Schools on Stage

Performing Arts High

You have probably seen Fame and watched Glee, but what is it really like attending a Performing Arts High School? Laura Banning and Lola Bond from the Australian Performing Arts Grammar School in inner city Sydney have the low down.

How do you balance school work and performing?

Laura: APGS always incorporates the performing arts into our academic learning. The structure of three days of academic work and two days of performing arts allows a balance, making sure everything is covered equally.

MTC Family and School Tips in 2019

The Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2019 season is filled with stories of adventure, love, friendship, discovery and drama. The season takes audiences on a journey around Australia and the world via the very best new plays, reimaginings of beloved classics and fresh productions of international smash-hits.

Fiddler on the Roof

Book by Joseph Stein. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Moriah College. October 21 – November 1, 2018.

Think less of a high school putting on a musical and think more of the school spectacular. To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Moriah College put on a production on a scale certainly larger than any community theatre in Sydney.

First you are handed for free an almost 50 page chunky program. Then you look into the orchestra pit and see 26 accomplished adult musicians.

Fiddler on the Roof at Moriah College

Moriah College, Sydney’s oldest and largest Jewish school, presents the definitive production of the classic Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof from 21 October to 1 November, 2018 – and with an all-singing, all-dancing cast of more than 150. It’s a Tradition!

The Addams Family

Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa, book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Mercedes College. Directed by Kathleen Cocks. The Regal Theatre, Subiaco, WA. 27-29 July, 2018

Mercedes College’s production of The Addams Family was a lavish production that belied that it was a school production with professional production values, excellent direction and an exceptional young cast.

Legally Blonde

Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Neil Benjamin, Book Heather Hach.Scotch College, Torrens Park (SA). 27 July to 4 August, 2018.

Legally Blonde is a musical with a book by Heather Hach. The story is based on the novel and the 2001 film of the same name starring Reese Witherspoon.

High School Musical

Based on the Disney Movie by Peter Barsocchini. Xavier Catholic College, Skenners Head, Ballina. Director: Naomie Fitzgerald. June 28th – 30th, 2018

With more than 110 cast members, this was a mammoth production. Staged in the multi-purpose Auditorium/Gym, the setting worked well – including a mini basket ball game! And the cast of secondary scholars were equal to the task.

The Drowsy Chaperone

Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison.Rosny College (Tas). Darren Sangwell (Director) Andrew Castles (Musical Director) Janelle Stowe (Vocal Director). Set (Adrianne Daley and Maddie Smith) Costumes (Nicole Ottrey). 17-26 May 2018

School shows increasingly exhibit high production values. A large and experienced production team are given the budgets to support what is recognised as a valuable learning experience for students. Rosny’s The Drowsy Chaperone is a case in point.

Essgee’s Pirates of Penzance

By W.S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Additional material by Melvyn Morrow. Directed by Lisa Laurino. Gibney Hall, Trinity College, Perth, WA. May 10-12, 2018

Perth’s Trinity College is renowned for its excellent choirs and music program, but it has not produced a musical since 1995. With Pirates of Penzance it has relaunched its school production with a bang.

Disco Inferno

St Edmund’s College, Canberra and St Clare’s College put on a production of Disco Inferno to packed crowds in May 2018.

Disco Inferno tells a classic tale of redemption. After the hero sells his ‘soul’ for the promise of fame and fortune and everything that comes with it, he soon realises that the quick fix he asks for is not the answer. With the fame and fortune come the trials and tribulations which ultimately lead him to the realisation of being careful what you wish for.