Missing Friends

Lately I have been missing a lot of my old friends from Perth; many of which I haven't spoken to in over three or four years.

When I was younger; I used to go to these acting workshops at the Perth Academy of Musical Theatre. The workshops were designed for children and young teenagers to learn about how to put on a theatre production; and work on their acting, dancing and performing skills while they were at it. (Personally, I wasn't very good at it; which is why I went into journalism instead!)

The Perth Academy of Musical Theatre, or PAMT, is only a small part of an even larger company called the Myriad Centre for the Arts. The Myriad Centre for the Arts also includes an adult amateur theatre company called Orion Theatre and a Myriad Cinema.

Because of the limited market for the performing arts, many of these little theatre groups go forgotten. Everyone seems more interested in Hollywood gossip and movies rather than experiencing the theatre. I can't say that I blame them. The theatre is expensive, and you can rent almost any movie for about $5 at a rental store. It is unfortunate that so many people miss the experience of the theatre because there is so much talent out there that is going to waste.

New Fame Movie

"Ma, I'm talented!" he said.
"And who in the world told you that you were so special?"
"You did."
-Fame 2009-

On September 25, 2009, the movie called "Fame" was released into theatres. Although I have yet to see the movie; the story in itself is a very good depiction of the things that I wish to write about in this blog.

The movie is based on the musical "Fame" and there have been several different versions of the movie over the years. Personally, I think nothing can top the Fame movie made in 1980 starring Irene Cara. The story to "Fame" is a very good representation of the challenges that people involved in the performing arts face on a daily basis.

The movie is all about a performing arts high school in the heart of New York City. Students study academics for one half of the day, and performing arts for the other half. In other words, "you don't get off easy because you're talented, you work twice as hard." (Mrs. Sherwood, Played by Anne Meara, © 1980 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.)

If you haven't seen the movie fame, I strongly suggest it. It really helped to put the performing arts into perspective for me.