Y10-13 Students awed their sold-out audiences in the annual upper school musical at the end of January. Miss Toner expertly led the cast in an exciting, experimental production of The IT. Natasha Ray as the lead character, Grace, performed with passion and ferocity raising some incredibly important questions about the consuming nature of anxiety and frustration that grows when expectations on young women are so high. Natasha performed alongside a dedicated and highly creative cast of Y10 and Y11 students who brought the whole piece to live with movement, engaging characters and excellent ensemble work. Mr Hoar created a beautiful lighting design alongside Mariam Farid in Y9 and the stage was well managed by our excellent tech team who also rigged a full confetti cannon which climatically covered the stage in ‘ashes’ at the end of the show. It was a great event which typified the amazing talent we have in both our students and staff.
12th-13th Feb – Forbidden Broadway
The Lees Hall had it’s inaugural cabaret event at the end Spring term 1. Mrs Sawney planned a new layout for our 6th form performances to present a variety of scenes and songs from musicals. The audience sat on small tables scattered around the hall with red tablecloths and small lamps with snacks and drinks provided by Chartwells. The performers were exceptional, they moved effortlessly from musical to musical with confidence, maturity and bundles of talent. Not only were the students on stage but we also had three excellent student musicians in the band, one of whom, Anais Galetti also performed in the cast. They were also supported by the Musical Director Mr Hargraves who worked tirelessly to pull together each song, Ms John on the bass and Mr Essenhigh on the drums. We welcomed back Alumna Abigail Marais who created some of the fantastic choreography for the show too.
Rehearsals have begun for The Little Mermaid our lower school musical in early July and the production team have started work on designing the show. We are keen to find parents and members of our wider community who may be interested in helping out with our backstage team. We are looking for seamstresses to help with costume creation as well as carpenters or handy people who would like to construct set with us. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Mrs Sawney a.sawney@sut.gdst.net Finally, we welcome Miss Fiona Neilson to the faculty as our new Performing Arts Technician. Miss Neilson has worked in many professional theatres such as Glyndebourne, the Apollo Theatre and the Rose Theatre. We are excited to begin work with her on our numerous productions.
