Recently graduated alumni, Charlie Munday, will head to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York in October after receiving a scholarship.
The scholarship sees the young dancer, singer and actor head to America for two years but the 18-year-old is eager to finish a four-year bachelor.
Charlie has been determined to secure a spot in the academy since he was 14.
“This is my dream that I have had for so long,” he said.
“It’s unbelievable. I keep trying to pinch myself to wake myself up.”
Munday sang Everybody Says Don’t from Anyone Can Whistle and performed a Eddie’s monologue from Fool For Love as part of his audition.
Despite having experienced many audition processes through his teenage years, this one was a step above what Charlie was used to.
“I woke up and walked from where I was staying, got a bagel and coffee, walked past Her Majesty’s Theatre and it felt very serendipitous, like it was a sign,” he said.
“My mum came with me and when we saw the gorgeous big banner that said AMDA auditions we had a little internal scream.
“It was the most nervous I’ve ever been for anything. It was something I had been thinking about and wanting to get right since I was 14.”
Charlie has been involved with theatre in Bendigo since he was 12.
After getting a taste for performing when he played Robin Hood in his Grade 6 school production, he first performed on The Capital in Annie in 2010.
“At that point it was a hobby but since then has turned into so much more,” Charlie said.
But it wasn’t until performing in Bendigo Theatre Company’s production of Chicago that he was sure performing was the career for him.
“That was the first musical where I was treated like an adult and was in an adult cast,” Charlie said.
“I was one of the youngest in it and it was one of the most professional musicals I had been in. I just knew that I could do that forever.
“I’ve always said out of all the shows I’ve ever done, Chicago was the one where I thought ‘I could do this six days a week and never get bored with it’.”
Charlie joined BTC’s committee as a junior member in 2012 and is now a full committee member. The role has seen him grown his talents backstage.
He has done costume and set design, dabbled in lighting and choreographed last year’s productions of Title of Show and the Kids Christmas concert.
“It’s been awesome to have a say in the arts in Bendigo. It’s an incredible opportunity to influence how Bendigo sees theatre,” he said.
Photo: Glenn Daniels Words: Bendigo Advertiser
