In movies and TV, an extra is a “background artist” or “background actor”. Movies and TV productions have extras on set to “fill out” the background for the main action of the scene and make scenes look more realistic. Imagine a scene shot in a large city like New York, with two actors walking down the street having a conversation, but the street completely empty of other people – it wouldn’t be real. Extras are needed to make the street look as busy as it might on an average day in New York.

​In real life, during the film shoot, the street might be closed off to traffic so the film can be shot without disturbance. But extras are hired to recreate and enhance the reality of the scene.

Extras may have roles as passers-by in the street, people sitting at a café, drivers or passengers in cars or buses, or members of a family in a park. On film, they may appear as blurry images in the background, or they may be in focus around the main actors. It’s really up to the director to decide how they’re going to shoot the scene and how obviously the extras will appear. In the picture below, from Season 6 of the Netflix series, The Crown, you can see a host of extras around Princess Diana - photographers, security people and people in the street. These would all be extras - but costumed for the role they need to play, and handed props (like cameras) by the production's Art Department. 

An extra doesn’t usually have any lines to say.  

A featured extra, on the other hand, may have a single line to say – or, they may have a particular non-speaking action which contributes to the story – something more than walking down the street or sitting still in a café. But once the requirements on you extend beyond these basic functions - that is to say, into lines of dialogue and pushing the story forward - you move into the realm of the actor, and out of the world of the featured extra. You then have a "bit part" or "guest role" - in other words, a small acting role in the project.

Most commercial films and TV productions have a budget for extras, and in fact, in Australia, there’s an award rate for extras, set by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance.  At the time of writing, it’s $35.24 per hour for a four-hour call-out for TV and digital commercials. Sometimes featured extras receive a little more money for the extra tasks they have to do.
​
Sometimes you see student films and no-budget or low-budget films issue call-outs for extras, but with no pay attached. If you want to apply for one of these, just be clear on the nature of the production and payment arrangements – know whether you’re doing it to help out a student who’s learning the art of filmmaking, or an emerging filmmaker with no money - or whether you’re being duped by a company who should be paying its extras, but isn't. Believe it or not, they’re out there. 

You may have seen Ricky Gervais’ comedy series called Extras, about an ensemble of characters who work as extras, constantly hoping for their big break as an actor. For most of them, it never happens. Generally speaking, working as an extra is not a direct route to becoming a well-known actor.

Being an extra can be a great way to experience and understand movie sets, however. As an extra, you’ll gain insight into how the screen industry works. The days can be long, and the work repetitive (“Right…. Now walk from here to here! Action! Cut! Let’s do it again!”) but it can still be a thrill to be a part of a big movie. You’ll be in contact with extras coordinators, costume people, assistant directors, camera people, and possibly even stunt people where the script and story demand them. You’ll probably not be talking to them very much – your job is to focus on your task alone, and let them do their jobs (which are often stressful and busy during a shoot). But you’ll be able to observe how they operate, and by watching, learn about what’s involved in making a film or TV program.
​
An extra is effectively an unskilled role – you need no particular talent to become an extra, except to match the look the director is after.

So if you truly want to become an actor, it’s about learning the skills of the actor. An actor, in contrast to an extra, needs to:

• Play characters – embody them physically
• Use their voice effectively – master accents, articulation, resonance and projection
• Bring emotional vulnerability to their roles – be able to play a range of emotions, according to the demands of the story and the character’s journey
• Analyse scripts - be able to think through what their character is like by combing their script for clues, then work out how to bring that character to life.

At Perform Australia, we train people in these acting skills – and much more! So if you'd like to learn, consider these options: 

• If you’re starting out, try Acting 101 – it’s a beginner’s acting course that will introduce you to the fundamentals and give you a taste of what’s involved.
• If you’re looking for something deeper to sink your teeth into, try our Certificate IV. You can take it even further and do an Advanced Diploma as well.

It's an old chestnut: "You can't teach acting - you either have it, or you don't! You don't need to go to acting school to become an actor!"

Have you heard this one? It implies the ability to act well is a gift, something natural, something unique to some individuals, and absent from others. And, above all, "you can't teach it, and you certainly can't learn it". 

But does this theory really hold water?

A simple google search will turn up lists like "Seven Actors Who Never Went To Acting School" or Youtube videos chronicling the "big breaks" in movies of pretty young women spotted by talent scouts as teenagers. 

It's true - they're out there, and some of these actors have done very well for themselves.

But the reality is, most successful actors aren't spotted by talent scouts at age 13. They have to work for it - they study their craft, they put themselves out there, they audition for roles, and they work hard.

But even an actor who doesn't have a qualification in acting, but who somehow scored a role in a big production, usually gets some on-the-job training at one time or another. Vocal coaches, accent coaches, and even stage combat coaches and personal trainers, are brought in on major projects to help improve actors' performances. That's actor education - structured actor training - just in the workplace, rather than in a school.

Private tuition and one-on-one coaching for auditions are also services that top-name actors use when working towards a big role. From time to time, talent agents or managers also recommend ways for actors on their books to upskill. Even the very act of working with a director can be a form of coaching.

Not only that, but working actors have the opportunity to discuss the process of acting with other actors they meet on their projects. The learning is constant. It's like any other profession, where two people from the same field come together, professional dialogue takes place. You quiz your peers about what works for them, what technique they use, and their creative process. This helps inform your own work. So there's definitely something to teach, and something to learn.

Similarly, if you live in Los Angeles, where many actors get their big break, there's a culture of attending acting classes. Drop-in acting classes are available everywhere around the city. You attend to develop your skills, meet like-minded individuals, and make important contacts. So be aware that when you read the Wikipedia entries about big-name actors, it may not mention the many drop-in classes they did en route to stardom. These biographical summaries are more likely to mention if an actor did go to a particular university or acting academy, than if they did actor training via workshops, short courses, and private tuition at several different outlets. Overall, it's highly likely that successful actors without a degree have still accessed some form of actor training program throughout the years. To say they're "training-free" is probably erroneous.

So "on-the-job training" is not the only route to becoming an actor. The fact remains that there are many distinguished and respected academies teaching acting - even universities. So to say that there's "nothing to teach" or "nothing to learn" at acting school flies in the face of the evidence. Either these institutions have been fooling us for a long time... or there's something in it. Training at an acting school is an efficient way to gather the skills and knowledge needed to become an actor.

For every actor who didn't go to acting school, there are many thousands who did, and who have achieved as much, or more. Here are just some well-known actors currently working in the industry who have had actor training:

• Cate Blanchett
• Benedict Cumberbatch
• Tom Hiddleston
• Martin Freeman
• David Tennant
• Denzel Washington 
• Frances McDormand
• Olivia Coleman
• Eddie Redmayne
• Toni Collette
• Samira Wiley
• Gary Oldman
• Kevin Bacon
• Al Pacino
• Nicole Kidman
• Billy Magnussen

There are just so many it would be impossible to list them all...

Why Go To Acting School?
Here are some of the benefits of going to acting school, if you want to become a professional actor:

• You receive a comprehensive training program. Rather than a piecemeal approach to learning, most quality acting schools will have a set curriculum that unites a number of different techniques or processes that you can apply in a practical way. That means one skill builds on another, over time.  A good foundational course like the Certificate IV in Acting for Stage and Screen will do this for you. You can learn the essentials in one go.
• You learn from people who are established in their craft. You can be tutored by others who have already developed the skills needed to become a successful actor. Their feedback will help you improve.
• You can make contacts. Not only will you meet fellow students - the actors of the future - you will meet people through your acting school who you'd not ordinarily come in contact with. Whether that's the tutors, guest speakers, talent agents, directors or producers - a quality acting school will help you meet up with people who can advance your career. Without these contacts - how will you possibly get started?
• You can cash in on the reputation of your acting school. If you attend a quality acting school, their name will precede you. It's something great on your CV but it also lends legitimacy to your ability when you're starting out. From time to time you'll get asked in conversation, "Where did you train?"
• You can get to where you want to go, quicker. What happens if you never get spotted by a talent scout at a young age? Does it mean you've missed your chance? Of course not. Like any career, becoming an actor is about ensuring you're as equipped as possible to do the work that's required for the job that you want to do. Sure, you can turn up in a big city with starry eyes and all your belongings in a backpack, hoping to make it big in the movies... but do you honestly know where to start? By any measure, that's the hard way to go about it. If you get the training, you know what the industry expects, you know the doorways in, you know who to speak to, you know how to do the work of the actor. Get the training, and you are prepared for industry... just as you would be as a trained plumber, or hairdresser, or speech therapist or engineer. 
• You learn to act. If acting is something you want to do as a career, it's not something you can learn by only reading a book. It's about doing - in space, in time, in place. Studying acting gives you a step-by-step approach to mastering the skills needed to become a professional performer. Plus, you'll get performance opportunities - plays, films, in-class exercises, concert nights - where you'll practise what you're learning. In other words, if you go to acting school, you get the outcome you always wanted - the ability to act - and the opportunity to do so!

From my experience of many years in the actor training business, you don't need to have a special "it" to become an actor. I have seen people who were very meek and unassuming at their drama school audition become amazing actors, through training. It takes time to become good at something - and more time to excel. Acting is no different.

Sometimes people develop more charisma than they originally had through the process of actor training - and that's a huge asset. Was that something they were born with? I'd say it's something they developed. The skills of an actor can be learned. Actor training can unlock and release the actor within.

​Sure, the skills may come easier to some than others. But for all actors it requires work, thought, and process to become the kind of actor who can take on any role. Acting is a job, a profession, a craft and an art form. Like any job, there are methods, processes and techniques involved.

The field of acting is in fact a huge field of endeavour - with a history of many different practitioners, theorists, and even gurus. The more you know about these people and their ideas, the more you'll have in your toolkit as an actor. Go to a quality acting school, and you'll hear all about them.

So next time you hear someone say, "You can't teach acting - you either have it or you don't", you can sigh once more... and point them to this blog!

Want to apply for a role, but don't have a CV? Here are a few tips...

Getting started
If you have a few acting credits to your name, it's not difficult to put a performance CV together. 
Your performance CV is a record of your performances, so is separate from any CV you might have for other employment. So if you have another job that's not relevant to your acting work, there's no need to include it on your performance CV. 

How long should it be?
As with any job application, you don't want your CV to be too long. It's a snapshot of your work as an actor. Its job is to give the reader some idea of what you're capable of in a short space of time. So, 1-2 pages is good. 

Your details
At the top of your CV you want your name and contact details clearly written. If you have an agent, you'd include their contact details in place of your own. 

Your photograph
You can include your actor's headshot on the top of your CV if you wish, but often you need to provide this separately - either when uploading an application to a website or sending it via email. So it's not 100% necessary. Plus, when you apply for a job, you want to send the headshot that looks similar to the role you're applying for, so if you have a range of photographs, choose carefully. A generic headshot on your CV is simply a way of identifying you. 

What should I include in the body of my CV?
Usually you list your most recent performances first, and your older ones last. You can certainly include your drama school performances as part of this, as those roles show what you are able to do, but as you add more items you may wish to drop them off the list. Ultimately, an agent or casting director is ONLY interested in seeing your professional performance credits, not ones you did at high school or when you were little. 

You can also list your performances under subheadings, e.g. "Theatre", "Film", "Television", "Webseries", "TV Commercials" etc. Include the role you played, the year you played it, the company it was for, and the director. 

What if I don't have many credits yet?
Well, this is a tough one! If you are just starting out, it's ok to have just one or two things. But whenever you do a new job, remember to add it to your CV - then it'll always be up-to-date. (It's easy to forget important details later.)

What else should I include?

• Include any relevant education - where you studied drama, any workshops, any private coaching you've had. These give your CV credibility. You can name particular tutors here too.
• If you have any related skills, like modelling, directing, writing, dance or music, you can add these in a separate section, called simply, "Related Skills" or "Additional Skills".
• You may also like to include skills like Accents (list them) and you can put in brackets whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced, e.g. "Standard American (Advanced)"
• Skills like swimming, horseriding, or owning a driver's licence can also be listed, particularly if they are relevant to the role you are applying for
• If you have won any awards for acting, include them under 'Awards'.

Presentation
Make sure your CV is nicely presented. This means:

• Choosing a strong, simple font for your CV. It needs to be easy to read. 
• Limit your fonts - perhaps have one for headings and one for the body text. Or, simply use bold for headings and regular for body text.  More than two fonts and your CV will lose its professional look.
• Making sure your font size is easy to read - don't cram in too much information in one page or use a type that's too small for the average reader.
• Correcting your formatting - if you have copied-and-pasted from somewhere else, make sure the type is the same size as what's already in your document. Fix up any line breaks, margins or columns so that your content is easy to follow.
• Checking your spelling and punctuation. At the very least, run a spell check!
• Capitalise titles of plays, films and TV shows. Use italics for titles if you wish. 
• Double checking your contact details are correct.
• Saving the final document as a PDF file, as this can be read by both Macs and PCs.

Now you're ready to go start applying for acting roles! Writing your CV, preparing your headshots, and auditioning are all covered in more detail in Perform Australia's Certificate IV in Acting for Stage and Screen (course code 10197NAT).

For the emerging actor, being in a short film can be a way to gain experience, secure material for a showreel, and to be seen, with the hope of future employment. 

Many short films are made on tiny budgets and rely entirely on the goodwill of all involved - student films among them. This blog is about the pros and cons of acting in a student film. Students in our Advanced Diploma of Performance often get to collaborate with student filmmakers as part of their training.  ​

Here are some of the pros of being in a student film:

1. The experience
If you're new to acting, a student film usually allows you to experience what it's like to work on set, with lighting, sound and a range of personnel present.

2. Networking Opportunity
Being on a student film allows you to meet and make friends with the filmmakers of tomorrow. Just as student actors are interested in making contacts, so are student filmmakers. 

3. Practising your audition and "meet and greet" skills.
Sometimes student filmmakers are just desperate to find actors - will take anyone! Certainly you may have to audition for a role, but sometimes in a student film, you can bypass this altogether. A student filmmaker may need to round up a number of characters and if you fit what they're looking for, you're in! So whether you have to audition or just apply, you get to practise these important industry skills on first contact.

4. Sometimes the part is written especially for you
If you're a friend of a student filmmaker, they may write a part in their script with you in mind. Not only is that very flattering, it's also a great opportunity for you to give it what you've got.

5. Getting a copy of the film. 
You may be able to ask for a copy of the film that you can use to promote yourself. Make sure you ask permission, though, before you go posting someone else's film on social medial. Sometimes if a filmmaker is putting their film in a competition or festival, there will be an embargo on distribution prior to the event. Publishing it on social media may disqualify it. So make sure you don't rub anyone up the wrong way by making this mistake. Likewise, if you want to use an extract for your own showreel or website, make sure you ask first, and give credit to the filmmaker. 

6. You can develop more confidence in front of the camera. 
If you've not yet had a lot of screen acting experience, a student film is a fairly safe way to build self-confidence. The stakes aren't super-high if you mess up. ​

Here are some of the cons of being in a student film:

1. You'll work for nothing. 
On the whole, student films tend to offer no pay for the time you spend. Sometimes there's no catering either! 

2. The experience. 
Sometimes student filmmakers take a very long time to make films. As they are in the process of learning their craft, it can take them ages to achieve what they want to achieve. Setting up lights, correcting sound levels, and doing re-takes can seem to take forever. Actors on student films can spend excessively long times waiting for student filmmakers to do the tasks that would normally take a professional a couple of minutes. 

3. Film equipment used by student filmmakers is often unreliable.
Sometimes if they're borrowing equipment from their educational institution, student filmmakers are using equipment that has been through many hands. And because students are learning how to organise themselves, how to work with the equipment, and how to think through problems, sometimes they make technical mistakes. They accidentally delete important footage. Or a camera stops working. Or they don't make a back up of their material. Or they lose their SD card on location. These are all common fails of student filmmakers!

4. Sometimes student films are never finished. 
If the reason you're acting in a student film is the hope that you'll get a good snippet of footage for your own showreel, you might be disappointed if you never get a copy. Like all other kinds of students, sometimes student filmmakers never finish and hand in their assignments! Films can be complex projects and sometimes a student film​maker will decide they've chosen the wrong career and drop out of their course midway through a project. So in this instance, a film you were in may never see the light of day.

5. Roles may be limited
Lecturers in filmmaking frequently chuckle about the fact that student filmmakers love writing horror films - especially zombie films, but also films about dark social themes. So there's not a huge variety of material in the student filmmaking landscape. If you come across a student film that's quite different, you can be sure you've hit on something special. 

So a student filmmaking experience can either be negative or positive - or a mixture of both. If everything goes according to plan, though, you may meet a great contact. You may have a fun time. You may learn something new​. And you may walk away with a film as a memento of your experience. 

Anxiety is the scourge of today's younger generation. And parents can have a tough time knowing what to do and how to help. Here's our CEO of Perform Australia, explaining how participation in the performing arts makes a huge difference in the life of a child. If you want to help your child with anxiety, get your child started in a drama class. 

Sometimes drama class isn't the first thing parents think of when they're looking for something to help their child's development. But here are seven reasons why drama class is the best thing ever for childhood and teenage development. 

#1 Drama helps kids make friends.
As a parent, it's always tough when your child feels they don't have any friends. This moment comes when they have a fight with their bestie, didn't find anyone to play with one lunchtime, or they've been subject to bullying. Unfortunately, these are the social learning experiences of childhood. But go to drama class - and your child develops a circle of friends outside the usual parameters. Not only that, the activities that take place in class are conducive to building friendships. Working on a script, creating a play or scene together, and discussion with classmates about stories and characters - all these encourage friendliness between class members. 

#2 Drama develops self-confidence
This is a big one. Often kids come to us who are shy or anxious. But when they get to experiment on stage as a character other than themselves, they explore parts of themselves and their imagination they didn't know existed. Before they perform in a play, they may be very nervous - but once they get out there and do it, suddenly they feel within themselves they've achieved something. And it was fun. And it was creative. And they received applause. All of these things build self-confidence. 

#3 Drama helps kids become more creative. 
Children and young people are naturally creative - but as they get older, we tend to encourage them "not to be so silly". They have to grow up and learn to be responsible. And yet the World Economic Forum has for several years been saying that creativity is one of the three top skills needed in the contemporary workforce. So often we feel a little conflicted about play and creativity. When you allow children to participate in a drama class, you are actually providing a place for their own creative exploration. When human beings are creative, they flourish. Plus you're giving them a headstart on future work skills they;ll need as they mature. They're learning how to preserve their creative spirit. 

#4 Drama helps kids become more empathetic. 
With so many different voices in our world today, and so many conflicting opinions, it's important that human beings show empathy towards one another. The ability to stand in another person's shoes, and understand them, and feel for them, is something that happens naturally in drama class. Every time a child tries on a new character in their script, they are invited to imagine themselves from that character's point of view. They are asked to think outside themselves - and bring those thoughts into themselves. That's where empathy is born. 

#5 Drama develops communication skills
So much of our children's time is spent in engagement with screens. They're losing touch with their bodies. Communication involves the whole self - body language, voice, eyes, and mind. Drama, with its imaginative movement exercises, its adoption of character traits, it's emphasis on exploring emotion, and its performance experiences, helps children to communicate in a holistic way. In working with words and scripts, they become more articulate. In embodying a character on stage or screen and adopting postures, voices and gestures appropriate to that character, they become more naturally expressive.

#6 Drama builds team skills
In Australia, sport is central to society. As well as health benefits, sport provides opportunity for kids to work as part of a team. But did you know - drama does exactly the same thing? Students of drama learn to support other members of their ensemble, work on a performance project together, complete warm-ups and movement exercises together, and learn how to resolve conflicts together. So if you are looking at what activities your child needs in the coming year, realise that drama will achieve many of the same outcomes as sport - plus a whole lot more. 

#7 Drama creates precious memories
What's interesting about working with adults in the performing arts - whether they come to us to do a qualification, a leisure course, or whether their employer forces them to do one of our corporate programs - is that they will often describe formative drama experiences they had as a child. More often than not, these are extraordinarily happy memories. Being a shepherd in the school nativity play. Being in the ensemble of a school musical. Being spotted by a teacher and encouraged to pursue acting. Heck, even playing a tree! Participation in drama creates previous memories, and why? Because drama engages our hearts as well s our minds. Drama makes us feel like we belong. Drama taps into our creative spirit. Drama allows us to explore things we normally wouldn't think about. All of these aspects work together to imprint vivid memories that stay with us for a lifetime. 

I'd say it's time to enrol your child in drama classes, don't you?

​A New Year is always a good time to review your goals as an actor, and make some plans. ​

You may have good acting technique, stage presence, and a look that's amazing on camera - but if you don't take steps to actually build a career, no one's going to find out about what you've got to offer. 

Any acting school worth its chops will train you not only in acting technique, but also in how to find professional gigs. At Perform Australia, our qualifications have significant components on sourcing, auditioning for and creating your own work. ​

Or, if you want a tailor-made plan for your own advancement, you can have an interview with us to develop a personalised career plan to get started. 

In the meantime, here are some extra tips on getting your career under way this year. 

1. Update your CV. Not your employment CV, your performance CV! This is a list of all your roles and productions, the production company you were with, who directed them, and when. For ease of reading, classify each item under 'Film', 'Television' and 'Theatre'. Make sure the most recent items are at the top of each list (as they occurred, in reverse chronological order). Add any training programs you've attended, and list the tutors (this is your chance to name-drop!).

2. Update your assets. You should have two types of asses: first, your headshots, and second, your video assets. Head shots should be digital so you can easily upload them or flick them across to a director with any audition application. Your photos should look like you, as you are now. If you have changed your appearance (radical change of hairstyle or colour, beard or no beard, gained or lost significant weight, etc.) then it might be time for new photos.

Your video assets are clips of you acting. In the past, the 'show reel' was a 2-3 minute video of extracts from various film projects you've been in. While these are still useful in securing an agent or work, more and more the industry is tending towards clips and self-tapes - that is to say, a single audition tape designed for a particular audition. Reason being, the audition panel doesn't have time to watch you doing a multitude of different roles - they want to know right now if you can play this role - the one they're casting right this minute. So it makes more sense to have a monologue of you in a dramatic role, and one in a comedic role on hand. And if you are planning to crack the American market, you need to record the same thing over again in with a solid American accent. 

3. Set up your social media. You need to be seen on every important platform - not just as yourself, but as an actor. If you don't already have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you need to be there. Your showreel needs to be up on Youtube. New platforms come every couple of years, so make sure you are abreast of the changes, and be an early adopter, rather than slow to gather followers in those places. 

4. Expand your contacts list. Check out local networking events in the film and theatre industry. Reach out to local production companies with your CV and headshots. Do a workshop and meet other actors. Then make sure you connect with any new contacts via social media, phone or email. 

5. Make a plan for how you're going to find auditions and apply. Auditions are effectively job interviews for actors - where you meet and greet, demonstrate your skill and the panel decides whether or not you're right for the job. There are numerous ways to find auditions - following casting directors on social media, joining relevant subscription services, and of course, word of mouth. It can help to keep a log of those jobs you've applied for, as well as the contact details of significant people you've met in the course of auditioning.  Going for as many as you can increases your likelihood of getting a job!

But before all these - you need actor training! Have you started yours yet?
​
Find out about our Certificate in acting here.​
Find out about our Musical Theatre Certificate here.​
Find out about our short courses here.​
Find out about our programs for children and young people here. 

Are you a musical theatre lover? Then you'll want to check out these Christmas musicals!

Dr Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas ​
Based on the children's book of the same name, this musical with book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and score by Mel Marvin first opened in 1994 in Minneapolis in the US. It later transferred to Broadway and became the first musical to run 12 shows a week, pushing Schwartz's Wicked off the charts as the top-grossing musical in December 2006.

Songs include: I Hate Christmas Eve, Whatchama Who, You’re A Mean One Mr Grinch, and Santa For A Day​
 ​
Elf The Musical​
Based on the film starring Will Ferrell, this is the story of a young orphan, who as a child, crawls into Santa's sack and is taken back to the North Pole. Santa raises him as an elf, until one day the orphan sets off to New York City in search of his real dad. With script by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan, and a score by Matthew Sklar, it's a family favourite.  
 
Songs include: Sparklejollytwinklejingley, I’ll Believe In You, World’s Greatest Dad​
 ​
Nativity! The Musical
Written by Debbi Isitt and co-composed with Nicky Ager, Nativity! The Musical tells of teachers Mr Maddens and Mr Poppy staging a musical version of the Biblical Christmas story at St Bernadette's Primary. Things don't flow as smoothly as they'd like! It opened in Birmingham, UK in 2017 and has so far enjoyed three UK tours. 
​
Songs include: Dear Father Christmas, Our School Nativity, Sparkle and Shine, She’s The Brightest Star. ​
 ​
Holiday Inn​
Holiday Inn is a musical based on the 1942 movie of the same name. The musical premiered in Connecticut, US, in 2014. The libretto was written by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The main character, Jim, leaves show business to settle down at his farmhouse, but he finds he misses song and dance. He's lucky to meet Linda, herself a talented performer, and together they turn the farmhouse into an inn with its own dazzling entertainment. 

Songs include:White Christmas, Cheek to Cheek, Blue Skies, Steppin’ Out With My Baby.​
 ​
Scrooge: The Musical​
The book, music and lyrics of Scrooge: The Musical were written by noted musical theatre practitioner, Leslie Bricusse. Based on Charles Dickens' original story, the musical was adapted from the screenplay of the 1970 film Scrooge starring Albert Finney. It came to the stage in 1992 and has experienced a number of revivals since that time.  

Songs include: I Hate People, Sing A Christmas Carol, The Milk Of Human Kindness,  and I’ll Begin Again​
​
Would YOU like to be in a musical? At Perform Australia, we have a 
number of opportunities based in Canberra: 

• Ages 9-15 can join our musical theatre production program.
• Ages 14-17 can join our Musical Theatre Experience (MTX) program
• And if you're looking for a qualification, try the CUA40520 Certificate IV in Musical Theatre

Sing, dance and act your way to joy! ​