WAAPA Announces Biggest Program Ever

The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) launched its 2014 program earlier this month with more concerts, shows, musicals and events than ever before. Showcasing the talents of those on the stage as well as those behind the scenes, 2014 is crammed full of performances from the departments of music, dance, acting, aboriginal theatre and music theatre.

Regarded as one of the world’s leading performing arts academies, WAAPA boasts an alumni including the likes of Hugh Jackman, Lisa McCune, Tim Minchin, Virginia Gay (Winners and Losers), Lucy Durack (Wicked) and Eddie Perfect (Offspring).

The family picnic friendly WAAPA in the Park is on Saturday 22 March.  This year the WAAPA Big Band and Contemporary Music students will perform highlights from the big band era, funk, soul and pop, including the works of Ellington, Basie, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

The third years will begin their performance year with Hair. The joyous celebration of youth set during the Vietnam war. Their final performance, before preparing for Showcase, will be Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, the West end hit revival of 2013. The second years performance schedule includes the dramatic piece Beach by Timothy Daly and the Stephen Schwartz biblical Children of Eden. Both third and second years will come together for the traditional mid-year musical theatre production at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco. In 2014 this will be the multi-award winning West Side Story.

The calendar is full of musical events with some thirty-five events showcasing the various musical genres.  Highlights include Songs, Sonnets & Shakespeare; The Great War; An evening with Vince Jones; Fascinating Rhythms; Trick or Treat; and Guess Who is Coming for Dinner.

2014 will see the second and third year acting students present a total of eleven productions. From Shakespeare classics Measure for Measure and The Comedy of Errors to modern classics including Great Expectations and The Grapes of Wrath. The program also includes a production written some 411 years before Christ, Thesmophoriazusae, one of Aristophane’s eleven surviving comedies.

“You will be inspired by the talent, the enthusiasm and the skill of these young artists” – Professor Julie Warn AM – Director

2014 Program – Some Highlights

Musical Theatre

Beach: 14 – 20 March (2nd Year students drama)

Hair:  15 – 22 March

West Side Story: 14 – 21 June

Merrily We Roll Along: 23 – 30 August

Children of Eden:  11 – 18 October

 

Acting

The Resistible Rise of Artura Ui:  14 – 20 March

Thesmophoriazusae:  15 – 20 March

Festen : 2 – 8 May

Measure for Measure:  3 – 8 May

Punk Rock:  13 – 18 June

Realism:  13 – 19 June

Columbinus:  14 – 19 June

Great Expectations: 22 – 28 August

The Grapes of Wrath: 23 – 28 August

Blood Wedding:  10 – 16 October

The Comedy of Errors: 18 – 29 October

 

Dance

Kora: 3 – 9 May;  Groundswell: 21 – 24 May

Raw:  26 – 30 August

Surge: 16 – 18 October

Synchronicity: 15 – 22 November

Music

Songs, Sonnets & Shakespeare: 3 April

The Great War: 24 April

An evening with Vince Jones: 9 – 11 April

Fascinating Rhythms: 11 – 13 September

Trick or Treat:  31 October

Guess Who is Coming for Dinner: 14 – 20 November

Aboriginal Theatre Production:  15 – 20  November

WAAPA Open Day:  Sunday 10 August

For the complete 2014 program visit www.waapa.edu.au