WAAPA’s Bring It On The Musical

I’m always blown away by the talent exposed in the major mid year WAAPA musical and this years offering, Bring It On The musical, did not disappoint.

Image - Jon Green
Image – Jon Green

As the audience enters the theatre they are greeted by a giant digital screen that invites them to upload their photos via #bringitonwaapa. The audience is then whipped into a frenzy during the pre show announcement and as the countdown clock begins shouts of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… herald the opening notes of Bring It On The Musical.

Hannah Burridge as Campbell is the perfect cheerleader. She leads the cast with poise and charm (and her dancing skills are evident as she performs a hop hop number dressed in a giant leprechaun head). Campbell’s love interest Randall, played by Jason Arrow, has a captivating voice and presence on stage. He emotionally performs one of the best musical numbers, ‘Enjoy the Trip’,  with Burridge.

Stafanie Caccamo as Bridget steals the laughs in the first act. As Truman High’s giant beaked parrot cheerleading mascot she is able to illicit laughs from audience.

Image - Jon Green
Image – Jon Green

Stephanie Wall (Nautica), Hayden Baum (La Cienega) and Melissa Russo (Danielle) are a commanding trio on stage as they lead the dance crew from Jackson High. Baum struts his stuff in heels and some of the shortest skirts on stage. Melissa Russo’s powerful vocals lead the trio to steal some of the best scenes in the show.

Costumes deigned by Rozina Suliman are active wear on steroids. Obligatory shorts, singlets, track suits, and lycra outfits set the stage in a wash of colour. The skin tight silver finals outfits, worn by the Truman High School team, are a highlight, complete with glowing blue T’s.

Choreography by Michael Ralph is slick and tight and this cast perform it with precision. Ralph’s choreography cleverly disguises the fact that the cast are not professional cheer leaders capable of death defying lifts and flips. The cast manage to perform lifts and drops from great highs that require complete trust by those performing them. Several cast members supported bruising on their bodies to attest to the danger of the moves.

The production allowed for a simple yet effective set designed by Steve Nolan. Lockers and bleacher revolved around the stage while the evolution of technology allowed for a giant digital back drop screen on which were projected various scenes of school gyms and night skies.

Bring It On The Musical is a cheesy, teen, cheer leading musical performed by a talented group of final year and second year Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts Musical Theatre students.

Grab your tickets now. Tickets available through Ticketek.

One thought on “WAAPA’s Bring It On The Musical

  • Saw it last night and had great seats but it really wasn’t up to WAAPA’s usual standard at all. The sets, lighting and costumes were really effective and the use of the screen was great, but the cast were disappointing aside from a few exceptions. Hannah as Campbell was the most disappointing; her dancing was good, as you say, but her voice wasn’t up to the role. It was unfortunate that there were technical difficulties with her mike in the First Act, as well, although I give her credit for bravely making the best of it. I was really excited for this production and particularly the opening number which is my favourite but the cast lacked the energy and cheer-leading skills necessary, and her voice was not strong enough. It was obviously chosen because of Hamilton (also written by Lin-Manuel Miranda) and not because they had a strong acrobatic cohort this year. It was also an odd choice because the Bring It On franchise relies on the Black/White divide and this didn’t exist; I don’t think the poor/rich one worked as well, and was at odds with some of the lyrics. Speaking of which, I know that rapping is not general in MT but the diction of a number of the cast was pretty poor; which is a shame as a lot of the great lines were blurred or not understandable. I was very glad to be in the 2nd row and also to be very familiar with the musical or I would missed a lot of what was going on. The girl who played Bridget, and the girl who played Daniella stole the show (this was evident from the applause at the end; sad when the girl who was the lead didn’t get the highest level of applause). The boys were definitely stronger this year, with Ashley Rousetty as Cameron being the stand out. Jason Arrow’s voice was great, although his dancing wasn’t up to it. I’d love to know the story behind why there are only 9 girls graduating this year — did one drop out/fail/get plucked to stardom? I have seen the last 4 WAAPA productions at the Regal, plus Carrie the Musical last year, and this one just did NOT make the grade.

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