Pelican Productions was founded in October of 2004 by Directors Jen Frith and Kylie Green and has since established itself as an important part of the fabric that makes up the South Australian performing arts community.

Now based at their new home ‘The Nest’ in Mitcham, Pelican Productions fosters young up and coming talent in musical theatre who are taught by their dedicated team of professionally experienced vocal tutors and choreographers.  Striving to equip young performers with the necessary skills of singing, dancing and acting, they also work to instil them with an ethos of teamwork and respect while at the same time ensuring they always have fun.

Over the past 15 years, Pelican has held a yearly intensive Music Theatre Camp which is affectionately known as MTC.  Run over 2 weeks in the January school holidays, it provides professional music theatre training for nearly 500 young performers from over 120 schools and culminates in a spectacular performance of a medley of various stage shows.

Last year their production of Bring It On The Musical proved so successful that it is due for a return season in August this year.   We ask the crew at Pelican a bit about what drives their passion for the education of young people in the performing arts.

1.  Why did you choose Bring It On The Musical as your next project?

Bring It On The Musical is a return season of our incredibly successful 2017 production.  With the exception of creating a flying car for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2015, Bring It On The Musical was by far the most complicated casting and production project that we have taken on. With cheerleading stunts, lockers with installed LED screens, an orchestra with timed click tracks to lighting special effects and an amazing cast of young singers and dancers, it is a production that we are incredibly proud of and can’t wait to stage again. 

2.  Why is it important to you to foster the education of young people in the performing arts in your community?

Being part of the Pelican Productions’ community in the performing arts gives young performers the chance to belong to a group other than their circle of school friends. Being part of a production or weekly class relies on teamwork where performers have to interact with each other to achieve common goals. A valuable life-skill on and off the stage. Outside of the satisfaction and exhilaration of a performance, the foundation skills in performing arts develop life skills in communication, emotional intelligence, confidence and resilience, commitment and creative problem-solving skills. 

3.  How are rehearsals coming along?

Our rehearsals for Bring It On The Musical are thrilling and exciting as we workshop and improve on our cheer and dance routines from 2017. We can’t wait to bring an even more exciting production to Adelaide audiences in August this year.

4.  Describe some of the most enjoyable and challenging aspects of your job.

Sharing the love of theatre with young performers is extremely rewarding. We have been lucky enough to watch the journey of performers from 8 years old through to their professional debut as young adults. One of the most challenging aspects is managing the behind the scenes work load of a production. The final production that you see on stage requires countless hours of administration, planning and preparation. 

5.  Have any of your fledgling Pelicans past or present gone on to pursue a career in the Performing Arts?

We have had many Pelicans accepted into tertiary performing arts degrees at VCA, WAAPA, AIM, BAPA and AC Arts over the years. Most recently on the professional stage, Joe Meldrum joins The Production Company’s ‘Oklahoma’ this year, Ashleigh Hauschild recently completed the tour of Korea with ‘Cats’, Baylie Carson recently starred as Mabel in ‘Darlinghurst Nights’ and Young Dusty in The Production Company’s ‘Dusty, Ben Nicholson is one half of Homegrown and Callum Warrender recently appeared as Odie in Garfield: the Musical with Cattitude. In the 2016 tour of The Sound of Music, 8 young pelican performers were cast in the Von Trapp family. Zoe Pool as Gretl, Charlotte Van Zuydam as Marta, Alicia Hammond and Ariel Higgs as Brigitta, Katie Lammin and Jacinda Tsakalos as Louisa, Cooper James as Kurt and Ethan Schembri as Friedrich.

6.  Finally, do you have any words of wisdom for young people currently working on their craft?

Take risks, be committed. Be humble and appreciative of what you are given. No one is a lead all of the time. Even being cast in a show is an achievement in itself. Be grateful for the experiences you are able to be a part of. They could essentially be life changing. Enjoy being part of the theatre community and have fun!