QUEENIE VAN DE ZANDT

Queenie van de Zandt moves through the world entertaining, educating and serenading the people she meets.  She has the unique ability in all her work to make people feel deeply, and to awaken laughter, empathy and awareness in equal measure.

Her ability to seamlessly transition between various genres of entertainment sets her apart as a truly versatile performer, with a career spanning musical theatre, plays, cabaret, recording, film, and television, as well as acclaimed work as a comedian, writer, and arts educator.

Her career highlights include: on television: Upright II (Foxtel/BINGE), Safe Home (SBS), The Newsreader - Seasons 1, 2 & 3, Very Small Business and Da Kath & Kim Code (ABC), and Five Bedrooms (Network 10); in theatre: Face to Face (STC), Women of Troy (Malthouse/STC), Rabbit Hole, Absent Friends and Abigail’s Party (Ensemble Theatre), Secret Bridesmaid’s Business and After January (La Boite) and The Road to the She-Devil’s Salon (QTC); on film: Scooby Doo and Girl Clock; in musical theatre: Next to Normal (James Terry Collective), Thoroughly Modern Millie (TDP), Into the Woods (Victorian Opera), Follies (Storeyboard Entertainment), Funny Girl (SSO), King Kong Live on Stage (Global Creatures), The Full Monty (IMG/David Atkins) and Oliver (Cameron Mackintosh/IMG); and in cabaret - Smoke & Mirrors (Sydney, Melbourne and Edinburgh Festivals), Moments in the Woods, BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell, CABARET - In 12 Easy Steps, and The Best (and Worst) of Queenie van de Zandt (Adelaide Cabaret Festival).

As the driving force behind her boutique production house, Amazon Woman Enterprises, Queenie has: released 5 albums(Amazon Woman, Queenie van de Zandt – Live in Cabaret, Other Stories..., Singing & Vocal Warm Up Exercises and her new album coming out soon - BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell - Live); created award-winning theatre shows such as her multi-award-winning show BLUE: The Song of Joni Mitchell which has toured throughout Australia and internationally; and created a cult-following for her comedy alter-ego, Jan van de Stool, twice co-hosting The Helpmann Awards (Foxtel/ABC), and performing in Jan’s multi-award-winning comedy show I GET THE MUSIC IN YOU, an evening with Jan van de Stool (MICF) and most recently performing her newest show Jan van de Stool in PARTING THE RED CURTAINS at the Brisbane and Sydney Comedy Festivals.

Queenie’s newest venture is Middle Raged the Musical Meltdown, a bold, hilarious and empowering ‘revuesical’, co-written with her best friend and longtime collaborator Tiffany Noack and co-produced with Andrew Kay & Associates. Middle Raged premiered to 5-star reviews and standing ovations in 2026, with national and international tours planned for 2027 onwards. The show was created from hundreds of real stories shared by middle-aged women and features music by Missy Higgins, Gillian Cosgriff, Laura Murphy, Tim Minchin and Sia.

Beyond her performance work, for over two decades, Queenie has also been recognised as one of Australia's most respected arts educators, and in 2015, after holding teaching positions at NIDA, VCA & Federation University in Ballarat, she co-founded The Australian Musical Theatre Academy (AMTA). AMTA brings together top-tier industry professionals to give gifted students the tools to live creative, passionate and fulfilling lives. Queenie has been called a “star-maker” in the media due to the high success rate of children and adults who, having learned her unique audition technique, go on to gain entry to acting schools and be cast in professional musicals. AMTA’s and Queenie’s former students have played lead roles in shows such as: Matilda the Musical, The Lion King, Book of Mormon, A Beautiful Noise - The Neil Diamond Musical, Pretty Woman, Beetlejuice, Annie, Wicked, Chicago, Beauty & the Beast, Frozen, Dear Evan Hansen, TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, Wicked, & Juliet, and RENT, to name just a few recent ones.

With a lifelong passion for social justice and equality, and as a true champion of the arts who joined Actors Equity, MEAA in her very first professional show in 1989, Queenie has become a powerful advocate for performing artists, sexual assault survivors and refugees throughout Australia’s arts and social justice landscape, amplifying voices that are too often unheard.

Drawing on all this wealth of experience, Queenie infuses every venture with clear, engaging communication, boundless passion for the arts and humanity, an inviting warmth, and her brilliantly infectious sense of humour.

With a staggering 22 award nominations and 9 well-deserved wins under her belt, Queenie van de Zandt's talent continues to be recognised with each new achievement. To stay connected with her latest projects and performances on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok follow @QueenievdZandt | @JanvandeStool | @AMTAcademy.

  • “★★★★☆...it’s hard to imagine a better celebration of Joni Mitchell’s timeless artistry than Queenie van de Zandt’s tribute...The deftness with which van de Zandt interwove the story-telling and Mitchell’s songs exemplified cabaret at its most sophisticated… Capping it all was the glorious translucence of her voice…”

    Sydney Morning Herald
    (for BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell)

  • “...Jan is a beautifully observed comic creation who feels on par with Kath and Kim or Norman Gunston...an impressive showcase for van de Zandt’s chameleon-like talents as a performer... the way van de Zandt has built Jan’s world is irresistible. It’s utterly, bizarrely brilliant.”

    Time Out Sydney
    (for Jan van de Stool in Parting the Red Curtains)

  • "Choose Your Own Adventure is an interactive cabaret event like nothing you have likely seen before… Queenie is a consummate performer who never disappoints… we just can’t get enough of Queenie van de Zandt’s delights.”

    Blue Curtains Brisbane
    (for Choose Your Own Adventure)

  • “Put simply, this is one of the best cabaret shows of the year. It is funny – so very funny – and van de Zandt is nothing short of charming throughout, while her voice is something to behold…As an entertainer, Queenie van de Zandt is in a league of her own”

    Aussietheatre.com
    (for CABARET - In 12 Easy Steps)

  • "Just when you think dry, underplayed, deadpan comedy is a lost art in Australia, along comes Queenie van de Zandt to restore your faith..."

    The Age
    (for I GET THE MUSIC IN YOU, an evening with Jan van de Stool)

  • “… hilarious comedy and stunning vocals...if being such a fantastic singer isn’t enough…this woman kicks goals with her spot on comedic stand up…”

    Aussietheatre.com
    (for The Best (and Worst) of Queenie van de Zandt)

  • "“On behalf of our Artistic Directors Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton and the entire Sydney Theatre Company, thank you...The event was a great success and thanks to your direct involvement, we raised critical funds…you were absolutely wonderful – we had another function over the weekend and people are still talking about you...”

    Danielle Heidbrink, Head of Philanthropy
    Sydney Theatre Company

  • “★★★★☆ Van de Zandt has an extraordinary ease on stage and a rare ability to transfer that ease to the audience”

    Daily Review

  • “We are left speechless. What an amazing experience you created. I can't tell how many lives you changed, including ours. You lit sparks in people, you elevated spirits, and you helped deliver a tsunami of love that knocked everyone over. It really was too good to be true - but it was true!”

    Sean Linkson & Philip Comen,
    Grooms & “This Is Your Life” Cabaret Recipients

  • “★★★★★ A beloved identity on the national entertainment scene…an award-winning talent of tremendous range and emotional depth”

    Theatre Matters

  • “The organising committee of RSPCA…has asked me to convey to you how pleased they were with the participation of Jan van de Stool in the…fund-raising gala in Parliament House… Jan van de Stool was a great success with our guests keeping them constantly amused, informed and on the edge of their seats, with her delightful repartee… Jan’s participation certainly was an important factor in the success of the evening.”

    Bill Stephens, Entertainment Co-ordinator
    RSPCA ACT Fundraising Committee

  • “Queenie van de Zandt is mesmerizing”

    The Sydney Morning Herald

  • “an artist of extraordinary talent…van de Zandt is a rare and refreshing comic and musical talent, whose star could light the firmament on any world stage”

    The Canberra Times