Schools on Stage

International Theatre Festival Arrives in Melbourne

The city of Melbourne is set to host its very first Junior Theatre Celebration Melbourne (JTC Melbourne) on July 27, 2024 at the Bunjil Place Theatre in Narre Warren. This event offers an opportunity for students and teachers passionate about musical theatre to come together, share their talents, and learn from industry professionals.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

By William Shakespeare. Holy Cross College Senior School Drama. Directed by Shelly Miller. New Norcia Building, Holy Cross College, Ellenbrook, WA. July 17-20, 2024

Holy Cross College Senior School Drama present A Midsummer Night’s Dream in their nicely appointed black box theatre. The Bard is a challenge for actors of any age, and these young performers approach the task with enthusiasm and gusto.

Kate Mulvany OAM, Andy Griffiths and more at Bell Shakespeare’s NESA-accredited National Teacher Conference

Bell Shakespeare has recently announced its 2024 National Teacher Conference is now NESA-accredited. Taking place at Bell Shakespeare’s Sydney headquarters and online on 9 – 10 August 2024, the National Teacher Conference, proudly supported by Teachers Mutual Bank, will offer an enriching two days of conversation and learning  about Shakespeare and the way we teach his plays.

Disney’s Aladdin Jr

By Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Chad Beguilin. Primadonna Productions. Directed by Carole Dhu. Pinjarra Civic Centre, WA. Jun 28-29, 2024

Primadonna Productions, just a week after their previous production, have mounted a very short season of Disney’s Aladdin Jr, with a cast ranging from tots to older teens. A most endearing production, this show features all Primadonna’s young performance troupe, with seven performing for the very first time.

Popstars! The 90s Musical

It's boy band vs girl band in this hilarious musical from the writing team that brought you the previous Xavier production, Back to the ‘80s.

Popstars is packed with smash hits from the hyper-coloured 1990s by artists such as The Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, MC Hammer and many more.

It's set in a school in the 1990s where Mark (Lennox Broadley) is head over heels in love with his girlfriend, Queen Bee, Shannon Van de Witt (Evie Sargent).

Mary Poppins Jr

By Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and a book by Julian Fellowes. Bel Canto. Directed by Blake Jenkins. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth WA. May 31 - Jun 3, 2024

Disney Pixar Finding Nemo Kids

By Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Lindsay Anderson and Myrna Conn. Western Theatrics, Directed by Peregrine Carr. Koorliny Arts Centre, Kwinana, WA. May 23-26, 2024

Finding Nemo Kids is a youth theatre production from relatively new theatre group Western Theatrics. Presented by a dynamic young cast, it is running for a short season at Koorliny Arts Centre, sharing a performance season with sibling production Legally Blonde Jr.

Training Up in Tech

Does your school or community group have students or volunteers who are interested in working backstage?

Outlook, one of Victoria’s leading audio and full production companies, is putting out the welcome mat. 

Outlook is offering an opportunity for students, who don’t want to be on stage, to train alongside some of Melbourne’s best radio mic technicians or be mentored in mixing sound front of house.

Outlook is one of the only companies that allows such involvement.

Brainstorming For a Better Future

Clinical psychologist Dr Ameika Johnson explains how live theatre can help young people tackle online exploitation and bullying.

The internet is a complex and rapidly changing space. Technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality and the metaverse have the potential for great benefit but also carry the risk of great harm, for children and young people.

Live theatre provides a platform to explore these opportunities and challenges and empower students to take positive action in the digital world.

How To Write An Opera

Students across Australia can access an on-line program that teaches them how to write, compose, orchestrate and design their very own opera. The Victorian Opera’s Tim Ryan describes how the Beyond the Stage program brings the creativity of opera to classrooms.

I came across Beyond the Stage as a VCE Music and Drama teacher, trawling the internet for engaging resources during the dreaded COVID-19 lockdowns of 2021.