MTC Celebrates New Partnership with VCA for Eddie Perfect's VIVID WHITE

Melbourne Theatre Company is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Victorian College of the Arts for MTC's upcoming production of Vivid White by Eddie Perfect.

Hitting the stages this November, the world premiere MTC commission will feature an ensemble comprised of VCA's second year Music Theatre students, with their involvement in the production forming part of their coursework and end of year assessment.

The 19 students - split into three groups - will form a chorus and perform on rotation throughout the season of this new Australian work. The ensemble has been specially written in to the show to make this opportunity possible.

MTC Artistic Director Brett Sheehy said, 'This exciting partnership is a unique opportunity for music theatre students to gain practical experience in a professional setting during their studies. As part of the University of Melbourne, MTC has had a long association with the Victorian College of the Arts, and a long history of supporting students in their pursuit of careers in the creative industries. This particular partnership sees our relationship with VCA blossom in new ways and we very much look forward to seeing it come to fruition over the next couple of months.'

MTC Associate Director and Vivid White director Dean Bryant said, 'I'm thrilled to be able to give the students the opportunity to not only be part of creating a production with professional actors and creatives, but a new Australian piece by one of our leading writers. They'll see how a script evolves throughout the process, and what it takes, day by day, to put it onstage. Eddie and I are graduates of drama school and would have salivated at the opportunity to learn these skills and return to our final year of study that much further ahead.'

Margot Fenley, Head of Music Theatre & Senior Lecturer in Acting at VCA, said, 'There really couldn't be a better opportunity for our students to test and extend their training in a professional environment, surrounded by such a highly respected creative team. VCA has been highly engaged for the past few years in questions of how we can better support new Australian works and this collaboration with MTC will be, I hope, the first of many such innovative industry partnerships for VCA Music Theatre students.'

Vivid White is the latest work by Eddie Perfect, taking a brilliantly satirical look at the Australian dream of home ownership and the ruthless real estate market.

Starring Gillian Cosgriff, Virginia Gay, Brent Hill, Verity Hunt-Ballard, Keegan Joyce, Ben Mingay and Christina O'Neill, Vivid White opens Thursday 23 November at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner.

Tickets on sale now at mtc.com.au.

The ensemble has been made possible with support from The Victorian College of the Arts Music Theatre Department and the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance.

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