The West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) is once again laying out the welcome mat as part of its ever-popular annual Open Day happening at Edith Cowan University’s Mount Lawley campus on Sunday, April 28th.
The event is an opportunity for WAAPA to showcase its renowned performing arts courses and facilities, across its wide range of performance, production, management and creative course.
“It’s our main future student recruitment event of the year,” explains WAAPA Marketing Manager Anton Maz. “It’s really the one day of the year when the general public can have a look at every single aspect of the institution. So not just the facilities, but they can actually experience what an acting or dance class is like or what the music students experience in their studies.”
Prospective students can also take backstage tours whereupon WAAPA staff and students guide them through the whole page-to-stage process of putting on a live, theatrical performance.
“It’s from the conceptual set and design stage through to the construction in the workshops of the set and the wardrobe and costume facilities where they realise all these designs,” Maz says. “Then we take them through the lighting and sound studios and talk about how important those aspects are to every film and TV show we enjoy, not to mention every live experience.”
The Stage Management side of things is also thoroughly covered, encompassing the many different aspects and how they come together as a finished musical or theatre show.
“Throughout the day we’ll have the coordinators and Associate Deans who run all of WAAPA’s programs,” Maz says. “You can meet staff and students in panel discussions or ask questions one-on-one.
“So it’s a really great opportunity to get a good understanding of the course you may be interested in applying for, but also for consumers of performing arts in this town it’s a really good insight into all of those elements.”
All-important behind-the-scenes courses such as Arts & Cultural Management, Bachelor of Performing Arts (Performance Making) and Production & Design will also be highlighted, having become sought-after in the post-pandemic era.
“We’ve been getting unprecedented demand from the live events industry and all of the production companies ringing us up and asking if we can recommend any graduates for all of the back-of-stage roles,” Maz explains. “Due to COVID there was a two-to-three year period in this country where a lot of events came to a standstill so a lot of established practitioners exited the industry or pivoted elsewhere to the film, television and sports industries.
“So there’s a lot of demand for trained lighting designers, trained stage managers, arts administers and development roles. Not just the creative practitioner roles, but the important administrator roles within all arts and culture organisations and entertainment companies – they all need the next generation of arts administrators, managers, producers.
“So demand is huge and these are the roles that are essential to the industry but perhaps don’t get as much exposure as the performers, but every successful actor or artist is reliant on hair, makeup, costumes, special effects, set construction, managers, producers.
“All of those important and really exciting, fulfilling careers across the entertainment, arts and cultural industries are things you can train for at WAAPA. We would love more applicants for all of the courses that feed into those careers.”
Over the horizon, of course, is the Edith Cowan University campus opening in the heart of Perth. WAAPA is due to welcome staff and students there in semester one of 2026, and the excitement is already tangible.
“Many people coming to the WAAPA Open Day and applying for future courses will spend most of their time at ECU City, training and studying in a state-of-the-art, world-leading facility in the middle of the Perth CBD, close to all of our beautiful institutions such as PICA, the State Theatre Centre, Blue Room, and WAM,” Maz states.
“We’re really looking forward to a whole new chapter of contribution and collaboration with the Perth arts ecosystem. It’s really exciting.”
ECU/WAAPA OPEN DAY 2024
Date: Sunday, April 28th
Time: 10am to 3pm
Venue: WAAPA, Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford St, Mt Lawley
Parking: There will be free parking all day across campus.
Plan Your Day here.