Two of AIM’s Music Theatre graduates are making their stage debut this year in two major musicals. Monique Salle (pictured right) will take to the stage at the end of December for A Chorus Line, while Olivia Beardsley (pictured below) has already made her debut in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which opened in November at the Belvedere Amphitheatre in Centennial Park, Sydney.

Monique Salle in A Chorus Line
There was nothing to think about when Monique Salle’s agent asked her if she wanted to audition for A Chorus Line. Being her favourite musical, her reply was an immediate and enthusiastic ‘yes!’

The first audition was incredibly intense, says Monique. “We learnt the opening combination which features in the song 'Opening: I Hope I Get It', which is a musical theatre jazz combination and a major highlight of the entire show. The creative team then made some cuts and asked some of us to come back another day for the ballet combination and if we got through that, then to the singing round then character specific scenes and song work after that. It was about a two week wait until I found out that I got the role.”

A Chorus Line is about a group of dancers who audition for a Broadway production. It focuses on the 17 people who get through the first round. The director then asks them to talk individually about themselves, their pasts, their experiences, love, sex, family, their aspirations etc. “Up until that point dancers never spoke a word at auditions and only opened their mouths to sing and read scenes, so it was revolutionary in a sense,” says Monique. The audience becomes a fly on the wall at the final round of auditions where one more cut must be made to find eight dancers, four boys and four girls.

“My character's name is Bebe Benzenheimer; a young, happy-go-lucky Jewish girl from Boston who hopes to make it big on Broadway. It’s a gruelling yet exhilarating day in the life of a performer in New York City,” explains Monique.

Being one of Monique’s favourite musicals, she was over the moon when she was told she got the part. “I was so overwhelmed at the news that for the rest of the day I couldn't stop crying and laughing at the same time! This is my first major musical, and the fact that it's A Chorus Line makes me feel honoured beyond belief.”

Monique studied a Bachelor of Music, majoring in Music Theatre, and completed her studies at AIM in 2010. “Funnily enough my year group and I got the opportunity to perform selected scenes and numbers from A Chorus Line in our first year. I thoroughly enjoyed working with David Whitney (director), Karen Johnson Mortimer (choreographer), and Greg Crease (musical director), who were all in the cast and team of the original Australian production of A Chorus Line. We all still rave about it as being one of the best things we ever did at AIM.

My time at AIM taught me so much about the musical theatre industry in Australia, while working with and under the wing of some insanely talented performers and teachers. It was everything I hoped it would be and then some.”

Musicals and performing have always been a big part of Monique’s life. “My mother was a dancer and dance teacher her entire life so it runs in the blood I guess. Mum always encouraged my sister, brother and I to do whatever we dreamt we wanted to do, and because of her I am where I am today,” says Monique.

As for her future on the stage, Monique doesn’t know what it holds. “That's the amazing double-edged sword of performing; you never know what's coming next. I've got so many different things I want to dip my toe in - musicals, plays, film, television, cabaret- anything and everything. I'm also planning on moving to London to experience the West End scene sometime in the near future. I want to travel and continue learning about performing till the day I hang up my tights. I simply adore it.”

A Chorus Line opens in Adelaide at the Adelaide Festival Theatre on December 31 and runs until January 28, 2012. It then moves to Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne from February 4 – 26.

Olivia Beardsley in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Picture: ELENOR TEDENBORG

“A Midsummer Night's Dream is, in my eyes, Shakespeare's most wonderfully engaging work. It's a perfect lover’s comedy,” says Olivia.

Olivia Beardsley is another AIM Music Theatre graduate making her stage debut in a major production, Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“A Midsummer Night's Dream is, in my eyes, Shakespeare's most wonderfully engaging work. It's a perfect lover’s comedy,” says Olivia.

Unlike Monique, who had to endure an intense audition process, Olivia was fortunate to actually be pre-cast by the director, which she says is incredibly flattering at this stage in her career.

The play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is made up of three worlds – the first is the world of the four lovers of Athens, who are the main focus of the story; the second is the world of The Fairies, who live within the forest surrounding Athens; and the third is the rude Mechanicals - a bunch of working men/women, who are rather ambiguous and childlike, and who provide much of the comedy with their infamous 'play within the play'.

Olivia plays one of the lovers, Helena, which she is absolutely thrilled about. “I also double as the Rude Mechanical 'Snout' who plays 'The Wall' within the 'play within the play'.”

Helena is wonderful as an Athenian noble woman and allows for such great speeches and dramatic moments as well as subtle comedy, says Olivia. “She allows me to grow and explore her throughout the play, and because of this she is slightly different every night. The Wall, however, is my chance to go back to what I know best which is pure facial comedy and it is such a joy to play 'The Wall' every night and hear the laughter and enjoyment from the audience. I feel so happy to be able to play two extremes of character within the one play.

“I feel incredibly happy and very humbled to be part of such a wonderful cast full of some of our greatest performers. Coming to work is an absolute joy and every day we learn new things from each other and from the show itself,” says Olivia.

This is Olivia’s first major production. “I have always loved acting with a very visceral passion and to get this opportunity to begin with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream alongside this cast is very exciting for me,” says Olivia.

Like Monique, Olivia studied a Bachelor of Music, majoring in Musical Theatre at AIM and graduated in December 2009. “AIM was a wonderful learning experience for me; to learn to be your own boss, and your own critic. I loved being surrounded by artists, and having AADA in the building and the contemporary, classical and composer units all in the same place - it was impossible to not become involved in other projects outside of your own specialty area. For me, being a contemporary music writer and singer as well as an actor and a musical theatre performer, this was heaven, to be able to indulge all my passions so freely.

“I will also never forget the people from AIM, and I am still in contact with almost everyone from my graduating year. The absolute highlight of AIM would definitely have been playing Dusty in Dusty the Musical. Being given the opportunity to play a role that is so iconic came with a lot of pressure and interest, given it was the first performance of the rewritten show, but it was absolutely incredible,” says Olivia.

Olivia says that experience truly changed her life, as did working with amazing teachers such as Tony Cogin, Terry Bader, Jennifer Murphy and David Whitney. “David's Performance study class where we delved into the world of the musical A Chorus Line was another pivotal moment for absolutely everyone within my unit.”

Looking ahead, Olivia is incredibly excited and ready for what comes next. Following A Midsummer Night’s Dream, she is heading to London for a while. “I want to continue working on both the stage and screen and gain experiences and keep telling stories, working with wonderful people, learning and honing my skills in singing/dancing and acting. Working at home and abroad in theatre, musicals and film is my dream.”