Performing Arts News 

School Production

What a whirlwind first semester we have had in the Performing Arts 2021. We started the performance year with our Autumn Concert, followed by the Unit 3 Theatre performance of Ruby Moon and the second biggest event on the calendar, the school production, which this year was The Addams Family.  

Planning and staging a musical in quite uncertain times was a brave choice and one that I do not regret and would like to thank the school for letting this key event happen this year. The resilience, dedication, and energy of the cast and crew of the production must be admired; they managed to stage a show despite losing key rehearsal time during lockdown in Term 2. When we came back on site, we brought the musical together in just two weeks and three holiday rehearsals (which in theatre time is not quite enough!). But the tenacity and willpower of the students and staff involved is what allowed for a fantastic product to be realised.  

 The mantra of Thursday was to treat the show like it was our last and to give it 110%. The result was a stunning and smooth performance that was engaging in all the right ways. All the comedy cues, nuances in performances by the chorus and the outstanding singing and acting from our leads were on point. I was amazed at how they managed to get together a show in such a short time period.  

While we haven’t been able to celebrate the success yet as a company, I hope that we will find time in the coming weeks to reflect on what we achieved.  

I wish we could have performed more shows for the public and perhaps there will come a time where we can perform excerpts for the community. This truly was one of the best performances at Nossal High School and a fantastic sign in the growth of talent and the Arts at the school.  

I look forward to seeing the final production of this year’s major event: House Performing Arts Festival in August and also the final performance of the year in the Unit 2 performance of The Laramie Project.  

Shane Woon 

Producer  

Extended Acknowledgements 

The production's success would not have been possible without the assistance and guidance from our alumni Broden, Ace and Kimiko, who steered The Addams Family in Term 1 and helped stitch it together in the Term 2 holidays and production week. It is clear the Class of 2018 brought all they have learnt from the world beyond Nossal to make the 2021 performance a reality.  

In addition, the two Drama Captains, Neha Cherayath and Neha Nair, led the cast and crew through all the challenges. Neha Cherayath took the role of musical director and was there at every step to get the chorus and leads through the musical as well as managing the wider needs of the play. Neha Nair managed our backstage, props and set team throughout the year to ensure that the properties and set were being made and painted, as well as ensuring that the show would run smoothly with its numerous transitions. The wonderful artwork executed by Jiny Jeony and Tran Huynh is to be admired in its own right - those sets could move into any theatre in Australia.  

Now onto the represenstatives of the Class of 2021, who were numerous and included lead performers Gabby Rota, school captain Nadia Hadzikadic, Hannah Torregosa and Biruntha Muhunthan stole the show with their fantastic acting and singing skills. Gabby Rota had the challenge of portraying Gomez Addams and it was like I was watching the 1990s kids version on TV come onto stage. Paired with Biruntha’s convincing portrayal of the matriarch with her nuanced gestures and cutting comedic timing, the show's tone was set for a fantastic night. Nadia transformed from school captain to the character of manic and supressed housewife Alice Beineke so convincingly, I nearly called a counsellor! Hannah Torregosa is the more reserved of the year 12 cast, but she was able to pull off the challenge of being the mischievous Pugsley Addams who just wants to be tortured by his older sister.  

The leadership of the Class of 2021, was also supported by our resident dance troupe of Annette Varghese, Esha Vashisht, Isa Risal, 

Sigappi Ramanathan and Varshaa Dharmavaram, who applied their dance talents into scene stealing group dancing as the ancestors that teamed up with Pugsley to cause mischief and mayhem. They all contributed to the creation of dances planned and improvised, being led by Annette and Esha.  

They were supported by our Year 12 backstage in Aayush Khatiwada and Tram Le, who were frantically making props during production week and dealing with all the last minute staging issues for 2021, and king of the sound board and microphones - Richard Lee.  

Class of 2021, you have continued to be the biggest presence in the production since 2018 and we will greatly miss your energy, charisma, uniqueness and talent in the years to come.  

Finally. to school council, the parent community, Mr Page and Ms Mackin for their on-going support of this co-curricular program, and to the staff who were essential throughout the rehearsal process in motivating myself and the students throughout – Ms Denman and Ms Desaulniers – this show would not be possible without your time and dedication to the production throughout the rehearsal period. I'd also like to make a special "shout out" to Mr Pegram for operating the lights, Ms Budd and Ms Faulkner for assisting with singing and Ms Slywka with the promotion, ticketing and marketing of the performance, as well as all the teachers that were able to come or who helped out in any way along the process.  

With deepest gratitude, 

Mr Shane Woon

The Addams Family: A Year 9 Perspective

This last semester has been hectic! Coming into a new school was stressful, confusing and a little terrifying. While making our way through our classes, we realised that we needed somewhere to relax and have some fun (while still doing something productive because, let’s be honest, that’s just who we are). The school production ended up being that for us. We danced, sang, painted and created a few times every week, and it helped us stay focused and engaged with school, while also making heaps of new friends! 

Nossal’s 2021 production was the musical The Addams Family, a show about a girl from a very unusual family falling in love with a ‘normal’ boy. We had a few setbacks (aka COVID), but in the end, we managed to pull off one phenomenal performance. We were a little disappointed to only be able to do one show, but that just made us more determined to make it absolutely amazing! We are so glad that we could showcase all of the time and hard work everyone had put in. It was a night we will cherish forever! 

For us Year 9s, this was our first production and what can we say; we are totally doing the show next year! For the Year 12s, this was their final production and they did an outstanding job of staging one final performance on the Nossal stage, and we look forward to (hopefully) seeing some of them back as alumni in later years. A shout out to all of the main cast, chorus and backstage; you were fantastic! 

We would like to give a special thanks to Mr Woon, Ms Denman, Ms Desaulniers without whom the production would never have happened, and to Ms Webster and Mr Pegram who assisted with makeup/hair and lighting, and a big shout-out to Ms Slywka for doing the publicity and last-minute re-arranging of ticket bookings and all the teachers who helped out and came to our only performance. Also, the Nossal alumni, Broden, Ace and Kimiko for directing the show and our insanely amazing drama captains Neha C and Neha N for doing pretty much everything else! 

Once again, being part of The Addams Family was an incredible and rewarding experience that we wouldn’t trade for the world! :)  

Elena Sarandeva (chorus) &

Zeana Cole (props/backstage)

Year 9