Celebrating Centre Stage
Back in 2014, ºÚÁÏÊÓƵ opened its beautiful Performing Arts Centre (PAC). In doing this, the school leadership showed great ambition and encouragement of the arts and, 10 years on, we have seen some incredible milestones achieved with Dance, Drama and Music all united under one roof and delivering incredible outcomes regionally and internationally.
Over the last decade we have seen an array of student talent grace our beloved PAC. Many past students have gone on to forge wonderful careers in business, law, economics and marketing with their highly developed levels of character, collaboration and creativity from their experiences on our stage. However, we have also seen some very special talents follow entry through esteemed Australian institutes such as NIDA, WAAPA, AFTRS, Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music and London’s Guildford School of Music.
The PAC stage has generated over 20 school productions in the last 10 years in which students have come together and dazzled our school community time and time again.
Particularly special highlights over this decade have been watching Kasey Barnes fly above us all as she sang ‘Defying Gravity’ as Elphaba in Wicked, Nicholas Moroney’s stunning cinematography visuals as a captivating backdrop to the powerful Jesus Christ Superstar performance by Matthew Trethewy, and a beautiful moment between Cameron Barnett as Fagin and Anastasia Hibbard (on stage Violinist) performing ‘Reviewing the Situation’ in Oliver! All moments worthy of any professional stage and that will live long in the memory beyond the PAC’s first decade.
Alongside school performances, our PAC has been the home of highly successful HSC examinations but also high-profile guest speakers and wide range of special events. We have hosted art exhibitions, professional operatic works, rock concerts, dance eisteddfods and professional educational seminars.
We have been extremely fortunate to have John Bell (founder of Bell Shakespeare) and Jason Haigh Ellery (West End Theatre Producer) in to meet and talk to our students. The multi-use aspect of the PAC has provided the school with an incredible home for special events and the capacity to host for its local community and beyond.
The PAC has given our school so much already. It continues to attract incredible interest from our community and provides an amazing platform for students to showcase their talents and abilities. If the first decade is anything to mark itself by, there is no doubt the next 10 years and beyond will be further filled with incredible opportunities for our students that will live with them, and us, forever.
