazy - we'll sit and gossip!
Photo by Fatih Güney
Saturday PM
We do two shows on a Saturday (2pm and 7.30pm) so dinner break is between shows at around 5.30pm. On Saturdays our cast all congregate and go for burgers. Each week we try a different burger joint around Melbourne CBD. One of the amazing actors in our company, Kaya Byrne, coordinates the whole excursion and it is an absolute delight. When the show comes down on a Saturday evening, I normally go for a late-night supper somewhere around the city like Punch Lane or the City Wine shop.
Sunday AM
Sunday mornings are all about a sleep in! I try to give myself a late start (which is around 9am for me as Monday to Friday I am up at 7.30 to start Hey Lemonade work). I put some music through my earbuds and head out for coffee. I try to either catch up on phone calls with my family or friends on my way into work for the matinee, or sometimes head to the markets to grab some fresh produce. At the moment, whilst I am in Melbourne consistently rather than travelling so much, if I haven't caught up with a friend on the Saturday I will break my 'slow solo Sunday' morning rule and try catch up with someone for a - still relatively slow - breakfast.
Sunday PM
We have two shows on Sunday's (1pm and 6.30pm) so I am at the theatre by 11.30/12 and then between shows I tend to grab a salad and eat in the park across from the theatre to get some sunshine. After the evening show we have poker night. It's a friendly game (with a $20 buy in to keep it interesting) and if you don't feel like playing then you can sit and hang out and have some drinks with the rest of the crew. I tend to have to call it pretty early as I have our weekly Hey Lemonade WIP meet on Monday mornings at 9am, so I need to be up and focused early on a Monday. From April, we are switching our show schedule to only one Sunday matinee, so I am super looking forward to having my Sunday evenings to go out for dinner with friends, or have people over and still get a relatively early night!
About Hey Lemonade
In 2020 Elise co-founded innovative health and wellness tech company Hey Lemonade with long time friend and fellow actor Lucy Durack. Hey Lemonade is a leading stress and motivation management tool that provides quick, evidence-based pep talks, delivered in a range of well-known Australian voices (Chloe Hayden, Benjamin Law, Virginia Gay, Maggie Beer, Tony Armstrong) to help circuit break stress, increase motivation and build resilience.
Hey Lemonade launched to the public in November 2022, has been tested by the CSIRO (proven to generate positive health outcomes for the mood, stress, and emotional wellbeing of participants; including a 50% increase in calmness, a significant increase in vitality and a significant decrease in perception of daily hassles) and is working with corporates and the NSW Government to provide alternative support mechanisms to existing EAP platforms. It's also being trailed in NSW high schools - with potentially more expansion into other states this year.
Groundhog Day The Musical is now playing exclusively in Melbourne until April 21. Tickets on sale now at groundhogday.com.au.
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