Friday, April 27, 2012

Tilda Easel Card with Pearls and Lace

  On the love heart panel behind Tilda I distressed Kraft card and then stamps flowers and then added the series of tidy dots with my White Gel Pen. I borrowed this love heart Spellbinders locket from my girlfriend Vicki and then used it the sponge the design by placing the spellbinder over my die cut to mask over design,so now it’s embossed and highlighted. I used my Stamp It Sponging Block to distress the edges of a modern pink love heart designer paper panel both inside and on front of card with Kraft coloured ink after I had stamped my flowers. I added lots lace and pearls to create a soft romantic feel to my card and added lots of flowers! I borrowed my girlfriend Vicki’s die to cut the leaves. I added a healthy amount of glitter glue to highlight and I’m so happy with how this card  turned out, even though I didn’t use half the stuff I had out to get my mojo going. It’s funny how cards take a life of their own once you start creating. My husband is glad to have the dining table back for the weekend!   

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]I’d love you to come and Join our Challenge this week at

Card Crafter’s Circle 20th  Challenge

We're in a bit of a romantic mood this week, so we would love to see your creations embellished in

PEARLS and LACE

Our sponsor this week is another fabulous returning sponsor DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS! Di is so talented with the pen, her designs are gorgeous, and there are so many for all occasions!  Our randomly drawn challenge winner will receive a $10 credit at the shop, which equals about 4 images, or they can choose to use it as a discount of a larger order! Woohoo! 

Our Design Team has been designing a storm this week, and are surely to wow you with their creations in Pearls and Lace! We hope you find inspiration in them!Swing by and see the great creations showcased by the Card Crafter’s Circle Design Team.

Challenges I am entering this week:

 

Have a great weekend

Hugs Trish Munro

Monday, April 23, 2012

Anita Munro Flower Arranging

I am very pleased with my daughter Anita’s first attempt at flower arranging from what we had in the garden. She even added a matching bow!

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Proud Mum

Trish Munro

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Anita Munro in Dance Australia 18th April 2012

Here is the latest article from Dance Australia 18.04.12

http://www.danceaustralia.com.au/news/three-brisbane-annies

Three Brisbane Annies!

Chloe Thiel in full costume as Annie.

Chloe Thiel in full costume as Annie.

18 Apr 2012

Three lucky girls are having the chance of a lifetime, after having been chosen to star in the Brisbane season of the musical, Annie.

They are:

Anita Munro, who is 11 years old. She has competed in eisteddfods from the age of six including dance troupe performances and vocal solos, receiving numerous awards. In this last year Anita has begun extensive dance training at Dance Technique on the Gold Coast.

Annie - Anita Munro

Chloe Thiel, who hales from England and began dancing at the age of two. She attends Queensland National Ballet School.   Annie - Chloe Thiel

Xanthe Dunning, who is a fulltime student at Strictly Dance while attending school part time. She has also been accepted to represent Australia in the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Hollywood USA.

Annie is playing at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

 

Dance Australia is Australia's leading specialist magazine devoted to the art of dance. It covers ballet, contemporary dance, music theatre and dance education. The magazine and website are aimed at professional dancers, teachers, students and dance lovers. The magazine also has a special section for young dancers.

For more details about Dance Australia magazine, click here

To subscribe to the magazine, call 1800 807 760 or email subscriptions@yaffa.com.au

To sign up for the Dance Australia e-newsletter, please click here

 

 

I am such a proud Mum to have my daughter Anita Munro featured in Dance Australia

Trish Munro

Friday, April 20, 2012

Bird on a Quilted Card

I have always wanted to sew with a sewing machine and make a quilt, so with our challenge this week I made a mini quilt for my card and as I don’t have a sewing machine, it’s faux stitching for me!I punched out 16 squares and I used two matching double sided papers. I know I keep using my favorite colours green and pink but they just speak to me! I then taught my daughter how to paper pierce using a Stampin Up product, she got about half of the squares done for me and really enjoyed it until her favorite show came on TV and she dumped me like a bag of potatoes! I then used a very fine marker to make the stiches. I recently cut a few die cuts in white from my girlfriends new dies and she did the same with mine and I used these on my card, it was great to have these pre cut to fiddle with and made the perfect addition to my card!  I used my Copics to colour this cute little bird sitting in a tree called MORNING GLORY and matched these colours to my designer  papers. I added glitter glue to my ribbon bow and I am really pleased with how that makes the ribbon look so much prettier, I am so glad I took up card making!!!Annie the Musical 20th April,2012 083

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  I’d love you to come and Join our Challenge this week at

Card Crafter’s Circle 19th  Challenge

Grab your needle and thread, because we want to see you

IN STITCHES!

(Real or Faux Stitching)

What's that you say? You don't sew on your cards? That doesn't matter.... grab a pen to add some FAUX stitching detail to your card instead…just like I have!

Our sponsor this week is another fabulous returning sponsor LIMITED RUNS!

Our randomly drawn challenge winner will receive their choice of 3 (three) images from

the Limited Runs shop!

Swing by and see the great creations showcased by the Card Crafter’s Circle Design Team.

Challenges I am entering my card into this week:

  1. Charisma Cardz-Shabby Chic
  2. Paper Crafting Journey-Use 3 or more patterned papers
  3. Sassy Studio Designs-Flowers and flourishes
  4. Emerald Faeries-Dazzle it
  5. Little Darlings –Pastels
  6. Paper Shelter-Wings and Things
  7. Whimsy Inspires- Punches and or Die Cuts
  8. Cooking it up with Katie-Green gorgeous garden
  9. Pretty Little Ribbon Shop-To die for
  10. Crafty Ribbons-Things with Wings

Have a great weekend

Hugs Trish xxx

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Birdcage Thank You Card

I had so much fun making this birdcage card using pastel colours and dry embossed the inside with more birdcages. I’m really enjoying the Copics to colour in with,and  it’s just so relaxing colouring in. I made this card using pastel colours which is something that I don’t do very often but I really liked it, it’s funny how your taste changes and as you experiment with different styles and colours your cards change with time. The thing I really enjoyed adding to my card were my new small paper lace corners but almost impossible to glue down,any tips?…greatly appreciated!!!  Annie the Musical Red Carpet Night April 12th 2012 078 

Inside I embossed birdcages to carry through my theme. 

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Here are the Copic colours I used.

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I’d love you to come and Join our Challenge this week at

Card Crafter’s Circle 18th  Challenge

Pastel Colours

Use Pastel Colours in your creations

and the Sponsor this week is  Happileigh Scrappin Designs

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Winners prize is 3 digi images and top three will receive an image off their choice also!!!!

Swing by and see the great creations showcased by the Card Crafter’s Circle Design Team.

Challenges that inspire me:

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  1. Crafting Life's Pieces-Sketch 46 I really enjoyed having this sketch to follow,my card design came together so much easier.
  2. Crafty Ribbons-C17 Things with Wings
  3. Paper Play-Things with Wings
  4. Totally Papercrafts-C 112 Things with Wings
  5. Pixie Dust Studio-Ribbon

Have a great weekend

Hugs Trish

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Anita Munro -Annie the Musical-interviewed by the Sunshine Coast Daily

This article was in in the Sushine Coast Daily
Proud Mum
Trish Munro

Little Annies are thrilled to bits

Miranda Cashin | 18th March 2012 6:00 AM
JAZMINE May, Chloe Teale and Anita Munro don’t have to wait until tomorrow for the sun to come out. Their dreams are already coming true today.
Annie (Sienna Elchaar) and Daddy Warbucks (Anthony Warlow) in the Sydney production of Annie.
Jeff Busby
JAZMINE May, Chloe Teale and Anita Munro don't have to wait until tomorrow for the sun to come out.
Their dreams are already coming true.
The three dancing, singing and acting enthusiasts have landed the lead role of Annie in the forthcoming Brisbane production.
The trio will alternate in the role each night during its season.
They were selected from about 500 eager young girls who auditioned for the production to play the beloved character.
The curly haired redhead with the heart of gold first won over audiences in the comic strip Little Orphan Annie in 1924, then as the Tony Award-winning 1977 Broadway musical and in the feature film in 1982.
The enduring appeal of the character and the story is seen in pop culture today with rapper Jay-Z reinventing Hard Knock Life.
Will Smith announced last year he would remake the film with his daughter Willow in the title role.
At 10, May, from Ipswich, is the youngest of the three but in no way less experienced.
The Springfield Anglican College student has already performed with the Paris Opera Ballet and in QPAC's The Wizard of Oz.
She grew up watching the film Annie and is overjoyed at landing the role.
"I've watched the movies a lot," she said. "She's just so happy."
She described the audition process as long, but the hardest part was staying tight-lipped to her friends until it was officially announced she had scored the role.
"It was really, really difficult. They would ask all the time, 'Did you get it, did you get it?' and I just had to say, 'No, we haven't heard'."
May has been dancing since she was four, first with ballet and then extending her repertoire to tap and jazz.
All she wants to do is perform, whether it is dancing, singing acting or all three.
This is a common theme for all three girls.
Teale, 11, who lives in Brisbane and goes to St Kieran's Primary School, dances every day except Monday at the Queensland National Ballet, as well as performing with the Brisbane Junior Theatre during her holidays.
She dreams of becoming a performer like her mother who was a West End (London) dancer.
"I saw Mum do it and I really just wanted to follow in her footsteps," Teale said.
She speaks at a hundred miles an hour, like a bouncy ball jumping from thought to thought.
What she loves most about the character of Annie is her spirit.
"She's a brassy character with a big heart."
She laughs when talking about the audition process.
"It was torture and fun and bad and amazing all at the same time. I loved doing the bedtime scene but we had to do it again and again and again."
But learning she had scored the role was roller-coaster ride for Teale.
She found out on the same day as her grandmother's funeral.
"I cried and I laughed and I smiled. It was also my birthday so it was good birthday present."
Munro, 11, from St Andrew's Lutheran College on the Gold Coast, barely has a moment to catch her breath between all her performing and after-school activities.
She is a ball of energy and speaks of being inspired to perform by her great aunt who was an Italian opera singer in Milan's famed La Scala opera house.
One her proudest achievements is performing the national anthem at the Dawn Anzac Day service but scoring the role of Annie was one of her most exciting.
"When I found out I got the role I was bouncing off the walls and screaming," she said.
Annie was the first show her parents took her to when she was young.
While she had already been dancing, she fell in love with acting and was inspired to follow that path herself.
"I've seen the film a thousand times. I love it. I love her. I love everything about her. I love her confidence," she said.
"She's not worried about the possibility of cutting her hair but giggles when she imagines what she might look like.
"I'm okay with it, but I think I will look weird with a bob and red hair."
Speaking of her plans for the future she is thinking big.
"I have a big list, trust me," she said. "Annie was on it but I can tick that one off."
There is no competition between the girls. They describe working together as discovering two new best friends.
"They're really nice," said May.
"They're fun," Munro said.
Their mothers are undeniably proud of their spotlight-loving daughters.
Jazmine's mum, Patsy Jarvis, said their schedule would quite hectic in coming months, but seeing the smile on her daughter's face made it all worth it.
"She just loves it. She wants to do everything."
Chloe's mother Janet said it was her daughter's enthusiasm that was her driving force.
"I'm so extremely proud, she's worked so hard. I was probably the one who said, 'Don't do it' (pursuing performing arts) as I know how hard it is, but she just loves it and lights up whenever she performs," she said.
"Seeing her so happy makes it all worth it," Anita's mother Trish said.

Annie will run from Saturday April 7 at QPAC'S Lyric Theatre. Tickets are $65.90-$127.90 and are available from www.qpac.com.au.
 
This article was in in the Sushine Coast Daily
Proud Mum
Trish Munro

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Anita Munro in Annie the Musical article at Liveguide.com.au

My daughter Anita had her first performane for Preview 2, last night at the Lyric Theatre in Brisbane,Australia and she even made her father cry. She brought heart and soul to her debut performance with a voice like an angel. It was amazing to see her working with an orchestra at the age of 11 years old, her performance is a credit to her dedication & hard work and she is just so focused,just the most brilliant actress from start to finish. It was a two and a half hour show and it seemed to be over so quickly, I didn't want it to end! To see her working along side the greatest Actors of Australian Musical Theatre and fit right in, without nerves or any hesitation, there is no doubt in my mind that she belongs on the stage, and my efforts to help her reach her full potential and follow her dreams, have strengthened. She had a huge crowd of friends and fans to meet her at the Stage Door vying for her attention and autogragh and a photo with her. She received flowers and chocolates and so many wonderful comments. I can't wait until I see her again, I only wish I could afford to go to see every single performance because she has such a magnetic quality you can't take your eyes off her.

I haven't had much time to come and visit my wonderful blogger friends lately  please forgive me, with all the driving back and forth to the theatre my normal life is somewhat a distance memory. 

Wishing you all a wonderful Happy Easter 

Hugs Trish

 Here is an online article from Liveguide about Annie the Musical.

Annie 2012
Jazmine May, Anita Munro, Chloe Thiel @ Queensland Performing Arts Centre - Lyric Theatre

Saturday 7 Apr 2012
Annie 2012
Event Name:
Annie 2012
Artists:
Jazmine May, Anita Munro, Chloe Thiel
Supporting Artists:
Jessica Balmer, April Beak, Claire Bignell, Cassidy Bonnor, Tiani Cashel-Patterson, Akyra Connell, Chloe Crick, Angelica Di Clemente, Xanthe Dunning, Kennedy Foley, Tegan Fraser, Kiara Mcgowan, Sophie Moman Zoe Platt, Stephanie Rath, Grace Sinclair, Kristin Sparks, Tahlia Traecey, Lucy Turner, Ashley Walsh, Phoebe Wolfe
Date:
Sat, 7 Apr 2012 to Sun, 7 Apr 2013
Performance Times:
Tues – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Wed & Sat 1.30pm & Sun 3pm
Venue:
Queensland Performing Arts Centre - Lyric Theatre
Melbourne St (cnr Grey St)
South Brisbane, QLD, 4101
Send a Ticket Enquiry
Find more events in Brisbane
Price:
$65.90 - $127.90 (children’s prices available all sessions except Fri/Sat 7.30pm)
Tickets:
http://www.qpac.com.au
Producer John Frost today announced the 24 local children who have been cast in the upcoming Brisbane production of the ever-popular Broadway musical Annie.
There will be three different casts alternating in the roles of Annie and the seven orphans during the season which opens on April 7 in the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s (QPAC’s) Lyric Theatre.
The three girls cast as Annie in the Brisbane production are Jazmine May, Anita Munro, and Chloe Thiel.
Jazmine (10 years old) is from Ipswich, Anita (11 years old) from Tallebudgera and Chloe (11 years old) from Griffin.
The other orphans will be played by Jessica Balmer, April Beak, Claire Bignell, Cassidy Bonnor, Tiani Cashel-Patterson, Akyra Connell, Chloe Crick, Angelica Di Clemente, Xanthe Dunning, Kennedy Foley, Tegan Fraser, Kiara Mcgowan, Sophie Moman Zoe Platt, Stephanie Rath, Grace Sinclair, Kristin Sparks, Tahlia Traecey, Lucy Turner, Ashley Walsh and Phoebe Wolfe.
Over 450 registrations were received from Queensland girls hopeful to be cast in the role of Annie or the orphans, with 240 girls being selected to audition for the roles.
Annie will light up QPAC’s Lyric Theatre from 7 April in an exciting new production starring Anthony Warlow, Nancye Hayes, Todd McKenney, Chloe Dallimore, Julie Goodwin and Alan Jones as President Roosevelt.
Based on the popular Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”, the musical Annie burst into popularity in 1977 when it opened on Broadway. After running there for nearly six years, it has played in over 22 countries worldwide including the UK, Argentina, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Australia. Annie became a smash-hit movie musical in 1982 starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney and Carol Burnett that is adored worldwide and a fixture of popular culture references.
Annie is full of toe-tapping hits such as It’s the Hard Knock Life, Easy Street, You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile, NYC, Maybe and of course, Tomorrow.
These wonderful songs have become staples of musical theatre repertoires worldwide and now, 34 years on, it remains one of the most loved and universally appealing musicals of all time.
Event Type:
Live
Genres:
Musicals


This article was at Liveguide.com.au
Proud Munro

Friday, April 6, 2012

Chocolate Bunny Card

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I decided to challenge myself to make a fussy with flowers Easter card!I don’t have a sewing machine yet, so I added some faux stitching for some extra detailing, combined with buttons and a  bow.It’s been a work in progress for days until I was happy. I used this adorable little Easter Bunny from  Meljen’s Designs, how could I resist those eyes! I love bunnies with chocolate Easter eggs and I’m hoping the Easter bunny remembers to drops by this Easter !
I’d love you to come and Join our Challenge this week at
Card Crafter’s Circle 17th  Challenge
  Easter is here, and so is the Bunny, and the Chocolate! Our challenge theme for you this week is 
CHOCOLATE BUNNIES!
We are allowing some freedom here... we'd love to see you create a card using a bunny, or chocolate (the colour) or both! And we are excited to have a fabulous returning sponsor MELJENS DESIGNS!
Our randomly drawn challenge winner will receive 4 digital images (uncoloured) of their choice... what a great prize! Swing by and see the great creations showcased by the Card Crafter’s Circle Design Team.
Challenges I am entering this week with this card:
I have entered into a few Easter Challenges including one a Crafty Cardmakers and I just love to challenge myself to improve my cards week after week and try new things!
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  1. Creatalicious Challenges-Sketch 32  (as per picture above) I rotated mine.
  2. Crafty Sentiments –Bunnies
  3. Digital Tuesday Challenge-Easter
  4. Everybody Art-Easter
  5. http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/challenge-65-easter.html
  6. My Grafico Crafts -Buttons and Bows

Have a great weekend
Hugs
Trish Munro

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Anita Munro in Annie the Musical in Brisbane,Australia

Meet the Annies

  • by: Marie-Christine Souriss
  • From: The Sunday Mail (Qld)
  • February 19, 2012 12:00AM

Annies

Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

THIS talented trio are about to start rehearsals for the musical Annie. What they pack into their lives will astound you.

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THE three little girls in the studio are bouncing off the walls with excitement - literally, bouncing - as they chatter away, laughing at something the other has done, singing random songs out loud, chasing each other around in circles.

It is a happy trio, these three little maids from school.

Chloe Teale is the beautiful blonde; a musical theatre princess. The 11-year-old daughter of a West End (London) dancer, she grew up in Manchester, England, and won her first singing recital at six years old before moving to Australia with her family.

Now living at Griffin on Brisbane's northside, the St Kieran's Primary School student dances every day except Monday after school at the Queensland National Ballet and performs with Brisbane Junior Theatre on school holidays.

Anita Munro lives on the Gold Coast and goes to St Andrews Lutheran College; a bubbly brunette, also 11, whose words struggle to keep up with her racing thoughts and whose big brown eyes sparkle when she smiles. Her great aunt was an Italian opera singer in Milan's famed La Scala hall, she tells me proudly. Tap is her favourite.

Often, says her dad, Mark, later on, the only time she gets to eat dinner is on her lap in the car because she is so busy between school, dance practice and other rehearsals.

Jazmine May, at 10 years old, is the youngest. You worry the cute strawberry redhead from Ipswich won't be able to get a word in edgewise next to the sophisticated Chloe or the energetic Anita. But when Jazzy, a student at Springfield Anglican College, does speak up, the eldest of three sisters shyly informs us she has already performed with the Paris Opera Ballet (as a flower girl) and she is also working on stage in Queensland Performing Arts Centre's The Wizard of Oz. She loves dancing jazz.

Not once do they try to outdo each other. Everybody politely waits their turn to speak. Since being chosen to share the lead role of Annie when the touring production arrives in Queensland, no one has let it go to their head. When Chloe tells the story of finding out about winning the role on the same day of her grandmother's funeral, the others respectfully give her a smile and pat her arm.

Of course, up until today, none of their friends or family has been allowed to know that the girls won the lead role in Annie, which gets alternated every night to give them a rest and which is cast separately for every state.

Has it been hard to keep it a secret?

"Hmm-mmm," says Anita vehemently. "I want to scream it from the rooftops," she says. "I GOT ANNIE!"

Everyone keeps asking if they got the part, says Jazzy. "We're like no! We don't know yet, we don't know yet."

All have been dancing for at least half their lives already, and singing for almost as long, whether formally or just around the house. All are quick to credit their awesome mums and dads for supporting them and helping them all this time.

All want to work on stage when they grow up.

"I want to do both, sing and dance, I want to do some record deals," Anita shoots off.

"And there's one thing I definitely want to do when I'm older - sing at the Opera House."

That meets a round of approval from her cohorts.

"I agree a hundred per cent with that one," says Chloe.

"And sing to the Queen," Anita says.

For now, at least, the magic of leading a cast of big names such as Anthony Warlow (as Daddy Warbucks) and Nancye Hayes (as Miss Hannigan) is simply that: magical.

"I'm so excited to meet them," gushes Chloe.

With rehearsals and the Annie workshops about to kick off later this month, there's just one thing left for the girls to sort out. Their hair.

"I think they cut our hair and dye it red," says Anita earnestly.

"Well, I know they have to cut our hair but I don't know if I want them to dye it," says Chloe, playing with her ponytail. (Luckily for the girls, this is not a stipulation as they are provided with bright red wigs.)

Jazzy's singing teacher at IT Studios, Sophie Dawson, played Annie in the Queensland leg of the last Australian production, Jazzy tells the group.

"And when she was Annie, she had to get it cut and dyed," she informs us.

"Well," says Anita to Jazzy helpfully, looking her over, "maybe all you'd have to do is go a little bit more red."

----------

Trish Munro, Patsy Jarvis and Janet Teale - the respective mothers of Anita, Jazzy and Chloe - are staring at me like I've just announced I recently got out of the loony bin.

Evidently, I'd chosen the wrong audience for what I'd thought was a harmless anecdote; that, as a young girl, when my ballet concerts finished well after midnight, my mum would often let me take the following day off school.

The mothers in front of me are not impressed.

"I would never say that to my daughter," Munro says pointedly.

"No, no," agrees Jarvis, shaking her head.

"I would never," coos Teale, her English accent driving the point home even harder.

"Those words," continues Munro of my mother's apparently flighty take-the-day-off philosophy, "would never come out of my mouth. Even if Anita had a broken leg, (she'd) still be going to school."

But I wasn't a professional dancer, I stutter back to them; it would only happen once a year for Christmas pageants. I have to bite my tongue from yelling out I was actually a really good student and I have a great mum.

There is silence. Then:

"They've got to learn," says Teale, turning away from me to face Munro and Jarvis. "If they're going to do this, that's part of it - they're going to be tired. They've still got to do their school work."

That, says Munro nodding, is the real motivation. If the girls want to keep going with so much dancing, they've got to keep their grades up too.

"The kids just seem to be general all-rounders," offers Jarvis. "They tend to do their homework and everything. I think they're just really committed kids. They seem to be able to manage really well.

"They do!" laughs Teale, sounding slightly in awe about it. "I don't know how sometimes, but they do seem to do it. Education still comes first."

You wonder how on earth that is possible though, once Munro, Jarvis and Teale start filling you in on the girls' schedules. And their own.

Sure, there are the near-daily singing and dancing lessons. But there are also rehearsals for the school plays throughout the year, recitals and eisteddfods, roles with other performance troupes, piano lessons, weekly school activities - all while trying to fit in around their other siblings.

It works out to about 900km of driving a week, someone estimates. Munro, whose family is based on the Gold Coast, has worked out that the four plays Anita did at her school last year, combined with all the singing and dancing tuition, worked out at nearly 30 hours a week.

"It's a lot of hours outside of school," admits Munro - who runs her own company with husband Mark, importing tiles and Balinese thatch roofing - of what is practically a full-time career for her 11-year-old.

"So I've got a schedule. I say, you've got a window to do homework, and that's the only time to do homework, and you have to do it now."

Anita's brother, Vincenzo, is a soccer player, she says; Mark is a director of coaching at Broadbeach soccer club.

"So it's all about soccer for the boys; they go and do their boys' sort of thing, and I'm available to Anita to do whatever she needs to do," says Munro.

The fact that all three mothers and their husbands have managed to hold down full-time jobs in the midst of such well-ordered to-ing and fro-ing, in addition to running their respective households, is nothing short of inspiring.

Take Jarvis, whose daughters are all musically inclined.

"At the moment it's quite stressful for me, because we've got The Wizard of Oz and we're driving backward and forward into the city for rehearsals," says Jarvis, who works as a professor's PA at the University of Queensland.

"They had a 10-hour rehearsal on Wednesday. It's quite exhausting. And then there's Annie and I'm like, oh, there's too much happening!" she laughs. "Jazzy's one of those kids that wants to do everything. I have to draw the line. It's like, you can't do everything. She's playing three instruments at the moment - violin, flute and piano. And I told her to give up flute but she won't. She loves the flute."

No wonder they thought I was crazy earlier with my tales of ballet-induced truancy. These women before me are tough cookies, trying to give their children the best opportunities possible.

They are also extremely down to earth, not at all overbearing; the complete antithesis, in fact, of Kerry Armstrong's extremist Razzle Dazzle Aussie stage mum.

"At the auditions, we saw some really scary mothers," nods Jarvis. "But generally, they're normal. Everybody's working full-time, trying to get their kids here and there."

"Letting them have a shot at it," adds Munro.

"Doing what's best for them," says Teale.

But yes, admits Jarvis, "there is the occasional parent trying to live through their child".

UK-born Teale isn't one of them. She doesn't need to live through daughter Chloe - she's already lived that life herself, performing in some of the biggest shows in London's West End for many years.

Now a dance teacher and choreographer who also works in a primary school, Teale never tried to push Chloe into the arts.

But what with all the musical soundtracks playing around the house, the 11-year-old had a better introduction to the genre than most. Things just kind of turned out that way, even if Chloe's younger sister, Abigail, has opted for a gymnastic route over a song-and-dance one.

"I don't know how we fit it all in," she laughs. "Sometimes I wonder myself. When you look at the schedules we all must have, it's like, OK, I guess it's just juggling, isn't it?"

The highs and lows of performing must also take their toll, I say.

While landing the role of Annie is every little girl's Holy Grail of performing, there have been plenty of rejections along the way - including the role of Jane Banks in Mary Poppins, for which all three auditioned, and were unsuccessful.

"The head of performing arts at Anita's school told us the Annie auditions were coming up, and to prepare for them," says Munro. "She told us it was really good to go to as many professional auditions as you can, purely for experience, and you never know what you're going to get. You just keep going.

"Last year, she auditioned for Young Talent Time, Australia's Got Talent, Mary Poppins . . . each one does it differently, so it was good to have that experience."

"I guess as a parent," muses Teale, "your first instinct is to try and protect them. But seriously, I think they've got to know if they're going into this business, they have to suffer the rejections as much as the acceptances.

"Besides," she adds, "the kids go into the auditions fine.

"We're the ones who are out there a nervous wreck!"

"That's why," jokes Munro, "they're the ones on stage."

Jarvis's dilemma was a bit worse.

"I have three red-headed (daughters) and they're all in the arts," she smiles with a grimace.

"They're all competing against each other. They all auditioned.

"My first reaction when we found out about Jazzy was, how are they going to cope with one getting in and the others not? At the beginning, the middle sister was quite upset. But she's adjusted. She's got more parts in The Wizard of Oz than Jazzy," Jarvis winks.

Annie the Musical opens at QPAC on April 7. To see the girls in action behind the scenes, go to uonsunday.com.au

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No show with appeal like Annie

Les Miserables has the little Match Girl. The Sound of Music has the boisterous Von Trapp family. Mary Poppins has the dutiful Banks children.

But a Broadway show with one kid in the lead role? For 35 years, there has only ever really been one. Annie.

Before there was YouTube and reality TV, this was the gig that launched many an aspiring starlet's theatrical dreams.

Whether they played Annie herself (such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Catherine Zeta-Jones) or one of her ragamuffin orphan friends (such as Molly Ringwald and Alyssa Milano in the early US touring shows), this was their first big break. Singing Tomorrow or It's the Hard-Knock Life on stage was a rite of passage.

Fast forward to 2012, and the performing environment has changed. Young Talent Time is back on the air. Gold Coast schoolboys such as Cody Simpson can sign million-dollar record deals from their bedroom thanks to the internet.

Still, nothing quite compares to the appeal - or the success - of Annie.

"I felt like I was at a kiddy rock concert on Sunday," jokes director Karen Johnson Mortimer of watching a matinee show last week in Sydney (where Annie opened earlier this year).

"When Annie first comes on, you hear all the grannies saying 'That's Annie!' and all the little girls going 'Oh!' They went ballistic."

It is only the third time Australian audiences have seen Annie, following its initial run in the '70s and its second season in 2000.

"Brisbane was an absolutely fantastic surprise, because we found our Annies in a couple of days up there," says Mortimer, who auditioned between 400 and 500 girls for the role.

"The calibre of children was superb."

It's Annie's touching quality that has sustained the curly little redhead's appeal for almost a century: first as a comic strip that began as Little Orphan Annie in 1924, then as the Tony Award-winning 1977 Broadway musical, and as a feature film in 1982.

Newer generations are continually reinventing the classic. Rapper Jay-Z topped the charts with his ghetto version Hard Knock Life in the 1990s. Will Smith announced last year his production company was producing an Annie movie remake, with his daughter Willow in the lead role. And another Broadway revival is happening later this year, for the musical's 35th anniversary.

"I think the more things change, the more they stay the same," says Mortimer, who got her start in theatre on stage at 15 years old in Anything Goes and most recently worked as resident director on the Australian seasons of Chicago and Wicked.

"Particularly with Annie. It's written in the Depression of the '30s . . . to get outside of your woes and everyday trouble. Something that showed you hope or gave you a lift. It just has heart."

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This newspaper article was in the Sunday Mail and took up 5 pages and had three terrific photos of the girls. I t was in the coloured lift out for the Sunday paper in Brisbane,Australia. My daughter Anita Munro is the one in the photo at top of picture with dark brown hair.

Proud Mum

Trish Munro

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

ANITA MUNRO IN ANNIE THE MUSICAL-Brisbane, Australia

Here is yesterdays front cover of the Courier Mail

 

Brisbane girls share starring role in Annie the musical

by: Brittany Vonow

From: The Courier-Mail

April 03, 2012 12:00AM

Stars of Annie

The three Brisbane Annies - Chloe Thiel, Anita Munro and Xanthe Dunning. Picture: Liam Kidston Source: The Courier-Mail

WITH curly red hair and a cheeky smile, Little Orphan Annie will be hitting the Brisbane stage next week.

Not one but three Brisbane girls will be starring as Annie, the trio sharing the coveted red wig.

And the lucky girls, Chloe Thiel, Anita Munro and Xanthe Dunning, couldn't be more excited for opening night.

"It's a great experience," 11-year-old Chloe Thiel from Griffin said.

"The people we work with are amazing."

The girls chatted excitedly about the opportunity to sing the musical classics and work with the talented Anthony Warlow.

"It's amazing listening to the harmonies," 11-year-old Anita Munro said.

With her own wide smile and musical flair, the Tallebudgera girl said her favourite part about Annie was her cheekiness.

Both she and Chloe Thiel said their favourite song was Tomorrow, while 12-year-old Xanthe Dunning said she loved Hooverville.

But the young musical stars said they didn't mind sharing the role of Annie.

"We're fine with it," Chloe Thiel said.

"It means you're not by yourself in rehearsals," Anita chimed in.

Annie will be performed at QPAC from April 7 to May 13. Ticket prices start at $75.90. Book tickets through QPAC.

 

I am so proud of my daughter Anita’s achievement !!!!

Have a great week

Hugs

Trish Munro