Music Theatre – Ben Clapton

Pit Reviews Perth: Six: Teen – Wanneroo Secondary College

May 13, 2026 by Ben Clapton, posted in reviews

Six is one of those shows that I am sad about – because it’s a fantastic show, with excellent songs with great musical backing, but it’s also a show that (quite rightly) is deliberate and open about promoting the voices of women, minorities and other voices that are most certainly not me. But I love the show and am more than happy to go watch it multiple times and support those who should be the ones sharing these stories.

And so, with a packed and excited Wanneroo Secondary College Performing Arts Centre, I got to see this latest version of the story in the Six: Teen edition for their opening night performance. And what a fantastic version of the story it was as well.

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Pit Reviews Perth: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

April 25, 2026April 28, 2026 by Ben Clapton, posted in blog, reviews

When I was in year 11, I performed in my first musical. My high school put on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I really wanted to be Joseph. I had been watching the Donny Osmond version, and my dad had a copy of the music, so I had been learning the songs. I didn’t get it however, and was given the role of Simeon. To this day, I can still remember Those Canaan Days, and can bust out the French accent at a moment’s notice.
I then got the opportunity to play as part of the orchestra when Limelight Theatre in Wanneroo performed it in 2011 – my last musical before going off to be a minister. It was a hugely fun experience, and I have strong memories of many of the orchestra members I played with.

With this experience, and having performed musicals at Stirling Theatre before, I was looking forward to Stirling Theatre’s latest production – only to be slightly disappointed that they were using backing tracks and not a live band.

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Pit Reviews Perth: School of Rock

February 28, 2026March 1, 2026 by Ben Clapton, posted in blog, reviews

School of Rock is a movie that holds a dear place in my heart. As a music teacher, Dewey Finn has a fantastic way of capturing the essence of the joy of music that I hope to pass on to my students. It’s up there with Mr Holland’s Opus for me as top tier music teacher movies – though both from very different perspectives, and both with their own slightly problematic aspects.

It really wasn’t a surprise that Andrew Lloyd Webber would turn this into a successful and popular musical, and Darlington Theatre Players current season does an excellent job of turning this story into a strong message of finding one’s voice.

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