Disney High School Musical
It's a Wrap!
Congratulations to a wonderful cast and crew on a thoroughly enjoyable production of Disney High School Musical.
Firstly, I would like to share my Director’s note from the program and, in the words of Darbus, thank the students for having the courage to “risk, risk, risk!”
High School Musical is a colourful, fun and energetic stage version of the first of the successful Disney Movie franchise. It is a corny, feel-good story where boy meets girl but underpinning the well-known songs are the themes of friendship, respect and integrity. Whilst we don’t label our cliques here in Australia as Jocks, Brainiacs and the like, there is still personal conflict for our young people as they struggle to establish their identity and ‘fit in’. For some, it is easy but for others, being true to themselves is a struggle. To break free from the status quo requires courage and personal strength.
High school is about discovering your identity. In producing a musical, we rely on our students to follow their dreams and step out of their comfort zones. For a lot of our boys in particular, participating in the musical requires the leap of faith that is explored in the musical; to have courage to sing and dance when others will criticise. Fortunately, here at KWS we have built a supportive culture where boys (and girls alike) are supported and encouraged to pursue drama and combine their basketball, hockey, rowing or rugby commitments with their academic and musical pursuits. When students can support and encourage each other to bake, play ‘big violins’, hip hop dance, grow vegetable gardens, make trailers, compete in titration competitions, throw the discus, ride horses, or pursue any interest or passion, then we will have a truly rich community who celebrates diversity.
It has been an honour and a pleasure to work with the talented and dedicated staff and students to bring you High School Musical. Thank you to our families, for without your tireless support, we could not pursue our dreams and passions in the theatre.
Firstly I would like to thank my dedicated staff team. We collaborated on everything, shared the teaching of the songs, direction and choreography. It was the “divide and conquer” approach that was the key to our team’s success as we worked with different choruses on dancing, character development, blocking and choreography.
I acknowledge our talented drama teacher, Alex Dunkley. Alex brought knowledge, humour and passion to our musical. I am sure you will agree that her work with the thespians and Sharpay and Ryan was fabulous. Secondly to Sebastian “I-hate-musical-theatre” Key, for whom HSM was his first foray into musical direction of a show, I thank him for his terrific work with our students and for his calm head and caring support of the cast. I think he actually enjoyed it in the end! So sleek was the performance of the band that a number of people questioned whether we working with a backing track! The band’s good humour to squeeze into the upstage OP wings was appreciated and it meant that we could fit 71 cast members on an extended stage. Thanks you to our band members too for their talented performances.
Anna Waters juggled first-time-motherhood with choreographing our show in her ‘spare time’. To co-ordinate our large chorus in those big numbers is a triumph! The choreography was challenging and exciting and the students loved it.
Musically, this show was more difficult than expected. Dahle Innes’ knowledge, experience and patience was invaluable for the success of the show. This is the 9th KWS show I have done with Dahle and it is always such a pleasure to work with her. Dahle’s calm, patient approach with the students and staff alike is greatly appreciated. She doesn’t like to be in the spot light but the musical would not happen without her to punch out notes in rehearsals. She also was a great support to Seb.
Helena Rollo has been a welcome addition to our musical team this year. No job was too difficult. We can thank Helena for the costumes, college jackets, set and stage managing. She commented that the backstage crew were the best she has ever worked with but, as well as acknowledging that talented group of highly dependable students, I know that her organisation was paramount to the smooth running of the show. Dave de Bruyn also joined our team this year and built our set. The highlight for Dave and Helena was the High School Musical sign which looked fabulous! Dave’s no-fuss approach and expertise in IT were greatly appreciated.
Caroline Rich began working early on our program. We greatly appreciated her eye for detail and creativity in putting together a wonderful record for us. Cath-can-I-come-and-help-even-if-my-daughter-isn’t-even-in-the-musical?-Alderman and Annie-salvos-shopper-extraordinaire-King came in camp week to organise costumes. We thank these special ladies for their time and efforts to make our students look fantastic. Tammy Nonnenmacher opened her studio two hours before every performance to create wonderful hair dos for our leads. Not only does this make the leads feel special but ensures they are confident to strut their stuff with fab hair!
Finally to the amazing group of students who made up our cast this year, I thank you firstly for auditioning. This process is difficult enough in itself, but having the courage and commitment to learn songs and choreography then perform them in a stressful situation is truly character building. It is a unique experience. We don’t improve as people if we stay in our comfort zones… if we stick to the status quo… we don’t grow! An essential part of learning is the performance, whether it is in exams, on the sporting field or in an audition. We need to take risks to become better people. Learning to cope with disappointment is always traumatic but by learning these coping skills, it sets us up for life. We are not always going to get the part we want. We won’t always be selected in the next level sporting team, we won’t always do well in an exam, but by taking risks and coping with disappointment it sets us up in that learning cycle to spiral upwards, knowing that life goes on, even if we think we have failed. Building resilience is so important today, and, by being in the musical, each one of our students has gained those valuable skills through taking risks, being vulnerable and rising above that fear. They have all moved from their comfort zone to learn and improve. Students, be so very proud of your achievement!
A musical is only as strong as its ensemble. Congratulations skater dudes, thespians, brainiacs, cheerleaders and jocks. You worked so hard to perfect the songs and dances and it paid off. Our ensemble was young this year (mainly composed of students from Years 7 and 9). These young people have learnt a lot about theatre, the importance of rehearsal and have given it their best shot to act, dance and sing in every scene.
I would like to acknowledge the Year 11 students for whom this was their last KWS musical: Olivia Mirrington, Julia Williams, Bonnie Vance, Katie Coleman, Jacqui Patton, Charlotte Nonnenmacher, Lucy Kirk , Richard King and Maddie Triggs. Thank you for your leadership and excellent example that you all set for the junior members of the cast. The vertical friendships that are built over the past 6 months are another wonderful social aspect of doing the musical. To our lead characters, thank you for your hard work and dedication. Olivia Mirrington has a wonderful musical journey ahead, hopefully in more musicals, and certainly composing and performing with her angelic voice. Fletcher Bolte mirrored life in the musical, proving to us all that, indeed, the star of the basketball team can sing! Bonnie Vance and Jonty King were so dedicated to their hilarious roles. Ziggy Le Couteur made us giggle, Ella Buesnel proved that even a Year 7 can snatch a lead- what a risk she took! I look forward to seeing Nick Brown, Ethan Kairitis and Charlie Southwell develop over the next few years. Their wonderful voices and stage presence ensured success in their roles. Bella hip-hop-hooray Triggs, and her sister Maddie set the bar high when it came to dance rehearsals. Thank you both for your dedication. Katy Coleman, Richard King and Lucy Kirk were strong in their speaking roles. Their drama scenes were polished and strong.
Finally, and most importantly, I thank our families, colleagues and friends for supporting us in producing the musical. Transport to and from rehearsals, logistics juggling children on weekends and tolerating tired, over-committed teenagers is highly stressful. To bring a show together takes hours and hours of rehearsals. Saturday night’s performance was the culmination of those endless hours and I am so proud of every member of the cast, amazing crew, band members and staff team for making the HSM dream come true. The sell-out season was a huge success. Congratulations and thank you!
Catherine Litchfield
Director High School Musical