Fantasia Showstoppers Awarded Winning Vocalists Accolade

The 2023 Junior Theatre Festival (JTF) Australia sought performers from across the entire country plus New Zealand and chose 24 finalist groups. Hawkesbury’s Fantasia Showstoppers performers were among those 24 groups.

Saturday night, October 28, those finalist groups competed in person for the prestigious awards that are judged by a panel of visiting international artists from Broadway and West End.

The 27 Fantasia Showstoppers performing selections from The Lion King JR on the night, aged between 8 and 18, were awarded the trophy for Outstanding Vocals.

The JTF Australia focused on performers ranging in age from 7 to 18 presenting an extract from an MTI Broadway Junior musical before fellow guests and a specially selected panel of adjudicators.

The young performers received constructive feedback on their music, acting, dance and overall performance from the adjudicators.

Some performers were selected for honours.

The weekend also included interactive workshops presented by leading theatre and teaching artists, an evening concert and a Q&A session with special guests.

JTF Co-producer Shane Bransdon said each performing participant had the unique opportunity to receive tips from some of the world’s best producers, directors and writers who joined them from New York.

“As a major treat, the performers got to meet celebrity performer Rob Mills, who is currently touring with the hit musical “&Juliet”, Mr Bransdon said.

JTF allows performers and teachers representing a diverse number of theatre programs to come together and share their talents, cheer each other on, and be part of an international community of people who care as much about the art form as they do.

The event is part of the global JTFs circuit, conceived by iTheatrics in New York, which takes place in the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

These JTFs are the world's largest events exclusively dedicated to celebrating young people and student-driven musical theatre. In 2022, nearly 20,000 people worldwide attended a JTF.

Fantasia Showstoppers is a musical theatre company based in Western Sydney with the purpose of providing musical theatre opportunities for youth in Western Sydney.

The company was established in 2020, and since then has produced six stage productions, hosted masterclasses with industry professionals including Jay Laga’aia, and been recognised by professional performers including Paulini and Jemma Rix.

Fantasia Showstoppers also hosts weekly classes and holiday workshops to assist the development of youth in key areas including singing, dancing and acting.

The company is recognised as a leading contributor to the development of youth in performing arts, with six alumni given the opportunity to travel to Broadway, New York to receive special training.

• Topics:

• Performing Arts
• Festivals