Schools on Stage

Mamma Mia!

Music and Lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Book by Catherine Johnson. directed by Zoe Parker. Centre for Performing Arts, All Saints College, Bull Creek, WA. Apr 21 - 24, 2021

All Saints College’s Hothouse Company presented this popular musical to capacity audiences, in a season sadly interrupted by Perth’s latest COVID lockdown. A highly energetic, keen and focused young company, this was an innovative production that was very well received.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Book by Linda Woolverton. The Reddam House High School. Directed by Dean Hattingh. NIDA Parade Theatre. March 24 and 25, 2021

Beauty and the Beast is a musical where you cannot shirk on the set or costumes, and this performance was a feast for the eyes from beginning to end.

Back to The 80s

Written by Neil Gooding. By arrangement with David Spicer Productions. Additional material by Stuart Smith. Revised orchestrations and arrangements by Brett Foster. Directors: Allysha Hodges, Leanne Broadley. Xavier Catholic College, Ballina. June 24 - 26, 2022

Xavier Catholic College’s Back to The 80s is a big, vibrant production, bursting with energy and enthusiasm.

It’s A Hard Knock Life

Image: Rehearsal for Pulse Alive. Photofrapher: Anna Warr.

In her latest Behind the Scenes column, Debora Krizak looks at how tough the pandemic has been on school performing arts.

Cancelled. For most, this means a simple disruption to the social calendar. Throughout the pandemic, most of my friends continued to work from home. For those of us working in The Arts, putting on a show from home just doesn’t pay the bills.

Adapting Laurinda

A Q&A with Diana Nguyen

Already a fan of Alice Pung’s work, Diana Nguyen is thrilled to now have the author’s blessing to adapt her award-winning YA novel Laurinda for the stage. As part of her Melbourne Theatre Company NEXT STAGE commission to adapt the novel, Diana Nguyen will work with dramaturg and director Petra Kalive to bring to life Pung’s funny, feisty and moving characters.

What can you tell us about the project to adapt Alice Pung’s novel Laurinda?

Black Swan’s Creative Learning

Image: City of Gold. Credit: Joseph Myers.

The Black Swan State Theatre Company’s 2022 season celebrates family, friendships and the relationships that connect us. Four productions that will especially appeal to educators and students are accompanied by comprehensive Creative Learning Resource Packs.

Australian Musical Theatre Festival 2022 Schools Program

The 2022 Australian Musical Theatre Festival will take place in Launceston, Tasmania from 18-22 May. This is a major event for everyone interested in the performing arts and an opportunity for teachers and students to get involved in this welcoming, creative, ever-enthusiastic and family-friendly art form. 

Stewart Bell Takes a Final Bow at Haileybury

When Stewart Bell, Haileybury’s outgoing Director of Performing Arts, arrived at the school in 1981, he never imagined that — 40 years later — he’d still be there.

In December, Mr Bell will leave the school where he has built an impressive Performing Arts curriculum, helped some well-known students towards a career in the arts industry – and where he met his wife, Philippa.

Playing with Shakespeare a Win for Primary School Film Makers

“You think it’s not going to be interesting, but it’s cool” – that’s how award winning Year 4 student Daisy McLean describes Shakespeare.

Daisy, along with sister Georgia, twins Piper and Lilia Buhagiar (Cronulla South), and Toby and Isla McAlary (Robertson) won the Bell Shakespeare Shorts Festival competition in the Primary Film and Excellence in Performance Category, with their film, The Writers’ Room.

Disney Moana Jr.

Music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina. Book adapted by Susan Soon He Stanton. Music and Orchestrations adapted and arranged by Ian Weinberger. Gosnells Primary School. Directed by Grace Johnson. Nov 2-4, 2021

Gosnells Primary School’s biannual production features four classes of Yr 5 and 6 students, working beautifully as a team to present this Disney favourite.