Class of 2021 Acting and Musical Theatre Showcase

Having weathered the storms of Covid-19 and lockdowns, Griffith's Class of '21 must surely be the most resilient alumni to have ever graduated from the university's acting and musical theatre courses. The students have had to adapt to remote learning through online classes and workshops to maintain their quest to be industry-ready.

These graduates have appeared in productions including Night Sky Over Our Town, The Boy Friend, Legally Blonde the Musical, The Rover, It's Only Life, The Laramie Project and Twelfth Night. In their performances since 2019 they have worked with talented directors including Travis Dowling, Daniel Evans, Penny Farrow, Elise Greig, Lee Lewis, Kate Shearer, Alister Smith and Jacqui Somerville, in shows at the uni's Burke Street Studio, Queensland Theatre's Diane Cilento Studio, and of course, online via Zoom. In 2021, despite lockdowns, they had an outstanding year, ending with a sold-out season of Grease, showing the team's keen sense of knowing what an audience wants to see at this time.

Image: Elizabeth Mahoney

So, how do you showcase the wealth of talent possessed by 18 young actors and 23 young musical theatre performers, who are now waiting in the wings to take the world's stages and screens by storm? The university's answer is a well-honed nearly 90-minute, fast-paced piece, constructed from a highly entertaining mix of snippets of speeches, monologues and scenes from a diverse range of sources. I thought the students' academic team may have selected the pieces for them, but Creative Director and Producer, Paul Sabey, explained to me that the students all choose their own pieces. They are given a time limit (less than 2 minutes per piece) and select their own performing partners where needed. The final compilation was a rich mix of pieces, which revealed some very savvy performers with a keen instinct for entertaining audiences.

There were no dull moments, but it was not all glam and glitz – there were some dramatic moments there too. As well as songs from well-known Broadway musicals such as Frozen, Starlight Express, Merrily We Roll Along, and Jesus Christ Superstar, (performed by: Liam Head & Nina Carcione; Annelise Hall; Hanlon Innocent; and Sean Johnston), there were pieces from the fairly new, Little Miss Perfect (Claire Rigg) to the fairly obscure, The Scarlet Pimpernel (Nate Stevenson). Personally, I would enjoy more tunes from the popular music portfolio, numbers like My Man (sung by Beau Wharton) because I think they can showcase more of a range than some of the Broadway tracks which, with their American City accents and similar tones and pace can make everyone sound the same (casting directors would probably disagree with me).

Image: Rachel Thomas

Refreshingly, the showcase also included quirky scenes from Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag, unexpected scenes from screenplays for The Invisible Man, Pineapple Express, Little Women and Along Came Polly (performed by: Amelia Burton, Tallen Hall & James Tait; Brigitte Freeme & Dominic Graves; Carla Beard & Harry Pitts). I enjoyed the mix of old and new pieces: there were moving scenes from Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie (Rachel Thomas & Charlie Baz); Eugene O'Neill's A Long Day's Journey Into Night (Dominic Graves & Liam Wallis); and fresh material from Laura Wade's Colder Than Here (Elizabeth Mahoney); Jasmine Lee-Jones's Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner (Alexia Swain); and Gary Owens's The Drowned World (Adam Kay); plus scenes from Australian works: Finnegan Kruckemeyer's The Violent Outburst That Drew Me to You (Rachel Thomas); Mark Rogers's Naked and Screaming (Emily Crow & Josh Bull).

The team behind the showcase has done a very good job to make the pieces seamlessly flow as a complete show. Creative Directors Paul Sabey, Jacqui Somerville, Megan Shorey, Heidi Loveland (also the tireless pianist for the performances) and Choreographer, Dan Venz, and Voice & Dialect Consultant Melissa Agnew, have all done a superb job to add the necessary polish to the performances. There was also some snappy sound and lighting courtesy of Owen Arnold and Keith Clark, essential to give the proceedings the necessary professional finish.

Image: Hanlon Innocent

The performers were all faultless, superb and highly professional. The selection and presentation of material shows a maturity and understanding of their industry. And, while a more diverse mix will no doubt emerge in future post-pandemic years, the group are a very good range of different types. I can see these performers in a multitude of roles – from indie theatre, TV and stage drama, comedy, and of course stage and on-screen musicals. There are certainly some very talented performers out there for casting directors to choose from once the industry is back on its feet. Meantime, I'm sure this energetic group will take advantage of the digital space to create their own opportunities to continue to showcase their talents.

Beth Keehn

Images: Tangible Media