AFTER following her dreams of hitting the stage, former Horsham resident Bec Wik is reaping the rewards for her hard work.
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Bec received rave reviews for her performance as Peggy Sawyer in the CenterStage Geelong’s production of 42nd Street last year.
The performance earned her the People’s Choice Award for Best Leading Actress at the 2018 Music Theatre Guild of Victoria’s People’s Choice Awards.
It followed a commendation at the guild awards.
“They release the list of commendations online and ask people to vote for their favourite shows and performances,” she said.
“It was pretty cool just to get a commendation, but to actually be given the award from the people who came and saw the show, that was great.
“The support from the community around the show was pretty exciting and it made me feel very honoured.”
The 23-year-old recently graduated from Deakin University in Geelong with a teaching degree and she has already secured her dream job.
She will start the school year at Armstrong Creek Primary School in the suburbs of Geelong as the school’s first performing arts teacher.
“It was very exciting to be offered the position. Obviously teaching is something I’m very passionate about, but I’m also passionate about performing arts, so to be able to combine the two is pretty cool,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to being able to pass my knowledge in drama, dance and music to the students, and get them excited about what I’m excited about.
“They actually haven’t done performing arts at this school before, so I’ll be starting up the whole program. As a graduate teacher it’s a great opportunity.
Bec attended St Brigid’s College in Horsham until year 10 and then finished off her schooling in Ballarat.
She said theatre had always been one of her greatest passions.
“It’s something that I’ve always been involved in – whether it was musical theatre, dancing, singing, all of it. I did it all throughout school in Horsham and Ballarat, and now I’m doing it still in Geelong,” she said.
“I was in a few Horsham Arts Council shows – Bye Bye Birdie and Grease. When I was at St Brigid’s College, I had a lot of lead roles such as Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical the Musical, and I was Molly in Annie.”
When Bec moved to Geelong for university she joined CenterStage Geelong theatre group – one of the city’s main theatre companies besides from Footlight Productions.
“I have been with CenterStage ever since. I would definitely have a go at trying for Footlight if something popped up that I was interested in but I’ve really enjoyed being with the company I’m with,” she said.
“When I first came to Geelong I was just in the ensemble to start with, but last year I was lucky enough to get the lead role in 42nd Street.
“My character Peggy wants to be on Broadway and ends up getting into an ensemble before rising to the lead role – it’s a show within a show.
“It’s also a tap musical. I had done tap before but not for a long time, so I was pretty surprised when I got offered the lead role.
“I worked really hard with our choreographer to advance my level a bit more. Now I’ve started tap dancing at a dance studio in Geelong.”
I’m looking forward to being able to pass my knowledge in drama, dance and music to the students, and get them excited about what I’m excited about.
- Bec WIk
Bec said she wanted to encourage more young people in regional towns such as Horsham to get into the performing arts.
“I think it’s really important. When I was younger I was into sports too, but dancing and performing was a really good way for me to express myself,” she said.
“I wasn’t very confident when I was younger, so being able to play a different character and be someone else gave me more confidence.
“Encouraging those kids who are really into music, dance and drama to do performing arts is really important and helps them grow confidence.
“It’s also a way of communicating a story and portraying something meaningful.
“In smaller communities, it’s a way for people to come together and see the natural talent of people within their community – and there’s certainly a lot of talent in Horsham.”
Bec said she had a number of dream roles she would like to perform.
“I would love to be in Chicago – that would be amazing and it’s a pretty heavy dance show. If it came up I’d definitely want to be a part of that,” she said.
“Things like Wicked would also be really cool to be a part of, but I know they’ve already done that in Geelong. Playing either of the two female leads in those two musicals would be amazing.”
Up next for Bec is CentreStage’s production of Cinderella.
“I’m in the ensemble, but I’m one of the main lead female dancers which is pretty exciting,” she said.
CentreStage Geelong’s production of Cinderella will be held from March 22.
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