By Michael Doran
Upwey South Primary’s Olivia Hibbins is preparing for her fifth consecutive year of performing in the annual Victorian State Schools Spectacular.The Year 6 student will step onto the Hisense Arena stage in a cast of 3000 young performers assembled from more than 200 Victorian schools.
This year Olivia will be singing in the select 44-member performing arts unit choir, having emerged through a selection process that started with 350 aspirants.
She started performing in these shows in Year 2 and told the Mail that what she enjoyed most was “hearing all the harmonies come together on stage, as well as making lots of new friends who have the same passion as me”.
Talking about how she has progressed over the years, she said:
“I started in the mass choir which had 1500 people, and that was very different to the choir I am in this year.
“We have 24 songs to sing and have been rehearsing every Saturday for three hours since February.”
Olivia added that the rehearsals were a lot of fun but heaps of hard work, and she would miss it when she moved to senior school next year.
With 31 students in the production, teacher Penelope Lang said Upwey South Primary and its community strongly valued its association with the arts.
She said there were “many learning benefits that come with stimulating the brain through the arts”.
“Working through the production process develops qualities like resilience, patience, cooperation and the value of hard work,” she said.
This year’s production is titled With the Beat and there will be two performances on Saturday 15 September.
It’ll feature music from Elton John, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Vance Joy and many more.
Monbulk Primary School’s Matilda Atkins will also be in the choir alongside Olivia.
Alex Van der Pol and Chris Robinson from Upper Ferntree Gully Primary School will be backstage in the production crew, Grade 6 Alex as a lighting assistant and Grade 5 Chris as rehearsal stage manager.
The Tecoma, Upwey South, Badger Creek, Dixons Creek, Gladysdale, Mount Evelyn, Macclesfield, Emerald, Yarra Glen and Upper Ferntree Gully primary schools have students in the mass choir.
Upwey South and Monbulk also have students in the mass dance.
