From Community Theatre to Studying Theatre…
Community theatre is an opportunity for those who love or are curious about theatre and want to explore the art form after work and school.
It was an art form that I explored in this environment for 10 years in Sydney before deciding to move to Melbourne and study Musical Theatre full time.
Diana Morales in Blackout Theatre Company’s ‘A Chorus Line’ - Photo by Jack Thepsourinthone
Jumping from exploring Musical Theatre in a community environment to full-time studies was a challenge in many ways, especially during lockdowns.
Musical Theatre as a Career Choice
The first challenge to wrap my head around was the aspect that Musical Theatre was not a hobby for me anymore, it was a career choice that I was actively making.
Every artist has heard it all before, “The arts are not a stable career choice…” or “There’s no security in the arts…” and so much more.
However, artists go for their career choice because we love it, despite the ups and downs and no security.
To actively decide to pursue Musical Theatre as a career was a big choice, however, it was one I made with the help of Community Theatre.
Rehearsals, Tech Week and Shows became my favourite part of the day, and I decided that if I could make my favourite part of the day my career choice, then I was going to be able to live a happier and more fulfilling life.
From Hobby to Full Time
Community Theatre usually has roughly 6-8 hours per week of rehearsal time for 4-6 months and Tech week/Show weeks are roughly 35 hours (give or take) in the evenings and weekends.
Wednesday Addams in Character Role Study Class at Associated Studios Australia
Full-time studies at Associated Studios Australia is roughly 34 hours in the studio and then extra time outside of the studio for preparations for classes and assignments.
Actively working on my craft full time was a jump from only doing a couple of evenings a week of rehearsals with a couple of full-time weeks of Tech and Shows.
It was a shock to my system physically, mentally and my body and mind were being pushed to a limit that they hadn’t been before.
COVID lockdown didn’t help with the transition as we only had 2 weeks full time before the first lockdown and 4 weeks before the second lockdown.
Luckily, after our second lockdown, we went back full time and didn’t stop for 10 weeks until we reached our Showcase.
However, if we didn’t have those lockdowns, I feel my body and mind would have been in a better place by the end of the year. I guess, thanks to COVID, we’ll never know.
Working on My Craft
In community theatre, you have certain rehearsals for singing, blocking and choreography and essentially this is the same with studying full time.
You have certain classes for singing, acting, dance and performance, however, these skills are broken down even further.
Performing choreography from ‘Chicago’ in Song and Dance Class at Associated Studios Australia
Singing is broken down into private lessons, ensemble singing, repertoire class and vocal technique classes.
Acting is broken down into monologues, scene studies, play readings, physicality and character studies.
Dance is broken down to Musical Theatre Routine, Jazz Technique, Ballet and Contemporary.
The performance aspect was then brought into other classes including; Song and Dance, Performance Class, Acting Through Song and many more masterclasses as well as our final Showcase.
Some classes focused on other aspects of performance and theatre such as Accents, Fitness and Conditioning, History of Musical Theatre and many more, pushing us even further as each class went by.
Breaking every skill down into specifics showed me that so much more goes into this craft and it pushed us to work even harder every day.
Back to Basics to Move Forward
Something I was not prepared for was to go back to basics before moving forward.
One of my first shocks was when we were in Jazz Technique class, learning the proper technique of pirouettes so that we can turn with and without arms.
Turns out I have been relying on my shoulders and arms to turn, and without my arms, I could only do a single pirouette.
Performing ‘It Won’t Be Long Now’ from ‘In The Heights’ at Associated Studios Australia final Showcase 2020 - Photo By James Terry Collective
I had been doing double pirouettes since primary school but here I was at 24 having to go back to half turns and singles.
I did get emotional in class but it all paid off when by the end of the year I could do double pirouettes without my arms behind my back.
It even paid off even more when in my recent Jazz class I did my first TRIPLE pirouettes!
The same went for my singing, acting and performance skills, back to basics to move forward.
I felt exposed in many classes and broke down more than once when I couldn’t hold back my feelings, however, I was blessed to go to a theatre school where every class was a safe space to be open and vulnerable.
Did I Make the Right Decision?
Looking back on such a tumultuous year, do I think I made the right decision? Yes, I do!
It has been amazing working on my craft and progressing in each skill individually as well as a whole.
Performing ‘It Won’t Be Long Now’ from ‘In The Heights’ at Associated Studios Australia final Showcase 2020 - Photo By James Terry Collective
Though realistically it will be a while before I gain work due to the pandemic, I believe I have come leaps and bounds in my skills before and after 2020.
One of the best parts of Associated Studios Australia is that we have the ability to further our studies with the UK counterpart of Associated Studios.
Should everything go well with vaccinations and cases go down in the UK, I hope to continue my studies with Associated Studios.
I think we can all agree 2020 was a rollercoaster of a year, however, no matter how hard it got during lockdown with online classes, a 5km radius limit and curfew, we can still look back on 2020 and find some good things that happened.
If you want to see more behind the scenes looks at what studying during lockdown was like or how our final showcase went, you can check out my Lockdown videos as well as my ‘Farewell ASA!’ video or my ‘Final Week at ASA Vlog!’ below!
More information on Associated Studios Australia or Associated Studios UK can be found below:
