Exchange student brightens stage - May 2015

LIGHTING MAN: Exchange student Julius Stoerrle manned the lighting desk for Annie.

Julius Stoerrle hails from Germany but he has made a huge mark during his time as an exchange student at Wanganui High School.
As well proving his worth as a rower, Julius has also earned acclaim for his work behind the scenes in the school's production of Annie, which played last week at the Royal Wanganui Opera House.
Julius arrived here last July, joining Year 12, and flies back to Hamburg in January, having finished Year 13.
"I have an agent in Germany and they have a range of Australian and New Zealand schools in their portfolio," says Julius. "They create a profile for you, you choose, say, four schools, and they send your profile to those schools." After that, it's up to the school, on the basis of the profile. Wanganui High School like what they saw and invited Julius to join the roll.
He says he was involved in stage lighting in Germany so it was a logical step to help with the lighting design for Annie. "When I applied here, it was already in my CV," he says, a fact that did not escape the director, Colin Hedivan.