Black Coal

Living in the middle of coal country, I am reminded of my coal background. My surname tells of my Welsh background. My ancestors were actually coal miners in Wales. They came out to Australia to mine- not for coal, but for Gold in Ballarat at Sovereign Hill. When the gold rush days were over, they spread around Victoria and NSW and became farmers. My father was the last of the farmers in our family. In July I went with our children to see the musical Billy Elliot in Sydney. This show is about a young boy growing up in a coal mining community in the North East of England during the early 1980s. Got me dreaming of our own Upper Hunter Performing Arts Centre being built in our Muswellbrook Shire, being built with funding from Coal Companies and the State and Federal Governments. And the opening show? - Billy Elliot of course. Sponsored by the coal companies. We have an award an winning Town Band, talented musicians and singers at our Conservatorium of Music, many creative people in or Muswellbrook and Denman Theatre Societies, and brilliant dancers in our local Dance Schools. We have the talent, but no suitable performance space. I know it is a far fetched dream, but some dreams do turn into reality if thought, preparation, and hard work are put in. And someone would need to get in contact with Elton John. Wouldn't it be great if the new Muswellbrook Shire Performing Arts Centre presented the first Australian amateur performance of Billy Elliot after its Australian professional season ended?