Our Story

Broadway Dreams Foundation NZ (BDFNZ) is a not-for-profit registered charitable trust with donee status.

BDFNZ is committed to providing performing arts training for committed students, while removing financial barriers wherever possible, for those who wish to develop their abilities in this field. The aim is to provide a world class opportunity to connect young Kiwi performers with the local, international and Broadway performing arts communities, and to help them identify their next steps as performers.

Joyce Leung Scott was inspired to bring Broadway Dreams to NZ after her daughter attended summer intensives in Philadelphia and Toronto. All BDFNZ board and staff are volunteers. In addition, the US-based Broadway Dreams faculty also donate their time to bring Broadway Dreams to New Zealand.

Broadway Dreams is open to all ages and levels of ability. This has proved to be a very successful approach over Broadway Dreams’ twelve-year history. There are now sixteen cities across the US and around the world (now including New Zealand!) which run this programme. In addition to the week-long intensives – which culminate in a showcase performance, Broadway Dreams offers a number of other professional-level training programmes.

All students who attend a Broadway Dreams Summer Intensive anywhere in the world are considered for selection to perform in the New York showcase held annually in November.

BDFNZ plans to run the summer intensive annually, and is looking forward to offering other training opportunities moving forwards.

Our aim is to provide full or partial scholarships for up to 40% of students attending our events and programmes. Therefore, we are actively seeking donations and would love to talk further to individuals or organisations who might be interested in becoming a benefactor or sponsor.

Annette-Tanner-5

Annette Tanner

BROADWAY DREAMS US/International Founder and President 

Hayden Tee

Hayden Tee

PATRON BDFNZ

Annette Tanner (Founder and President) founded Broadway Dreams in 2006. Originally from New Zealand, she has a distinguished background in arts management, independently serving as the casting director on several major films, television shows, and commercials; as an agent at Richard Kent Management in Sydney, Australia; and as the General Manager for the United Kingdom division of Australia’s largest photography studio. In addition to her leadership of Broadway Dreams, she has maintained her work as a casting director for two pre-Broadway workshops of The Me Nobody Knows, the revised Zanna, Don’t,The Preacher’s Wife and as an associate for select New York projects, including Annie, Mary Poppins, and Altar Boyz. Most recently, she was the casting director for Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You show at New York’s Beacon Theatre. In 2016, she co-produced the first ever United States-Russian musical theatre collaboration with Stage Entertainment Russia, which performed two sold out performances at the Rossiya Theatre in Moscow.

Born in New Zealand and trained at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), Hayden Tee is an acclaimed, award-winning Performer and Recording Artist in Theatre, Concert and Cabaret in Australia and Internationally. Hayden is best known for his award-winning portrayal of Javert in the Australian, Broadway and West End productions of Les Miserables.
Hayden’s Australian theatre credits include Javert in Cameron Mackintosh’s production  of Les Miserables, Thomas Andrews in Titanic: The Musical, Professor Bhaer in Little Women The Musical and Lt. Joe Cable in South Pacific.  He made his Opera debut in 2007 appearing in the Australian production of Dead Man Walking in the lead tenor role of Father Grenville.
Hayden is a recipient of the Sydney Cabaret Convention New York award and ranked in the top twelve of the 2005 BBC Voice of Musical Theatre (Cardiff UK).
International credits include Marius in London’s West End production of Les Miserables, originating the role of Jack Worthing in the Gordon/Gruska musical Being Earnest (USA), Edward Rutledge in 1776 (USA),  Cinderella’s Prince/ Wolf in Into the Woods (USA), King Arthur in Camelot (USA), Freddy Einsford Hill in My Fair Lady (USA/NZ), Captain Hook in Peter Pan (USA), Simon Stride and standby Jekyll and Hyde in Jekyll and Hyde (Asia), and as Gus /Growltiger in Cats (Asia).
Both Hayden’s self-titled CD Hayden Tee and Generation whY? LIVE are available on iTunes. @haydentee

MEET THE NZ MANAGEMENT TEAM

Patrick Kelly

Vanessa Kelly

Aaliyha Armstrong

Jonah Vakapora Hall

Tony Smith