L to R: Cinderella’s Prince Nathan Rutups, his steward James King, with Cinderella’s Ugly Stepsisters in background. Photos by LORNA SIM

Music for Everyone (MFE) provides musical tuition and performance opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities within the ACT. MFE is the winner of both the 2009 National Music in Communities Award and the 2009 ACT Chief Minister’s Inclusion Award in Education.

Act Up Sing Out Music Theatre is one of its many programmes which provide opportunities for participants up to the age of 18 years to audition for a role in a major musical production. This year, the show was Into the Woods Jr by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, directed by Dianna Nixon.

Into the Woods Jr was developed in Washington D.C. as part of the Kennedy Centre’s Sondheim celebration, which included a year-long residency programme with seven local public schools. The work of the Kennedy Center is symptomatic of Washington D.C.’s current status as the site of one of the leading theatre markets in the United States. This poses a challenge for Canberra, Australia’s nationa…