'Guys and Dolls' 

From Ms Alex Dunkley, Mrs Catherine Litchfield and Mr Sebastian Key -

The Guys and Dolls Production team

Auditions and Rehearsals

We were thrilled with the calibre of students who recently auditioned for the 2022 musical Guys and Dolls. Thank you to all of the students who learnt the audition songs and choreography and took themselves out of their comfort zones to sing and dance for the audition panel. It was wonderful to see so many students! 

Congratulations to the cast of Guys and Dolls. The cast list was posted this week (you can view it at the bottom of this page) and we are excited for our first rehearsal on Friday afternoon. Please note if you are in the swimming championship carnival you MUST prioritise this. 

Students who have been selected for the show must be available for Friday afternoon and some Wednesday morning and Thursday morning rehearsals as required. We will publish a detailed rehearsal schedule soon. Until then, please note some rehearsal dates and information:

• There will be a number of Sunday rehearsals during Term 2.
•  A compulsory intensive rehearsal week occurs during the final week of the July holidays (11-15 July) and students MUST be available for this week. Boarders will need to take this into consideration and find their own accommodation. 
• Production week is the first week of July (18-23 July). 

Note: If students cannot commit to these rehearsals and performances, they will be asked to forego their place in the cast. Similarly, students who miss a number of rehearsals will lose their position.

There were a number of factors that we considered when casting the show including singing and dancing ability, characterization, and year group. Unfortunately, we could not include everyone who auditioned in the final cast. There will be a number of disappointed students. Please read the advice below about coping with disappointment. Parents, teachers and friends can help students to overcome disappointment and grow from the experience.

We are looking forward to working with a talented group of students to bring you a terrific musical during Term 3. 

Dealing with Disappointment

Whether it be after auditions for the Musical, selections for sporting teams or academic exam results, students need to learn to cope with disappointment. Here are a few tips for to support children with disappointment.

One major side effect of disappointment is frustration and its associated anxiety. Closely related to coping with frustration is coping with outright disappointment. Many people erroneously believe that for children, disappointment should be avoided at all costs. Everybody makes the 'A' team, everybody gets the same grade, everybody gets the lead in the musical, everybody is included. There are several problems with this attempt to make everyone “feel good about themselves”. First of all, it isn’t fooling anyone. Telling someone they’ve done a great job when they clearly haven’t is not only insulting, but it tends to set a tone of low expectations. Self-esteem is built through mastery, not through pretence. Secondly, it isn’t grounded in reality. Giving children false expectations about their abilities and skills is not only dishonest, but unethical. Lastly, letting children face the adversities of childhood, however painful, is necessary for emotional growth. Children who haven’t had practice developing coping skills for disappointment fall apart later on when no one is standing there ready to rescue them. Though the pains of childhood are heartbreaking, they are learning experiences that, when faced with the loving support of a trusted adult, help prepare children to deal with later life.

How can parents, teachers and friends help? 

Don’t rush to protect children from every little frustration and disappointment, for fear of upsetting them or letting them “feel bad.” Instead, offer support and encouragement and help them to work through the situation, and acknowledge their feelings about it.

Students, consider these steps which might help:

1. Stop listening to the voice in your head which is saying “loser” or “you’re not good enough”.
2. Learn from the experience – that’s what real life is about.
3. Seek feedback from your audition or try-out and act on it to improve next time.
4. Talk to your friends and family about your feelings (it is normal to feel anger, sadness and frustration).
5. Don’t be childish, foolish or rude about your disappointment – it makes it worse and ultimately affects the way others see you.
6. Don’t blame other people for your disappointment.
7. Move on quickly - get busy with school, sport, friends, music and other commitments. 

Introducing the Cast 

Congratulations to our wonderful students who recently auditioned for our 2022 musical Guys and Dolls.  The production team were very impressed with the calibre of students who sang and danced their way through a stringent audition process.

Congratulations to the following students who have secured lead roles.  A full list of students selected for ensemble and lead roles has been published on the Hub.

Lead Cast

Sky Masterson - Max Bloomfield

Sarah Brown - Scarlett Gee

Nathan Detroit - Oscar McLaughlin

Miss Adelaide - Niamh Webster

Arvide Abernathy - Sylvia de Graaff

Nicely-Nicely Johnson - Toby Gough

Benny Southstreet - Charlie Hall

Harry the Horse - Sam Martin 

Lt Brannigan - Ned Jones

Big Jule - Matt Shepherd

Minor Leads

Rusty Charlie - Ed Southwell

Angie the Ox - Anna-Louise Limbers

Liver Lips Louie - Isaac Birmili

General Matilda Cartwright - Iona Anderson

Agatha - Nina Smedley

Martha - Isabella Baldwin

Calvin - Hamish Slack-Smith

Mimi - Tilly Quigley

Miss Allison - Halle Doyle

Miss Ferguson - Greta Bourne

Miss Vernon - Lydia Durkin