Recently, Imogen Dearlove (Year 9) and myself (Asha Lague) (Year 7) had the wonderful opportunity of performing in the renowned ‘Grease the Musical’ production, held at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco. It was an amazing experience and we were lucky enough to perform amongst the likes of famous Australian actors and actresses including John O’Hara, Carmello Pizzino and Home and Away’s Lynne McGranger. The auditioning and rehearsal process began over four months ago and although gruelling, was an experience that we will never forget.
I remember waiting in line for the audition as if it was only yesterday. Butterflies filled our stomachs and the nerves grew stronger as the door to the audition room slowly opened. As we stepped into the room three ladies sat awaiting us. Many hopeful young performers sat down in perfect unison and waited until we were told to sing. One by one we stood up and sang a small part of a Grease song of our choice. It felt like hours until we were allowed to stand up and leave the room again, but eventually everyone had finished singing and the first part of our audition was over.
The next day we all came back for our dance audition. Imogen and I felt much more comfortable in this audition as we have been dancing since we were babies! We walked into the Dance Studio like professionals and in silence and stood in a straight line. Dani was our dance teacher and taught us four different routines that we were then to perform to the boss and the director of the show. We learnt hip hop, lyrical, jazz and tap routines. In this audition, the time flew by so fast because we were having so much fun! The last audition was over.
Now it was the waiting game. We waited patiently to get a letter through the mail to see if we made the cut. Two weeks went by and the nerves became more and more intense, but finally a letter in the mail with an APAN stamp arrived! Imogen and I had both been cast in the APAN musical “Grease”. We could not contain our excitement!
A month later we started rehearsing songs and dances for the shows. Six weeks of intense training and rehearsals went by in a flash and before we knew it we were side stage dressed as characters from the 1950s ready to perform to hundreds of people. Performing five shows filled with a full house each time was so exciting. The wide audience included local communities, charities, family and friends was truly an amazing experience and it is something that will stay in our hearts and memories forever. To think that our whole experience is over is disappointing, but we will always remember the memories, friends and exciting times we had during the production of “Grease The Musical”.
Written by Asha Lague (Year 7)