Chris Betcher

We have an amazing drama department at school. Each year they put on a couple of different productions in the school theatre, and they do an amazing job of it.  This year the senior school students performed a version of the very whimsical (and somewhat bizarre!) story  of Alice in Wonderland. It was a fabulous opportunity for the kids to perform, made especially fabulous by the school's very authentic approach to such productions. It's a joy to watch the students be part of something so professionally produced. It was a particularly joyful for me to watch, as my own daughter Kate had the leading role of Alice. It was a challenging role, performing in every scene and having lots of dialog (including the opening monologue). She worked really hard at rehearsals and when the final productions finally arrived, I was so very proud of her. Photo by Len Elliot

My daughter Kate loves to sing. She discovered this ability a few years ago when she came home from school and announced that she wanted to try out for a solo part in a local performing arts concert. Although we always thought she had a nice voice that could carry a tune, we had totally missed the fact that she was actually quite talented vocally and so her intention to sing solo at this concert was a bit of a surprise. Long story short, she has discovered her voice and is working hard at developing it further. She's done workshops and music camps and is now working with a singing coach. She really does love to sing. She was recently selected to be part of the Talent Advancement Program (TAP), a program for kids with musical talent aged 13 to 18. For the 23 kids selected to be part of TAP, it's a pretty special group to be take part of. They get to learn and grow by actually performing in front of people. Tomorrow, they are all performing at the Sydney Royal Easter Sh...