NAPA News - Week 7, Term 1, 2024

Dear NAPA Families,

This has been a big week of auditions for our Musical Theatre classes. This can be a stressful time for the students and often for parents in handling this part of a performance journey for their child. You may need to give a few pep talks to keep them positive, so I will include a few helpful hints in this newsletter.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL AUDITIONS

With so many new faces this year we have approached the audition process a little differently by running scene workshops and teaching We’re All in This Together as a company number. This has been a wonderful opportunity to really get to see the students shine prior to auditions.

This week saw the solo singing auditions. Mr Matt, Miss Hannah and Cilla were so proud of song choice, preparation and the absolute commitment to doing their very best from all of the students. Bravo!

SOUND OF MUSIC CLOSING PERFORMANCE

Congratulations again to our NAPA students who were in this musical. Sunday saw their final performance. So thrilled to see you all shine on stage and enjoy being in the show. Laurie and I went again to see the show so we could see the other cast of students: Ella Moris Fontes, Dakota Chanel, Lacey Reeves, Dexter Ryan, Jasmine Nean. Of course we got to see again Grace Nean, Jake Stubbs and one of our mums, Melissa Quirk who played Sister Berthe. It was great to see so many of the NAPA family members there to support the students as they have throughout the season.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

I was so fortunate that my free day available to see Beauty & the Beast had one of our students in it. What a delight to see James Mitchell perform in the role of Chip. He was awesome! I highly recommend you all seeing this show, it is absolutely spectacular! The technology used is sensational. It would be such a great inspiration for our students to go and see what can be achieved in a professional show with a budget such as this. Hope you all get to see either Cru Lee or James Mitchell if you go. Please check our P&F Facebook page regularly for updates to check when the boys are performing.

WICKED IS COMING TO BRISBANE IN SEPTEMBER!

Miss Kim was lucky enough to go to see our fabulous NAPA graduates Emily & Courtney Monsma perform in their opening night of Wicked in Melbourne. Get ready to book your tickets soon as they will be performing in Brisbane starting in September.

CONGRATULATIONS ALEX ANDREWS

Alex entered the Light Up the Stage dance competition with incredible results. Check these out:
1st Ballet
1st Song & Dance
1st Acro
1st Hip Hop
2nd Jazz
3rd Tap
Runner up overall 10 and under champ
Runner up highest score

P&F AGM

Once again just a reminder that our AGM for our P&F will take place on Monday 25th March at 5pm. Hope to see a few of you there to support the P&F. Closure of nominations will be on 18th March to finalise the nominations so we can work out our ballot.

MUMMY & ME CLASSES

Our Mummy & Me class on Tuesdays from 9.30-10.00 a.m. with an extra class added on Wednesday for parents who couldn’t make Tuesday. We only have a couple of attendees at the moment for Tuesday, so if anyone is keen to do this class, please join up this week so we can monitor the demand for Tuesday class time.

HANDLING THE STRESS OF AUDITIONING HINTS:

Approach the audition as a fun and exciting experience. Encourage your child to enjoy the opportunity of getting up on a stage and performing for an audience in the audition. This, can bring lots of joy, regardless of the outcome.
Ensure your child is well prepared prior to the audition. Putting the time and energy into the preparation reduces stress and is also a great learning experience as well as giving them the best chance of gaining a role. It’s important to ensure you understand thoroughly the requirements of the audition. Auditions can vary in their process according to the show and directors.
Try to ‘normalise’ rejection. It’s important for our students to understand that for all shows, there are always lots of people going for a role but only one person can be assigned to it. Frequent rejection is part of the industry. As much as a performer can be suited for a role and be extremely talented, they can lose the role to someone with just a slight physical look more appropriate to the character, or has a different quality to their voice or some attribute that appeals to the audition panel. Not gaining a desired role does not always reflect on lack of talent. Help them to not feel they aren’t good, by focusing on what they have learned through the audition process and work on any feedback given or learning experience they gained throughout the audition process.
Acknowledge your child’s feelings but don’t dwell on it. If your child seems upset or nervous, allow them to express their feelings, acknowledge these feelings, let them know you are there to support them, then suggest doing something fun. The less you both dwell on the post-audition analysis, the better.
Celebrate whatever role your child gets. Make it exciting for your child when assigned a role by focussing on the positives of that role. Being in the ensemble is less stressful than having a lead that requires lines learnt and solo or duo musical numbers to master. Ensemble is a great way to learn stagecraft and performance techniques whilst enjoying performing for audiences without the nerves and pressure of being a lead role. Everyone is important in a show and required not to let the cast down by ensuring they give their best, work hard and embracing the assigned role.