An Orange High School student will take his turn to bask in the limelight at the Schools Spectacular on November 23 and 24.
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Year 12 student Lachie Wheeler has previously performed at the entertainment extravaganza in a choir but was selected to sing this year as a featured performer.
The talented 18-year-old singer is counting down the days until the end of term when he will be busy embarking on intensive featured performer rehearsals for the 2018 Schools Spectacular.
For Lachie, it’s been a rapid journey to performing upfront as a featured performer.
Last year, after transferring from a private school to Orange High School to take advantage of its arts opportunities, Lachie had his first taste of the Schools Spectacular where he enjoyed “singing his heart out” in the combined choir.
“To be chosen as a featured performer is a dream come true,” Lachie said.
“I’ll have a chance to showcase my talents and work alongside amazing, amazing peers.”
Lachie is bracing himself from the transformation of being “up back” with the 2700-voice Schools Spectacular choir to being “up front” with the total focus of the 10000-strong audience on him.
“Being from a small town I have not had a crazy amount of opportunities to sing to such a humongous audience,” he said.
“I can imagine the energy will be very high and it will mean the world to me.”
The entertainment extravaganza has cemented itself as one of the most anticipated events on the state’s arts calendar, and in 2016 was named the Guinness World Record holder for the Largest Amateur Variety Act in the world.
I’ll have a chance to showcase my talents and work alongside amazing, amazing peers.
- Orange High School student Lachie Wheeler
Schools Spectacular creative director Sonja Sjolander is confident this year’s 35th Schools Spectacular will live up to its name: The Greatest.
“This year’s show is shaping up to be one of the best yet,” Ms Sjolander said.
“We have found some of the greatest talent around and can’t wait to show it to the world.
“From the greatest musicians to the greatest dancers, the greatest actors to the greatest designers, the greatest lessons to the greatest teachers: the 2018 Schools Spectacular truly has it all and really will be The Greatest.”
She said in addition to the featured performers, more than 5000 students will perform on stage during the public schools’ performing arts showcase.
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Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
