Mercedes College theatre students get ready for their production.
Camera IconMercedes College theatre students get ready for their production. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

The Little Mermaid: Mercedes College theatre students to make Regal Theatre debut

Julian WrightEastern Reporter

MERCEDES College theatre students will make their Regal Theatre debut this week after outgrowing their school stage.

This year students have been building elaborate puppets and rehearsing their latest production The Little Mermaid in the school hall, with markings on the floor to emulate the bigger Subiaco stage.

On July 28 about 100 cast and crew will perform at the 1000-plus capacity venue, a huge step up from their usual 120-capacity facilities on campus.

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The cast, including Keely McMillan from Rivervale and Gemma Middleton from Beckenham stepped on to the iconic Perth stage for the first time on the weekend for dress rehearsals, with sets built and shipped from Victoria.

Lead actress Stephanie Shaw, from Bickley who plays mermaid Ariel, had one advantage over her cast mates.

“I’ve done a show here before, The Sound of Music, and I played Brigitta von Trapp; it’s very different in a school production because I’m with all my friends,” she said.

“We are nervous and excited but I think we are ready for this step.”

One of the most challenging aspects of preparing for a such a big production on an iconic stage was building the 10 puppets, according to Year 10 student Elizabeth Gilbert, from Bayswater.

She said the team had to think outside the box to achieve their fish puppet design.

“We had a workshop with a puppet expert from Spare Puppets Theatre who taught us how to make the frame with cane, but it did not work for us,” she said.

“It was so fine it was really hard to bend without it all snapping, so we tried soaking it in water over night and it was a big process, but that did not work, so we went to the pipe and heated it up in the dryer at school (to bend it).”

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