For Melbourne-born Natalie Marinopoulos, dancing has been a part of her life since the age of four, when she took her first steps in ballet shoes.
Being on the theatre stage is what she always wanted. To the now 20-year-old from Glen Iris, that faith couldn’t offer her anything better at the moment than playing in one of the most popular musicals – The Phantom Of The Opera.
“I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to be part of such a special production. It’s just a great starting point for me to be in a famous musical. It’s great for my resume – to build up musicals on the side, and then one day maybe I can audition professionally,” Natalie tells Neos Kosmos.
The musical, produced by the local CLOC Musical Theatre Group, will be the world-first amateur theatre production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary 1986 masterpiece.
After exhaustive auditions of several hundred applicants eager to be part of this special event, Natalie Marinopoulos has been cast with just five other young female dancers, as part of the Paris Opera’s corps de ballet, to take part in the musical.
After appearing as part of the ensemble in CLOC’s award winning 2012 Production of the Year, All Shook Up, the young dancer is delighted to be returning to an exciting production.
“I’m grateful to be part of a cast of such high quality performers; we are working extremely hard. This show is the most challenging I’ve faced until now. Watching the massive sets and intricate costumes take shape around us has only added to my excitement as we get closer to opening night,” Natalie says.
Trained as a child at the Red Shoes Dance Studio in England, and four other dance studios in Melbourne, Natalie obtained her certificate for dance while still in high school. This required after school hours spent in dance school, and 12 or more hours of dance a week. Over the last 15 years, Natalie has trained extensively in all dance styles, including singing.
Used to hard work and strenuous training, it wasn’t a big deal for Natalie to enter the full-time course Bachelor of Communication Design at RMIT while working part-time as a dance teacher at the Melbourne Academy of the Arts, where she is teaching ballet, jazz and musical theatre to children from 2 to 16 years old.
“I specialize in ballet and jazz, and also musical theatre,” Natalie says.
“It requires a lot of time and work, but it’s not hard when you enjoy it. I just love dancing. For me, it was a good part-time activity while I was in school, and I’ve stuck with it.”
The dream job for a full-time student and part-time dance teacher in love with dancing and the theatre? Natalie’s dream job would be, she says, a combination of graphic design with her passion for performing.
The Phantom Of The Opera will be showing at the National Theatre, St Kilda, from Friday 10 May, to Saturday 25 May, with a special matinee show on Mother’s Day, Sunday 12 May at 2.00 pm. Audiences can expect a night of theatrical magic and spectacular sights and sounds. For more information, visit www.cloc.org.au, or contact 1300 362 547.