A Mill Park Secondary College student will be taking to the stage at John Cain Arena next month as part of the Victorian State Schools Spectacular.
Year 12 student Elizabeth is a principal vocalist in this year’s spectacular, having taken part over the past seven years.
“In 2016, I was one of the hundreds of state school students in the mass dance cast. The year after, I took the leap and auditioned for the core casting, fortunately landing the role I wanted: backing vocalist. This was especially exciting because I was able to harmonise (my favourite thing to do in music) and sing a large variety of songs. From 2018 onwards, I’ve been a principal vocalist and one of the key features that I love about this role is the depth of the performance: movement and emotional expression,” Elizabeth said.
“This year, I feel more grateful than ever to be performing as a principal vocalist. In the past two years, we experienced a variety of challenges, such as online rehearsals, but this year we’ve been back and rehearsing has been in full motion with a lot of passion and creative energy – I’m pretty sure we got ahead of the rehearsal timeline!”
Elizabeth said she enjoyed watching the final show come together on the arena stage.
“On stage, I’m able to think about the countless months we spent rehearsing and what that’s come to. We started with a smaller idea and direction and, with the guidance of our creative team and the support of our peers, we gave it life. We’ve gone through this together and we get to the arena and everyone is doing what they love, together,” she said.
“When it comes to performing in general, I enjoy variety: learning to portray new genres, learning new skills and performing as different characters! With the range of songs in spec, I’m definitely able to do so.”
Elizabeth hopes the spectacular will be good training for a career in stage performance. She hopes to study musical theatre next year.
“Music has always been something that I was passionate about but, performing as Oz in my school’s production of ‘We Will Rock You’ in 2019, I realised that my theatrical performance style really suited the genre and I just really enjoyed the combination of singing, acting and dancing on stage,” she said.
