ARTS ACADEMY Ballarat

Tue, 11 Dec 2007, 12:57 pm

Musicalsfan25 posts in thread

BAPA has been renamed its now called the- The Arts Academy Over the past 3 years the former BAPA has enticed the expertise of many accomplished teachers and choreographers from NIDA, VCA and WAAPA plus visiting international celebrities. Its now producing the finest talent in Australia. The Arts Academy is one of very few institutions to offer a BA in Music Theatre. In 2008 the 2nd year Music Theatre students are performing in a professional musical, this will be a first. The Arts Academy is a $30 million facility that allows aspiring performers to take the first step in their careers. “Dedication to the craft without interruption is more than possible and easy access to a beautiful environment prevents insularity. Melbourne is only an hour away by train. For students away from home, Ballarat is safe and manageable. The virtue of Ballarat is its history as a bustling commercial centre and its reality as a regional town, which makes living, working and studying a pleasure”. Recent productions at the Arts Academy include Anything Goes at the historic Her Majesty’s Theatre, Bat Boy and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Third Year graduating students have performed at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre and Theatreworks, and this year took their production of The City Wit to London. Graduates include Sebastian Bertoli and Wil Greenway (The Pacific) Eliza Brian, Claire George and Josh Piterman (Tokyo Disney), Chris Durling (Bindi the Jungle Girl), Adam Stafford (Neighbours), Libby Tanner (All Saints), Peta Brady (Mullet), Michelle Pitcher (Oliver) Adam Lubitz (We Will Rock You), Glenn Quinn and Matthew Heywood (Mama Mia).

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MusicalsfanTue, 11 Dec 2007, 12:57 pm

Walter PlingeTue, 11 Dec 2007, 01:04 pm

Everyone has welcomed the

Everyone has welcomed the change and its going from strength to strength. Apparently there has been amazing talent auditioning for the past 3 years and while there might be 25 in the intake, they all get split up into various groups depending on their strengths so pretty personalised tuition. They went all over Australia and NZ tis year to audition prospective students and congrats to those who are coming in 2008. You'll love our amazing family

Walter PlingeTue, 11 Dec 2007, 03:07 pm

I saw the Arts Academy

I saw the Arts Academy students perform at Federation Square a couple of weeks ago. It was totally amazing.

Walter PlingeTue, 11 Dec 2007, 09:03 pm

Not to forget the other

Not to forget the other Higher Education courses on offer in Acting, Visual, Graphic and Fine Arts either!

Walter PlingeTue, 11 Dec 2007, 11:23 pm

Woohoo, we love the Arts

Woohoo, we love the Arts Academy!!!!! It is going to take over the theatre world!

Walter PlingeWed, 19 Dec 2007, 11:45 am

This girl I know from Dance

This girl I know from Dance Comps in Adelaide is at BAPA, we did dance comps against each other for years, I think she could be in 2nd or 3rd year now. Havent seen her since the last comps a few years ago- she had incredible dance ability and used to win everything. Our dance school cringed when we saw her name in the comp book. I am auditioning next year at the Arts Academy once I finish my course - sounds like you have amazing ppl

Walter PlingeSat, 22 Dec 2007, 01:38 pm

Yes please do audition! If

Yes please do audition! If you're from Vic come and check out our shows next year and be impressed! I think I know which dancer you are talking about. And yes, she is amazing.

Walter PlingeTue, 1 Jan 2008, 07:51 pm

a-ha

Love the list of graduates... the only one that has actually done ANYTHING worth talking about is Libby Tanner. All the rest... well lets say extras work isn't hard to come by shall we?!

Walter PlingeTue, 1 Jan 2008, 08:21 pm

You're naive to think that

You're naive to think that any pro work that ppl get after studying isn't something to tell other people about. It's totally better than ending up some second rate music teacher. "Extras work isn't hard to come by..." you sound like a tool.

Walter PlingeTue, 1 Jan 2008, 08:32 pm

aha

Your naive to think that you know anything about the pro acting industry if you think it is hard to get extras work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for the personal attack... yawn.

Walter PlingeThu, 3 Jan 2008, 09:33 am

real nice aha.. real nice..

real nice aha.. real nice.. spread your negativity somewhere else thanks.

Walter PlingeWed, 16 Jan 2008, 03:58 pm

The list of grads in the

The list of grads in the first post has been copied from the Arts Academy website, who are excited about the opportunities achieved by their students. On graduation ppl can diversify in any direction in musical theatre. There are a few grads in London doing well in the West End as there are grads in New York. Its up to the individual what they want to do in the future. Any study/BA is great value whether your a star or not.

Walter PlingeMon, 21 Jan 2008, 11:32 am

I agree with 'what

I agree with 'what the......', NIDA lists their grads who achieve as do WAAPA, nothing wrong with letting to masses know of their outstanding talent. I havent heard of of all their listed grads either, so what does that mean.... that only one or two well knowns have done well. Hum Aha do you mean that getting into We will Rock You or Mama Mia, Oliver and Neighbours is easy.

Walter PlingeSun, 3 Feb 2008, 11:48 am

Large intake this year

The VTAC page lists this year's intake as 37. Getting rather large over the past couple of years. Must take into account those that decide not to continue for whatever reason (last year's 24 grads started with 33). Great course but hard to get noticed in such a large contingent.

Walter PlingeMon, 4 Feb 2008, 04:41 pm

We had 27 in our first year

We had 27 in our first year last year, we have at least one person not coming back as she got accepted into WAAPA. That's hard to believe that they would accept 37! That might include people who got given a B letter which means they will be considered in second round if someone who got accepted in first round isnt taking the offer.. I do know that the standard was very high this year, but I wouldnt have thought they would have accepted so many.. We'll wait and see soon I guess!

hellodollyTue, 5 Feb 2008, 10:08 am

37 - that's heaps! i wonder

37 - that's heaps! i wonder if it's accurate (and if it is, so be it) because i know there were some mistakes made with first round offers. i got an A letter and WASN'T made a first round offer, and when i rang up it was simply because they'd forgotten to put a 1 next to my name! i couldn't belive it...was rather nervewracking - anyway i put an irregular offer application in and was made a 2nd round offer without question. so i guess mistakes can be made.

Walter PlingeMon, 11 Feb 2008, 02:10 pm

37 is an incorrect number.

37 is an incorrect number. Re the first and second round numbers, not even admin knows numbers until after auditions. VTAC have made a typo error. Its not accurate - Usually its between 25 - 30 in total In addition, the total number of students accepted into 1st year does not reflect on how many are in each class. All students are split into groups depending on ability and you may have between 4 and 10 in any given class. All may come together for one or two theory classes. EG a high school may have 500 total students in Year 12 but they are not all in the same class.

Walter PlingeWed, 13 Feb 2008, 10:34 pm

Thanks for supporting BAPA,

Thanks for supporting BAPA, people. You have no idea how over I am seeing people bag out BAPA, WAAPA, NIDA, and all the other acronyms- more than likely because they didn't get accepted. Every year I hear people having a whine and accusing the institutions of not knowing talent when they see it. Clearly, they do. Just because you're not talented doesn't give you the right to undermine the decision of these trained professionals. BAPA- sorry, the Arts Academy- is a good school. Not many people who venture into music theatre become a household name, but that does not mean they're not successful. All it shows is that they're in the industry for better reasons than becoming famous.

Walter PlingeFri, 22 Feb 2008, 10:00 am

Hi Arts Academy,Sorry but

Hi Arts Academy, Sorry but your wrong in one aspect but correct with your other statement. There are 37 first year MT. The calibre of talent was unbelievable and the Arts Academy could well afford to allow more students. They are split into groups and categorised into ability. NOt all 37 are in one class

Walter PlingeFri, 22 Feb 2008, 03:09 pm

I have heard great reports

I have heard great reports - some amazing singers in this group of 1st years. Congrats to the second years who got thier parts today in the Parade. Nerve racking auditions yesterday I heard, how did you go me@ballarat and UB student and who ever else auditioned?

Walter PlingeSun, 24 Feb 2008, 10:12 am

This is not "bashing" the

This is not "bashing" the Arts Academy at all but the comment re the numbers still stands considering the 37 is correct. There are only limited "lead" roles over the three years and it makes getting noticed at showcase pretty hard, whether you are split into separate classes or not during your course(WAAPA students are grouped according to ability also). I saw both WAAPA and Ballarat showcases last year (I had friends in both) and that was 18 vs 24 students (initial first year intake in 2005 was 33 so there is a precedent for taking more than 30). Both were great (BTW WAAPA's was free entry and program which was nice) but with the WAAPA grads all were featured and extremely strong but in the Ballarat performance there were definitely some students who were featured more heavily and the range of ability between students was more obvious. I just believe this will be more apparent in a larger group. That being said, I wish all first years every success.

Walter PlingeSun, 24 Feb 2008, 02:14 pm

I know your not bagging but

I know your not bagging but numbers really mean nothing in the scheme of things. You will always get those who drop out and WAAPA have been caught heaps of times dropping in numbers which jeopardises their funding. I too know a few friends at WAAPA and a few at BAPA. You will find there are 4 first years doing the BA of MT at BAPA this year from WAAPA Friend of mine did her BA in BAPA a few years ago with a large number of students intake. She never got a lead role in any of her 3 years of study. However, she spent 6 months last year in a lead roll in Wicked on Londons West End. You will find that each student wants something different out of the course and not necessarily to be famous or a performer. Some are just interested in doing the course and then teaching. Three of last years BAPA 3rd year grads got lead roles in the professional musical Guys and Dolls opening at Melbournes Princess Theatre in March 2008. They were scouted at their showcase. Other grads go overseas so we dont really get to know how they do. There are many grads who are now teachers from previous years, they were not in it to be performers from the start.

Walter PlingeSun, 24 Feb 2008, 03:08 pm

I agree that we don't hear

I agree that we don't hear what students do overseas but why not? Wouldn't it be great for the Academy to let incoming and prospective students know what graduates are doing? There are lots that do the cruise ships and theme parks...so tell us about them! It's great that students are in professional shows (and two of those students in Guys and Dolls were cast prior to Showcase) but why isn't the Arts Academy shouting that on their webpage or at least have a newsletter - paper or online to let us know of student successes? Just a suggestion.(see WAAPA's Scarlett Billows)

NaSun, 24 Feb 2008, 03:24 pm

Not wanting to intrude on

Not wanting to intrude on this discussion, but... It may surprise you to realise that lecturers and course coordinators are usually busy enough with their current crop of students without having to chase down graduates to find out what they're doing. Add to the fact that most graduates don't keep in touch regularly with their lecturers, and that at any given moment they may be in work or out of work... and you won't have much news to report about the graduates of any given course. Unless of course, the graduate happens to be an international household name, like Cate Blanchett, etc. Think of the number of graduates you would have over several decades worth of courses, and you also have one very long list of people to keep in touch with. Too much work for not much outcome. Mini-monster puppets customised just for you! at Puppets in Melbourne

Walter PlingeMon, 25 Feb 2008, 11:11 am

The current Arts Academy

The current Arts Academy voice teacher was Cate Blanchett's teacher. Just a bit of trivia.

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