Christine "Christie" Whelan Browne is an Australian performer who has worked extensively in musical theatre as an actress, dancer and singer. She has also appeared on television shows and in films.
Whelan Browne's professional career began in 2005 in Grease: The Arena Spectacular, playing the role of Patti Simcox. She reprised the role in the United Kingdom. In both productions she understudied Sandy's role. On returning to Sydney, she portrayed April in Gale Edwards's production of Company from June to August 2007 at Theatre Royal. Despite criticism of Company, and Cousens, in 2008 Whelan received the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Newcomer for her role in Company.
The actress provided a one-woman performance in 'Tegrity: Britney Spears Live in Cabaret in the titular role, which began at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (2009) and continued, as Britney Spears: the Cabaret, in Sydney (2009) and Melbourne (2010). She played the role of Lucy in Bryant and Frank's Australian musical Once We Lived Here, in September 2009 for which she was nominated for the Green Room Award for Female Actor in a Featured Role (Music Theatre). Other credits include Maisy in The Boy Friend (2009), as well as chorus member in 42nd Street (2007) and various characters in Starting Here, Starting Now (June–July 2010). Her debut film role was a brief appearance as "Woman Runner" in the romantic comedy, I Love You Too (May 2010).
Whelan appeared in The Drowsy Chaperone (2010) for Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) as Janet van de Graaf, for which she was a nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical. She played the title role in The Production Company's Sugar (2010), for which she was a Green Room Award nominee for Best Actress. Whelan took the lead role of Clio/Kira in the musical, Xanadu (2011). She followed with the role of Erma in Anything Goes (2011).
Whelan Browne was a guest panellist on an episode of Spicks and Specks in 2011 on ABC Television and on TV talk show, The Circle. She undertook the role of Kylie McDonald in the TV series Winners & Losers (2011). She appeared in Offspring as Jenny. Other TV credits include Leila Esperance in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012) and Katarina in Conspiracy 365 (2012). She played Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest (2011–2012) for MTC.
She played Philia in the Melbourne season of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (2012) opposite Rush for which she was nominated for a Green Room Award for Best Supporting Actress. Whelan Browne starred in Eddie Perfect's updated version of Shane Warne: The Musical as Elizabeth Hurley for five shows at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and two shows at Melbourne's Hamer Hall in 2013. The actress portrayed Lina Lamont opposite Browne as Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain in August for The Production Company at The State Theatre, Melbourne. Also in that year, she hosted the Helpmann Awards alongside Perfect, held at the Sydney Opera House. On TV she had an arc of four episodes in Network Ten's drama series Wonderland as Kristen.
In 2014, Whelan Browne took the role of Janet Weiss in the 40th anniversary tour of The Rocky Horror Show. In 2015, she played the role of Olivia Newton-John in the TV miniseries, Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door on the Seven Network. The actress provided a cameo in House Husbands as an inappropriate dance teacher. She starred in another one-woman show Pure Blonde, written by Bryant and Frank, which played at the 2015 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Her portrayal of Eileen Evergreen in The Production Company's Nice Work If You Can Get It (2015) was described by Katie Purvis of AussieTheatre.com as displaying, "considerable comic chops."
Whelan Browne appeared in the first season of The Wrong Girl (2016) as Nikkii Steadman for Network 10. She portrayed Sacha in another romantic comedy film, Spin Out (2016). She portrayed one of the Pigeon sisters in MTC's production of The Odd Couple in 2016. In 2018, she played Olivia in Simon Phillips' production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the MTC. In both 2020 and 2021 she played Rosalind in As You Like It at the MTC with Phillips directing. In 2018, Whelan Browne appeared as herself in the comedy film That's Not My Dog!. Whelan Browne joined the cast of Neighbours as Scarlett Brady in 2019. She reprised the role the following year. The actress joined the ensemble cast of the comedy news television program Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell in 2019, and continued with the show in 2020 and 2021. She also appeared in the 2020 web series Loving Captivity.
