Singer Nicole Schaap, 29, and musical theatre performers Conrad Goddard, 16, and Bella Newcombe, 18, will be among up to 20 New Zealanders at the annual World Championships of Performing Arts, to be held at Disneyland in July next year.
“When I found out, I was super-stoked,” said Schaap, who is a drum teacher and musician at Rolleston.
Auditions are currently under way around the world for the championships, where entertainment professionals will judge, award industry medals and scholarships, deliver seminars and may even sign up talent.
Schaap is lead singer and drummer for Rolleston-based alternative rock and soul band Moonflower, where she performs alongside her husband and bass player Josh Fairless and guitarist and singer Hamish Ellis.
She said she would be getting out of her comfort zone at the championships, as she would be leaving her drumkit behind.
“It’s a little bit different for me, because I’m used to having my drumkit in front of me,” she said.
But she was looking forward to showcasing her ability to deliver “big belting vocals.”
Schaap said her idols were Aretha Franklin and Ann Wilson from Heart, and they were also the two singers people often told her she sounded like.
She planned to sing at least one of her original songs at the championships, as well as It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World by James Brown and River by Bishop Briggs.
She was hoping to come back with a medal in at least one of the song categories and make music industry contacts.
She plans to take her mum with her and will be fundraising towards airfares and accommodation.
Last year he won the best actor award in the Canterbury Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival, while he has played main roles in the junior musical theatre CentreStage Rolleston productions of Legally Blonde and High School Musical.
Last month he came fifth in the world in the international Chinese Water Cube Cup singing competition.
Goddard said he liked both acting and singing, and was taking dance classes as well.
As he looks ahead to tertiary education, he is torn between pursuing his love of physics and languages, and his love of acting and singing.
But he would be drawn to the latter, if he was successful at the championships in being awarded a scholarship to attend an American academy of performing arts.
“I’m just really happy to be going, it’s such an amazing opportunity,” Goddard said.
Bella Newcombe is a student at Rolleston College. She has enjoyed performing in musical theatre productions ever since she began singing lessons in year 9, having starred in productions at her school and with Kirwee Players.
She would be travelling with her singing teacher Jacquie Soper who was the one who had suggested she audition in the first place.
“It was surreal (to be selected),” Newcombe said.
“I was sitting in my car then I saw the email, I clicked on it and I just remember crying and running inside and saying: ‘Mum I got in’.”
She expected to be out and about busking in Selwyn as she fundraised towards an approximate $8500 goal for expenses such as airfares and accommodation.
WCOPA New Zealand spokeswoman Dina Janse van Rensburg said 39 people had so far auditioned around the country, 19 of whom had qualified. Fourteen of these had so far confirmed they would attend. The selection process was still ongoing.
“We estimate that the team will consist of between 15 and 20 contestants after auditions are done. Year after year team New Zealand bring home numerous medals and scholarships,” Janse van Rensburg said.
