WAAPA YEARBOOK #5

During my experience at Waapa, every year there was a big production staged that would take two performing slots to get onto it's feet. It was referred to as the Mid Year Musical.

Whilst other productions were usually smaller in scale, the Mid Year was designed to create a similar experience to the types of commercial musicals that make the big stages of the world.

Naturally this meant there would be a principal cast and an ensemble cast so both the 3rd years and 2nd years would combine to create the full cast.

The remaining 1st years, like me and my classmates, were assigned backstage jobs for the production which could be in wardrobe, staging, audio and lighting and so on.

I was placed into the backstage crew and it was still quite nerve wracking back there as a lot of the scenery and props had to be manually positioned on the stage in a very short time and that included striking what was on there in the first place. It was well drilled and well orchestrated and all happened in a systematic way.

The set itself was centred around a big block construction that had panels placed on it to for the Office scenes and the House scenes.

This was also stripped back for the raunchy Hernando's Hideaway number.

When creating the office scene the stage crew had to run up those stairs with desks and typewriters and the like as performers scuttled down to get out of the way.


But it was great to be a part of the production in some way during its run and to be given responsibilities that were completely different and virtually unknown to me prior to that experience. It was also a good way to get to work alongside the other students, not only the other performers, but across the staging people and the musicians as well.

I recall during a rehearsal, a backdrop was being lowered, and a female lead who was in discussion as she was leaving the stage walked under it. There were calls shouted out as some technical folks could see the impending disaster but it was not quick enough and the set landed right on her head. It clearly hurt her but not in a very serious way but everyone was extremely concerned. She handled the whole thing very well and did not get angry at anyone except herself and I found that pretty impressive. She continued with the rehearsal as normal but I'm sure she was in some sort of pain throughout.

I think the Mid Year was the type of show I like the most when it comes to theatre, the whole dance spectacular and the comedy and the glamour so I was looking forward to my own experiences in the next two Mid Years to come. But I really enjoyed the experience backstage and got a really good feel for that theatre and how everything all works behind the scenes.



But in all honesty, I was still the spectator at heart and I was as star struck then, backstage at Waapa, as I was in any seat of any theatre watching this thing called a Musical.

I waited to laugh at the same gags every night and found delight every time, and also listening to the audience and waiting for their similar reactions every night to the action on the stage.

I loved watching the routines and the flurry of colour from the sides as much as I usually did from the front.
I loved it all, and I was drawn to the charismatic leads like any of the Hollywood matinee idols from the great classics.

As much as I felt like I was a part of it, I still felt that I was a bit of an impostor because of that, but that was all part of the process of being there I guess.


It has been a joy to be able to go to the big theatres today and still enjoy the talents of these people.

So that was my first experience of the Mid Year and of course the moment it ended there was a big party followed by a 4 week break and so flights were booked to head back home.

Half the year was already over.

J G S