Youth theatre offers expression

NEXUS began life as a small theatre group in 2010 with the aim of providing a place for high school students to build community and learn the dramatic arts.

Founder Julie Lovell said her goal was to give kids a place where they could feel accepted, make friends, and at the same time have an amazing experience with theatre.

“There’s a lot of kids that don’t have a place and all of a sudden, they walk into our community and go ‘oh my gosh I’ve found my people’, and it’s beautiful,” she said.

Over the years Nexus has attracted Maryborough and Echuca, which Ms Lovell attributes to the opportunity the group offers to be a part of a grand production.

One such production was their 2017 run of Phantom of the Opera, which they were given the rights to after appealing to Andrew Lloyd Webber with a recording of the group performing a scene from the script.

“We wrote to Andrew Lloyd Webber to ask him if we could do it and he gave us permission to do it,” Ms Lovell said.

“We really want to have a high-quality result in the things that we do.”

Nexus puts on one production per year and on the bill for 2024 is the classic story of Cinderella.

With a high number of expressions of interest already submitted to Nexus from prospective cast members, Ms Lovell said the cast will likely be large as the company never turns people away.

“That’s something very unique to Nexus, most theatre companies take the best and find the best people and say ‘sorry the rest of you didn’t make it,” she said.

“Nexus takes everyone and puts everyone in the cast and gives them all an experience.”

Last year’s ensemble cast was nominated for an award for being the best ensemble for a junior production, despite many of the cast members having limited to no prior acting experience.

“It’s pretty amazing what people can do when you give them an opportunity and that’s what these kids can show you,” she said.

Auditions will open later this month and registration forms will be available on the Nexus website soon.