PRODUCTION

Who needs Broadway?

“THERE is nothing like the feeling of performing in front of a huge crowd on stage in a wonderful production,” says Nevie Peters. Nevie is a Year 10 student and was a backup dancer in Hairspray. In August 2016, it was performed by Kew High School, and Nevie spoke to us about what it was like being part of such a huge adventure.

Hairspray tells the story of a teenage girl whose dream is to one-day dance on a local TV dance program. She eventually wins a role on the show where she quickly becomes a celebrity. The story also focuses on the injustices of parts of 1960s American society and it takes a stance for racial equality.

Nevie said that she really liked the storyline, explaining that while it was, “really funny,” it “dealt with a good topic… racism, [but] mixed in with a love story.” She said it contained lots of humour, “but was also serious enough to have an effect on the audience.”

Kew High’s rendition of the musical was the culmination of a year’s painstaking work by hundreds of people involved with the school, and the result was nothing less than astonishing. The quality of the production was incredible in all areas, from the chemistry between the actors to the flawless music played by the school band, and everything just seamlessly came together to create something truly spectacular.

You could tell from watching the production that all of the actors, dancers and musicians knew what they were doing at every moment, and that’s a credit to the teachers and the many hours put in to making it special and something to remember for a long time.

It was obviously a massive task to prepare for the production; to get it to a standard where people would pay real money to come and watch. Nevie agreed, saying “there were a lot of hours put into rehearsing… twice a week minimum there would be rehearsals after school, at lunch and [even] on some Sundays too.” She said it was a challenge, but “it was worth it in the end.”

 There were a lot of people involved and they evidently got along very well. This is key for a good production; the actors, dancers and everyone else involved need to work together seamlessly.

In an enormous production that takes a long time to get ready, there’s bound to be some highs and some lows. Nevie went on to mention one of the worst things was “putting on all the stage makeup.” She said her skin is “still paying for it today!” She said the best thing was, “just performing on the opening night; the feeling of being in front of the crowd and smiling and performing.”

Hairspray is unfortunately over at Kew High now, and even though it will be a very tough act to follow, there will be many more productions at Kew. For people who are even a little bit interested in being in the next one, Nevie advised that if you’re considering it, “just audition!” She also mentioned that being in a production is “a fabulous chance to get closer to people.” Ultimately,” she said “it was so much fun.”

Hairspray summed up in a nutshell what Kew High School can do. It was a flawless production, with every aspect smoothly combining together. In the end, Hairspray at Kew High School was anything but a bad hair day.

Howard Aitken

Year 10 Journalism