SCHOOL NEWS

THE WEDDING SINGER

The spectacular school Musical Production ‘The Wedding Singer’ was held in the school Theatre on Thursday 27 July to Saturday 29 July. Please find below student reflections from two members of the cast: 

Natalie Same

Musical Production Assistant

The production of the musical The Wedding Singer to me was a one-of-a-kind, eye-opening and all-around unforgettable experience, period. As my first ever involvement in a musical, I was thrilled to see the amount of work and wonder everyone had brought up to the stage. The lights, set and costumes really brought life to the characters and the 80s era. It was the most colourful stages I had ever set foot in. 

The show was undoubtedly the team effort of more than 50 people, and I could not be prouder to be a part of it. Everyone showed how much they love the songs and dances; we would even sing along even during show nights. I will admit that I was a shy person, a newbie, and maybe a weirdo at times, I used to have trouble expressing myself, yet the community of the cast members were welcoming and caring. No one was ever left out, we helped each other without doubt, and even if I wasn't much of a talker, I had no trouble fitting in. If I were to convince anyone as timid and shy as me to be a part of the theatre, I would say to just let loose (and we will love it). 

Lastly, I would like to give thanks to the teachers and staff, who were so patient with us.

Le Quan Nguyen

Year 11 Student

The Wedding Singer was not only a smash hit on Broadway, but also a smash hit at McKinnon. The comedy musical, which was performed for a strictly limited season, was a sell out and had the tremendous reviews to match. Based on the iconic film starring Adam Sandler, The Wedding Singer centres around rockstar wannabe Robbie Hart - New Jersey's favourite wedding singer who is the life of every party and a hopeless romantic...until he's left at the altar by his fiancée. The show brings together your favourite 80s icons and hits in a 2-hour production that was full of laughter and left the audience thinking about it in the days following.

Audiences experienced a spectacular evening thanks to the cast and crew who worked tremendously hard behind the scenes in the months leading up to the show. From the first read-through to the final bows on closing night, the cast, crew and production team poured their hearts and souls into making this the best show McKinnon has ever seen. 

This show would not have been possible without the extraordinary work of our director/producer, Ms Angell, along with our musical director, Ms Papworth, and our choreographer, Ms Wood. They worked incredibly hard to bring the show to life and lead the 50-person strong cast. The show was brilliantly brought to stage with the help of our lighting designer & technical director, Michael Birkett, set designer & signage designers May Ding and Ms Rogosic, technical producer, Mr Xanthoudakis to name a few.

It has been an honour to be a part of this incredible show, especially as it will be my last theatre production. It has left a mark on all involved with new friendships established and bonds strengthened between the cast and crew.

Anthony Kostelac

Year 11 Student

INTERACT CLUB ATHLETICS DAY SAUSAGE SIZZLE

At our recent Athletics day, the Interact Club ran a sausage sizzle and snack/drink stall to raise money for one of our charities this year. It was a beautiful sunny day, thankfully with not much wind which meant that everything stayed on the tables. 

The set-up crew got the 600 sausages on the BBQs nice and early in a massive cooking operation, while also starting to sell chocolates, drinks, lollies and snacks. Once 10:30am came around, the sausages were released to the public and the masses of hungry athletes and spectators joined the queue. By 11:45am, we had sold-out of sausages and Mr Russo went on a mission t

o buy 200 more sausages (and bread to boot). 

The day was hugely successful and a huge thanks to the following volunteers: 

Maya Arvind 11A, Shauri Pedavalli 10M, Blake Harcourt 10F, Anya Aquende 10A, Romani Parrish 10L, Itay Volnerman 7R, Mitchell Nham 7G, Miriam Cunliffe 7G, Sophia Rink 7G, Jessica Krivulin 10H, Austin Yang 7M, Angelo Udthachat 7A, James Suntoso 7E, Nathan Goh 7P, Kenath Silva 7J, Isabella Pettifer 7G, Ella Malhotra 7G, Jack Xu 10Q, Luca Ciccolallo 7D, Joshua Cukierman (Staff), Krishna Fleming (Staff), Theresa Ford (Staff) and Frank Russo (Staff)

Please find below student reflections from the day.

Joshua Cukierman

Interact Club Co-ordinator

Me and my friends were volunteering and helping out with making the sausages and giving them to people who had purchased them. It was a new experience and I am very happy I took up the opportunity.

Kenath Silva

Year 7 Student

It was not just an opportunity to have fun, but also an opportunity to learn. I did jobs like finance, selling goods, and handling goods. I worked collaboratively, helping and getting help from others when needed. It was really enjoyable and interesting and although there were a lot of people, we made sure that no one was overworked and overall, it was filled with experience, collaboration and fun. I would definitely do it again and recommend others to do it.

Itay Volnerman

Year 7 Student

GLOBAL YOUTH EAST - BAKE SALE

During our Athletics Carnival, the Global Youth East organised an amazing Bake Sale.

Their goal of supporting disadvantaged indigenous children has been pursued since their involvement in the Global Youth Forum in Term 1 this year.

After the Wear It Yellow Day during Reconciliation Week in Term 2, in Term 3 students planned for a Bake Sale during House Athletics.

Planning started early, posters were created, and newsfeeds posted. To make the most money, parents and students donated the ingredients and students contributed cupcakes, cookies, coconut slices, lemon slices, lolly packs, and some other sweet treats that were all homemade. All items were appropriately labelled with ingredients listed and reasonably priced. Prizes ranged from $1 to $3, and the sweet treats made a lot of people smile on a beautiful and warm day that we all enjoyed. By lunchtime everything was sold and students had made a total of $1,150.90 from this Bake Sale. 

Congratulations to all participants who donated ingredients and baked over 300 cookies (both chocolate chip and plain butter/sugar cookies), around 100 mini and regular cupcakes and numerous slices. 

Thank you to all members of the East GYF (Maleesha Dharmadasa, Sabrina Vitiello, Frankie Noble, Abby Butterworth, Ava McLaughlin, Shaun Kwong and Audrey Gelberg) (Year 9 students) who were at the Bake Sale the whole day along with Olivia Yang, (Year 10) and Katy Do (Year 11) to assist in the sale. 

Thank you to Mr Law and Ms Beliavski for helping to set up the cake stand on the day. 

Thank you to Mr Kan for the support of the Bake Sale and thank you to all who purchased cakes and cookies to support the students’ goals. 

In a meeting this week, students discussed further steps to get in contact with an indigenous community to support a project and to make a difference. 

Andrea Fowler

Global Citizenship Coordinator