Ben Apfelbaum

NIDA CELEBRATES 60 YEARS AT THE TOP

Founded in 1959 and housed in a building that contained the totalizator board from the adjacent Randwick racecourse NIDA has grown into its state of the art premises on Anzac Parade. The sixty years has produced a glittering array of alumni who have gone on to win Academy, Emmy, BAFTA,. Tony, Helpmann and AACTA awards.

The 60th anniversary celebrations encompassed three reasons for pride and self congratulation .

In the foyer there was a magnificent display of set and  costume designs by  students as well as the work of prop makers. All these works will be on display in the foyer for the general public to enjoy until the 15th December under the heading EXPONIDA.

Secondly there was the world premiere of the stage musical Starstruck with the book by Mitchell Butel and Hilary Bell and directed by Kim Hardwick.

Finally, there was the launch of the diamond anniversary itself by the Federal Minster of the Arts Paul Fletcher who noted that the Federal Government contributed $7.6 million to NIDA’s coffers. He spoke of how NIDA is in the list of the top ten drama schools in the world.

Jennifer Bott AO, a member of the NIDA Executive team , spoke of the achievement of former alumni and also said that NIDA was very  proud of the fact that 66% of its budget was self raised. She was also full of praise in relation to the great directors who are helming the student productions.  These include the play Goldilocks, written and directed by Michael Gow, Marat/Sade is directed by John Bashford and Gavin Robins. God Of Carnage is directed by Judy Davis and Twelfth Night is directed by Jim Sharman.

Theatrical celebrities were out in force including John Bell, Hugo Weaving, Damon Herriman,, Simon Burke and Gillian Armstrong.

The best line of the night went to Paul Fletcher who said that all politicians were ‘actors with ugly faces ‘. A short time later the bells rang  for the invited guests to take their seats in the theatre.

NIDA hopes that its graduates will shape the future creative industries in Australia and internationally.

NIDA’s current season of student productions  runs from the 30th October to the 6th November, with performance times varying for each play.

For further information and bookings go to:

Featured image : Federal Minister for the Arts Paul Fletcher

http://www.nida.edu.au/events

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.