Budding musical theatre performer, Georgia Vaughan, has been impressing audiences since relocating to Newcastle this year.
Now, she has been selected in an ensemble of Australian students that will travel to New York in January 2019.
The 16-year-old left Duval High School and her family in Armidale this year, to accept a position at Hunter School of the Performing Arts, in Newcastle, where her love of acting, dancing and singing saw her perform in productions such as The Pajama Game and The Little Prince but her sights were set on bigger things.
Georgia quickly joined local theatre company, Hunter Drama. In her first major audition with the company, Georgia was cast in the leading role of Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain Jnr.
Described as the “greatest movie musical of all time”, Singin’ in the Rain Jnr wowed Newcastle audiences with Georgia receiving accolades for her performance as squeaky voiced star of silent films, Lina Lamont. The extraordinarily talented troupe of triple threats received the award for best ensemble at this year’s Junior Theatre Celebration in Newcastle.
Georgia’s standout performance in Singin’ in the Rain, saw her nominated and accepted into a five-day pilot program (the first of its kind in Australia) with New York’s iTheatrics, who develop musicals for licensing agencies, including Music Theatre International’s Broadway Junior Collection.
The cast of 40 young performers selected from all over Australia, took part in an exciting week-long pilot of Newsies JR., a new student version of the 2012 Tony-winning Disney Theatrical Productions Broadway production.
The select group of students participated in an intensive, the week leading up to the second annual Junior Theatre Celebration Australia (JTCOz) event, held at the Civic Theatre, Newcastle on Saturday 28th October, 2017.
The Newsies JR. pilot offered Georgia the opportunity to be part of a process that mirrors the demands of developing a musical in the professional theatre world. The pilot program was directed by Timothy Allen McDonald, musical theatre author (Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, Between the Lines) and founding chairman of iTheatrics New York; Marty Johnson, iTheatrics Director of Education and Resident Director, New York; and Steven G. Kennedy, iTheatrics Resident Choreographer, New York.
The Theatre Celebration then auditioned students to make up an ensemble of 40 of Australia’s most outstanding musical theatre performers to travel to the USA in January 2019 to represent their country. Georgia’s successful audition included singing and dancing both solo and as a group.
She will now travel with Music Theatre International and OzTheatrics to New York, where she will be exposed to auditions, Broadway performers, Broadway shows and a week-long rehearsal intensive where she will learn the choreography and music to a Broadway JR title, which will then be performed in Atlanta at the Junior Theatre Festival. The group will also perform at Universal Studios.
Georgia continues to hone her skills in dancing at National College of Dance and with private singing lessons and credits the direction and tuition at Hunter Drama as a major contributing factor in her success.
She recently spent time with ex-Armidale resident and NBN newsreader, Natasha Beyersdorf for her work experience. Georgia wrote and produced a documentary on Autism that saw her win first place from over 170 entries.
Natasha, who featured in the documentary, described Georgia as a lovely young lady and a real go-getter.
These talents and qualities will travel with Georgia to New York to help make her mark on Broadway.
