Musical Theatre news
It was a treat to be back at NIDA for our annual High Performance Season after a couple of years.
Starburst is always a treat, and to see the little ones so excited at being in a theatre was wonderful.
Our Musical Theatre Elective class was no exception, they were almost bursting with excitement, especially the Year 3s, and they should be so very proud of themselves. Their performance of Gonna Be My Day from My Little Pony was upbeat and perfect for the performance.
The Junior Musical Theatre students hadn’t been to NIDA either, so they too found it difficult to hide their excitement. Their rehearsal time was put to good use and was without incident. All students were very patient as the lighting and sound people worked around them to make them look good.
Their renditions of Join the Circus, Edgar Allan Poe and the exceptional A Musical were received with the appreciation we’d hoped for, and the students all enjoyed the response. Special mention must be made of Graduate, Portia England, who choreographed A Musical.
The Senior group really showed what it was to tell the story in every routine. A testament to the fact that many of them had started learning all the aspects of musical theatre from an early age. Penny Martin reproduced the original choreography for Anything Goes, and it was a joy to see everyone working so hard to execute the very difficult routine. Students who were new to tapping need to be congratulated for their hard work in achieving what we thought would be the impossible.
Welcome to the Rock from Come from Away closed Act One and was exceptionally strong. When we first began rehearsing this number the students felt they were simply stamping their feet, but with research they soon discovered that Gander was the little town in Newfoundland that welcomed the hundreds of planeloads of people after the downing of the Twin Towers on September 11, and they told the story well. Penny Martin staged this routine superbly.
Our tribute to the late Stephen Sondheim – Sunday from Sunday in the Park with George, was simple but very effective. It sounded so beautiful it could be the beginning of a school choir, beautiful voices, harmonies and a combined attitude and performance presence, under the directorship of Dylan Pollard, who is to be congratulated for all the vocal work in the musical theatre stream.
I Got Cha was our last performance and Emma-Lee Lansley should be so proud of the students who learned her Fosse choreography. This is a difficult style to perfect and especially with our group being a mixture of dance, acting and vocal students. They are all to be congratulated on the effort they went to, to perfect the style and then achieving the choreography.
We need to thank Mrs Martinez and Ms Morel-Lewis for their craftsmanship in creating all the costumes with a minimum of fuss. Mr Eirth for always being there and running a tight ship as Stage Manager for the entire week – we don’t know how he does it. And last but by no means least, thank you to Mr Kraft as our Producer.
