Little Women ready to bring it

THERE is something spine-tinglingly thrilling about watching emerging talent blossom on the floor of a rehearsal room.

It is even more agreeable when the performers are aged between 12 and 17, and you recognise they are the next generation to follow in the wake.

Currently, students from the Ballarat Centre of Music & the Arts are rehearsing for two productions.

Broadway musical Little Women which is an adaptation of Louise May Alcott’s famous novel, and Bring It On: The Musical, which focusses on the competitive world of American cheerleading and outrageous, Machiavellian, student rivalries.

Over the years, Ballarat has produced some exceptional talent.

The Ballarat Centre of Music & the Arts, a drama and dance academy owned and operated by Paula Heenan is continuing the tradition.

With about 1000 students, the school covers all the disciplines needed for a career in the performing arts.

The students enrol from across Ballarat, however, when it comes times to performing all are equal. Talent knows no social barriers.

Watching two full dress rehearsals, it is obvious, given the opportunity and encouragement, a number of these young performers could easily end-up as actors and performers.

The comedic talent of 14-year-old Abbey Morton is a joy, and is already of a standard only rarely discovered in a drama school.

Little Women, which has a small cast for a Broadway musical, is brought to life by a talented company.

Their willingness to take-on roles beyond their years, and maturity, is refreshing and the mother of the Little Women, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, is played by Izzy Farrah.

Aged 15, Izzy confidently brings a stillness and a comprehension to her characterisation which is unexpected, and unusual, in one so young.

Jo, played by June Allyson in the famous 1949 MGM film version, is played in this production by Ella Harrison who is most engaging.

Ella Harrison plays Jo March in Septembers performances of Little Women.

With a total lack of fear she carries the bulk of musical with relaxed ease. I suspect she is not without talent for this work.

The lead in Bring It On is played by Dana Reynolds.

With the daring of youth, she leads a gifted company through an energetic production which leaves you feeling invigorated.

The choreography is the original work of Jinah Waters and it would be surprising if, in the years to come, she does not make her way into the professional theatre.

Working with a team of student dancers from the academy, the overall standard of Waters’ work is exceptional, and imaginative.

The four performances, two of each play, go at the Mount Rowan Secondary College theatre, and are an opportunity for Ballarat audiences, after two-years of COVID mayhem, to support the city’s young and emerging talent.