Performing Arts/Auslan News
Cast announced!
Last Thursday, our senior students joined together in the Bampi to support and applaud one another as the names of the cast were revealed for our production of Singin’ in the Rain Jr.
The cast reveal was the culmination of many weeks of learning about the audition process, exploring the script, or ‘libretto’, for ‘Singin in the Rain’ and developing audition-specific skills.
It was fabulous to see the students sharing their talent, creativity and resilience during the audition process. Now the real work – or should I say, “fun” – begins!
Over the holidays, the cast will start learning their lines and familiarising themselves with the running order of the show. They will commence scene rehearsals next term and begin learning their solo songs and individual choreography. In Term 4, their characters will be introduced to the class items and the story will really come to life!
Congratulations, too, to the students from Years 4 and 5 who auditioned for inclusion in a specialist dance ensemble. Their incredible skill and enthusiasm resulted in the creation of not one, but two, specialist ensembles! Our Year 4s will learn tap dancing technique and will form the Tap Dance Ensemble, while the Year 5s will form the Broadway Ensemble – specialising in theatrical chorus dancing.
Meanwhile… the rest of the school have been enjoying comparing similarities and differences between the film and stage versions of the show. They’ve also been tapping their toes to the sounds of our finale songs, “Good Morning” and “Singin’ in the Rain”. Our Preps have even started creating their own fun dance moves to their song, “Make ‘em Laugh” – which I guarantee will bring a smile to the faces of our audience.
Lots of planning for the staging of the show will take place over the holidays, so families are encouraged to keep an eye out on Compass for ways they might be able to help create an exciting performance experience for our wonderful students.
Spectacular present and past students
As a small school, our WPS community couldn’t be prouder of the participation in this year’s Victorian State Schools Spectacular by both our current and past students.
Our Mass Dance team of sixteen Year 5 and 6 students will have their final regional rehearsal at The Basin Primary School this week. This means they will have learnt all the choreography for the seven dances they will be performing John Cain Arena on Saturday September 13. The next big rehearsal will be a compete run-though of the show, including costumes, at the Heathmont Hub in August.
Past students Cameron Poole and Izayah Khazour, along with our current School Captain, Zack Poole, have also been hard at work rehearsing their roles as Principal Vocalists. Fewer than twenty students are selected for these roles from hundreds auditioning across Victoria – what a huge honour! Now in Year 12, this will be Cam’s final year at Spec. We’ve loved watching him grow into the professional performer that he is and can’t wait to hear his incredible voice sing out with his talented brother Zack, in a special duet. In addition to rehearsing with the principal cast, Zack has recently been assisting with our Spec dance rehearsals. His passionate, yet humble, approach to his craft models to our WPS students what effective student leadership can look like.
We have also been lucky enough to have Izayah join us back in the Performing Arts room! As part of his participation in the Duke of Edinburgh program at Doncaster High School, Izayah has been assisting some of the Year 3/4 students with early preparations for their class song and dance items. Most of you will remember Izayah from his performance as Aladdin in 2022. Since then, he has performed as a Principal Vocalist at VSSS24, and will this year appear again – this time sharing his skills in rap singing and dancing. He’s even promised our students a sneak-peak of his performance before the show.
Also, on the main stage and in the main choir stands this year will be past students Maeva Khazour (“Little Mermaid Jr” 2024) and Sophie Dibb (“Aladdin Jr” 2022). Congratulations to both girls on successfully auditioning for the Victorian State Schools Spectacular Choir! Maeva and Sophie, like Cam, Izayah and Zack, represented WPS in Mass Dance before graduating to the main stage at Spec.
We are so proud of all these students and wish them the very best with the lead-up to the show!
Asher’s Award
Another past student, and VSSS Mass Dance alumni continuing to make waves in the world of performing arts, is Asher Larratt (Genie, Aladdin Jr 2022). Since graduating from WPS and the National Boys Choir, Asher has gone on to star as Mike Teavee in Luther College’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as performing lead roles in Eltham Little Theatre’s (ELT) production of Into the WoodsJr and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His fabulous performance as Jack in Into the Woods earned Asher the ELT ‘Rising Star 2024 Youth Award’. Congratulations, Asher!
Auslan Chefs
This week, the Year Prep – 4 students enjoyed cooking Honey Joys as part of their Auslan unit ‘Time to Cook’. They applied their new cooking vocab signs, combined with fingerspelling and drawing on known signs, to communicate in silence for most of the lesson.
It was great to see everyone signing and working so well together to create the delicious treats!
Kirsty Wolters,
Performing Arts