Who is Annie Frances?

With a dynamic and versatile voice, it’s no wonder that Annie Frances has graced stages from her hometown of Sydney, Australia to New York City and around the world.

Annie’s love of music and natural versatility has led to her being an award winning and much sought-after entertainer on stage and television.

Music has always been a part of Annie’s life since childhood. Annie was born (as Anne Frances McIllree) in Cairns, in tropical Northern Queensland, Australia. Her formal training in music began when she ventured into clarinet and banjo lessons at the early age of nine.

Her love for singing wasn’t nurtured until her mid-teens when she became a student of John Charles Ferris in Sydney’s North Shore after her family had relocated there. Around this time she attended a Voice Productions Music Theatre and Performance Seminar, where she was hand-picked out of a hundred hopefuls to train exclusively with Australia’s maestro and music icon Tommy Tycho. However, music only remained a small part of Annie’s life until 2000 when she boldly left behind a career with one of Australia’s largest companies to become a professional international entertainer. Since then she has not looked back.

For the first six months of her singing career, Annie sang in local venues in Sydney as a front woman in a high-energy dance band. Then, she entered the Sydney Cabaret Competition (featuring their international guest judge that year, Julie Wilson, from New York) simply for the exposure and to hopefully find more work as a singer. To her surprise she walked away with this competition’s coveted first prize, the City of Sydney award - an all expenses paid trip to New York to attend and perform at the 11th Annual New York Cabaret Convention. Her first international performance with Julie Wilson’s musical director David Lewis was well received, and thus began Annie’s international performance career.

Upon returning from New York Annie quickly developed her one-woman show which has earned her various industry awards. Since then Annie has worked solidly as a guest entertainer in venues around Australia, New York, international cruise lines and has made several appearances on Australian Television.

Today her repertoire features styles such as popular favourites, Broadway Musicals, multilingual classics, a little country and even Swiss yodelling! This diversity truly shows off Annie’s unique ability and show-stopping voice.

Annie's Career at a glance:

AWARDS

2000 Sydney Cabaret Convention – The City Of Sydney Award

2001 Mo’ Awards – The Peter Allen Performer Of The Year Award and The ALVA Female Performer Of The Year Award

APPEARANCES

2000 – The Basement, Circular Quay Sydney

2000 – Sydney 2000 Cabaret Convention, Sydney Town Hall

2000 and 2001 – “Good Morning Australia” - Live to air TV performances

2000 – 11th Annual Cabaret Convention, New York Town Hall

2000 – Carols by Candlelight, Edward Park Newcastle hosted by Tony Barber

2001 – School of Arts Café, Queanbeyan Australia

2001 – “Denise” – Live to air TV performance

2001 – Performances in “The Stars Are Brightly Shining”, State Theatre Sydney (Directed by Richard Wherrett and including a duet with Leah Purcell)

2001 – “New York And Before”, Capers, Hawthorn Melbourne

2001 – 2011 - Cabaret/Floor shows/Guest Entertainer, International Cruise Lines and various venues throughout Australia

SHIPPING LINES

Cunard, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Saga Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Silver Seas Cruise Line, Radisson Seven Sea Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Oceania.

I AM WOMAN!® is a registered trademmark of Annie Frances McIllree