MURDER, prison and the roaring twenties - all will feature in Marian College's production of Chicago, which will take the stage Thursday night, August 15.
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The students have been rehearsing since April, putting in long hours twice and sometimes three times a week.
The musical tells the story of Roxy Hart, played by Emma Blackie, and Velma Kelly, played by Imogene Tonks - two divas who both want stardom.
There's just one catch - they are both accused murderers.
Drama teacher Teresa Tonks said she selected Chicago because of its musical appeal and strong female leads.
"My main reason is because it's got super awesome music in it, it's a really good dance show, but also because it's got female leads," she said.
"Every year we have a plethora of girls audition for the show, and we only ever have a handful of roles for girls to play - and its never the leading roles.
"So I thought a show run by strong women was something we needed to do."
Twenty-two students perform on stage and the production has about 12 students behind the scenes.
"They work really hard - especially our leads," Ms Tonks said.
"We want the kids to say look, you don't have to go to a big private school or go to Ballarat or Melbourne to seek quality and excellence - you can do that anywhere."
Imogene said the lead characters were complex and strong-willed.
"They are quite independent and they do things themselves," she said.
Both leads have been practicing their Chicago-style accents for the production.
"I found it really hard at first," Emma said. "But then you just get used to it I guess, after a bit of practice."
Imogene said accents were something that came a bit easier to her.
"I hear accents really well and I pick them up really well, so it's just something I'm good at I guess," she said.
Check their accents out below.
Details and tickets can be found here.
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