Emmaus Old Scholar makes it big!

There’s nothing like making your professional stage debut in a world premiere show – which is exactly what Adelaide actor Jelena Nicdao will do in State Theatre Company’s production of Jack Maggs.

“This is my very first professional show, and first play as well,” Nicdao said.

She will play the dual roles of Lizzie Warriner, who is “young, kind, clever and vulnerable” and the cook Miss Mott.

“It’s a really ensemble heavy production … and a bit of a mystery.

“It’s really cool to build a new show from the ground up, as a completely new Australian piece of theatre.”

Jack Maggs is an adaptation of Australian author Peter Carey’s Miles Franklin Award winning novel, which itself was inspired by the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations.

Nicdao, 21, from Sheidow Park, has previously appeared in university stage musicals as part of her Bachelor of Music Theatre degree, which she is completing at Elder Conservatorium. They included shows as diverse as Little Women, Jesus Christ Superstar, Shrek the Musical and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

She also recently sang in the chorus of the Candide, produced by State Theatre and State Opera.

Like many young Adelaide performers, Nicdao’s first experiences were through local youth theatre company Pelican Productions, and she also studied drama, dance and music at high school.

“I started singing when I was a little kid, and my parents got me to do lessons. That branched into signing up for community musical theatre, and that’s how I broke into acting.”

Nicdao hopes to break into commercial musicals, but also has broader ambitions.

“In the past three years, studying the course, I found a love for stage theatre as well, and voice acting. I’m open to anything the future holds,” she said.

“It just brings me so much joy to be on the stage … the audience is there with you, and you get to share that moment with them.”

-Article from the Advertiser