Children's Performing Company of Australia
Encyclopedia
The Children's Performing Company of Australia, or CPCA, is a Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

-based performing arts training provider for young people, established in 1984 as the Victorian Children's Theatre. It notably encompasses the Young Australian Broadway Chorus and the Victorian Youth Theatre. Since its foundation, the CPCA has expanded to more than fifteen venues across the greater Melbourne area to become one of the largest performing arts tuition providers in the state of Victoria.

Performing Arts Tuition

The CPCA offers two separate streams of performance training, in addition to a touring ensemble and a program for preschool-aged children. Students may join one or both of these streams. Both streams have hierarchical structure wherein students may be 'promoted' to a more advanced group, based on the student's skill level and experience.

Young Australian Broadway Chorus

In 1995, the CPCA established four theatre ensembles with a strong musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 focus. These expanded to become what is now known as the Young Australian Broadway Chorus (YABC), the stream which trains students in singing and dance. The YABC's first performance was held in 1998 at the National Theatre
National Theatre, Melbourne
The National Theatre is a 783 seat Australian theatre and theatrical arts school located in the Melbourne bayside suburb of St Kilda, on the corner of Barkly and Carlisle Streets...

 in St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...

 - a gala performance much simpler than the more extravagant shows that are put on in the same theatre by YABC students today.

Victorian Youth Theatre

The Victorian Youth Theatre (VYT) is the drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 branch of CPCA's performing arts training activities, which originally traded in the 1980s as the Victorian Children's Theatre. While trading as the Victorian Children's Theatre, the course focused largely on improvised drama, but eventually the curriculum was expanded to include script work and acting for the camera. The VYT now includes almost 800 students.

International Tours

Since 1996, the CPCA has conducted several international tours, with both YABC and VYT students performing in a variety of high-profile venues including Disneyland and the Acorn Theatre off Broadway. Countries visited by touring CPCA students include France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Beginners OnStage

The CPCA has offered a performing arts program for children aged 5 to 7 since 2006. This program was officially launched under the name Beginners OnStage in late 2008.

Talent Company of Australia

The Talent Company of Australia (TCA) was established in 2003 to provide CPCA students with entertainment industry representation. In addition to providing talent management services to students, the TCA provides skill-building workshops to members.

Notable CPCA alumni

  • Matthew Werkmeister
    Matthew Werkmeister
    Matthew Werkmeister is an Australian stage and television actor. He is best known for his role as Zeke Kinski in the soap opera Neighbours which he joined in 2005...

  • Josie Lane
  • Elijah Makoni
  • Michelle Smitheram
  • Ben Brown
  • Alex Konis
  • Tessa James
    Tessa James
    Tessa James is an Australian actress who is best known for the role of Nicole Franklin in the Australian soap opera Home and Away.-Early and personal life:...

  • Kelly Dingeldei
  • Mauricio Merino Jr
  • Hannah Greenwood
    Hannah Greenwood
    Hannah Greenwood is an Australian stage and television actress, best known for starring as Saskia Litras in the Australian children's television series Noah and Saskia.-Background:Greenwood currently lives in Melbourne, Australia...

  • Reuben Liversidge
    Reuben Liversidge
    Reuben Liversidge is an Australian actor best known for his role as Anthony in the Australian television series Round The Twist. He is also a performing arts teacher with the Children's Performing Company of Australia, having trained with that company for six years.-External links:...

  • Alex Tsitsopoulos
    Alex Tsitsopoulos
    Alex Tsitsopoulos is an Australian actor who is best known for his roles in the television series Short Cuts as Ross Papasavas, Fergus McPhail as Angelo and Guinevere Jones as Sir Lancelot.-Television:...

  • David Venn
  • Darcy Bonser
    Darcy Bonser
    Darcy Bonser is an Australian actor who has appeared on a number of Australian television series including Blue Heelers, Pirate Islands and Neighbours. He has also produced and created his own television series on Melbourne's community television station, C31, entitled TheatreGames LIVE...

  • Caitlin Stasey
    Caitlin Stasey
    Caitlin Jean Stasey is an Australian actress from Melbourne, who is best known for her previous role as Rachel Kinski in Neighbours. Previously she played Francesca Thomas in The Sleepover Club...

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