The College talent pool, combining with similar strengths at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, meant the timing was ideal to present a show as challenging as West Side Story . The result – a four-night sell-out season, in front of an audience of more than 3,200 people – was a highly memorable, professionally produced and engaging musical. “Who would have thought this 60-year-old musical would still ring true, that its messages would prove as relevant as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , on which it is based?” says Director of Drama David Chambers. Work began in August 2017, when David and Robyn Peers secured the rights to the show and started the “Somewhere Project”. performance rarely seen on the secondary school stage. It may have been a drama of star-crossed lovers, but the talent aligned perfectly in this year’s senior production of West Side Story to create a strength of
“At that stage we were trying to get the boys to do pre-training in dance, singing and acting to start developing an interest in the ‘triple threat’,” says David, who co-directed the show with Peter Rutherford from Rangi Ruru Girls' School. “Choreographer Hannah Clarkson ran those sessions on Sunday afternoons and held workshops in Term 4 with performing arts staff from College and Rangi to get people interested and to ensure they had the confidence to audition. We had a great turnout of boys who managed to fit this in along with their sports training and exams – and mustered
the confidence to turn up to the auditions at Waitangi weekend.” All the preparation paid off and “an extraordinary cast” was selected and began to hone and refine their performance. At the same time, Grant Bennett was looking for a strong and capable stage crew, Mandy Dickie started work on the costumes, and Janet Kingsbury, Director of Music at Rangi, formed a superb 32-piece orchestra of accomplished musicians, including some staff and three tutors who acted as mentors and section leaders.
Christ’s College Canterbury
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