War of the Worlds
In April 2017, St James College, Bentleigh East, in association with Mentone Girls' Grammar proudly presented Jeff Wayne's musical version of H.G. Wells' classic novel 'The War of the Worlds'. This exciting production was reinterpreted to include the traditional sound and light show along with animations and engaging ensemble work.
The first major production for the new Visual and Performing Arts Centre played to a sold out season in April. Still the talk of the school, wondering if the chances of anything coming from Mars really are a million to one?
The process for War of the Worlds began in 2016. Countless hours went into making this show a success. Mr Ryan and Ms Urquhart commended the students on their commitment and enthusiasm towards an incredible performance.
Two of the lead actors Oscar Horsey and Lachlan Mindum had some wonderful words to say about the production and the amazing people that made it happen.
“This production has been an incredible journey for us in Year 10 and it would not have happened without some amazing people.
First off, thank you to all the students and staff for making costumes, makeup, set/props design, lighting design, animations and directing. Zach Frazer-Bowey and Aidan Soria, the sound desk operators. All of the cues for the music and sound effects were spot on thanks to you two. Lucas Sargiotis and Daniel Kurek, the backstage assistants. Thank you for all of the hard work you’ve done side and back stage and making sure everyone was ready for their cues.
Ari Tsoulakas and Thani Phan for running the lighting desk and creating the amazing lighting effects that added to a fantastic show. And to our student ushers for assiting with the smooth operation of front of house.
To the teachers Ms Stefaniw, Mr Perry, Ms O’Neill, Mr Kirkles, Mr Donlen, Ms Brierty, and Ms Blake this show would have not been possible without all your help.
Now last, but definitely not least, our directors, Mr Ryan and Ms Urquhart.
Ms Urquhart our wonderful director and choreographer. Your choreography for all the dances, especially for the Red Weed dances, were phenomenal! You are an awesome teacher, an incredible director, an outstanding choreographer, and above all else, a great friend. Mr Ryan, you always give people the opportunity to express their interests in performing arts. We all give our biggest thanks to you for the excellent orchestration and direction, you truly are a legend.”
Thank you all for coming to see our production. We all hope you enjoyed it and we hope to see you at our next production.
Oscar and Lachlan
Year 10
On the 23rd January, 15 St James College boys approached the VPAC building with legs of jelly, all of us were anxious but we carried on into the rehearsal. When we arrived Mr Ryan greeted us and gave us an introduction to Ms Urquhart. As we settled in Ms Urquhart took over the role of dealing with ensemble and quickly made us shake off the nerves by performing a pre-designed dance to Justin Timberlake's ‘Can't Stop the Feelin’’. Then we moved onto some improv games to have the ensemble interacting with each other and improving our group chemistry on stage during the production. At the end of the first workshop we discovered the group chemistry and energy that will consume the emerging production and that will ultimately sell the performance. I asked Oscar and Lachlan (the leads of the production) about their thoughts on the production, and they told me "every production has its challenges however this cast and ensemble seem to understand the task in front of them, and this production is a fun way to meet new people not only at Mentone Girls’ Grammar but other St James students in different year levels".
Rami
Year 10
