24 May 2016

My name is Celine Torres and I was fortunate enough to be a returning cast member to the Time to Shine Catholic Schools’ performing Arts Gala 2016, which was held at the prestigious Regent Theatre. There is no amount of words that can describe the feeling you got when you were up on that stage staring out and seeing almost three thousand people completely fixated and paying full attention to you and what you are doing.

At that moment, there is just this sensation that you really couldn’t want anything more, and it was a feeling of total bliss and contentment, in that one moment in time it was my time to shine, and I felt unstoppable.

The experience as a whole is truly something I will never forget, I have been able to take away so many incredible things from this show, such as amazing friendships that will last a lifetime, and experience performing in front of many, many people that has given me so much confidence and helped me feel completely comfortable on stage.

The audition process was one like no other, having your first audition be a video recording of yourself singing a song or two, which was definitely something new to me. Then if you were successful you were able to come in and audition in front of the panel of the wonderful creative team for Time to Shine, which was a little daunting at first because it was such an intimate audition that anything could happen, you could make a mistake and everyone would know. Then if you were successful, which I was lucky enough to be, you would begin rehearsals.

I am so thankful to have been given this opportunity, firstly to be able to represent my school at an event such as this and meet so many insanely talented performers (and become such good friends with them), to work with seasoned industry professionals and have the direction of renowned individuals such as our executive director Graeme Rowland, who enabled us to give the best performances we could give.

I would like to encourage any musicians or performers who would be interested in being involved in a show like this, to stay posted and look out for any future Time to Shine productions and audition, as it will simply be a life changing experience.