High school students will be taking their creative talents onstage over the next three weeks.
And the community is invited to cheer them on and enjoy first-rate entertainment.
First up, it’s Theatre Spectrum with Brian Pratt Johnson, or PJ as he is affectionately known to his students.
The show, which opens Wednesday, Jan. 14 and runs for three nights, is a musical theatre revue that features the 24 Grade 11/12 students.
“It’s a production the students have put together,” says an enthusiastic Pratt Johnson, noting that with the odd start to the school year due to the teachers’ strike, there was little time to find a script.
Pratt Johnson chose the theme – colour – and the students then selected material such as songs and skits appropriate to colours within the prism.
“We worked on some singing and acting skills and then I said ‘here’s our theme, let’s research the material,’” he says. “We talked about how to pace the show, how to put it together.”
And the students took ownership of the project, creating their own production and having a lot of fun in the process.
“I’ve really tried to involve them in this as a director, trying to teach them how to block a scene, how to plan lighting and how to organize props and costuming,” he says. “We’re ending up with a product, but my focus was to be showing the kids the process and how to get there.”
Pratt Johnson said he had a few anxious moments when the school had two snow days tagged onto the long Christmas break, making rehearsal impossible.
“My wife talked me through it. She said ‘hold it, this is supposed to be fun…’” he laughs, noting there is a bit of added stress in that the process of putting so much of the production into the students’ hands is a first for him too. “I care; that’s why I get in a tizzy. I want it to be as good as it can be.”
More relaxed on Monday, Pratt Johnson said he was looking forward to a dress rehearsal in front of students that afternoon. And, while he knew there would be some glitches, he was reassured there were two more days to address them before putting Theatre Spectrum in front of a paying audience.
Theatre Spectrum runs Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Jan. 14 to 16 at 7 p.m. in the SAS Theatre at the Sullivan campus. Tickets are $8 and are available in the school office during the day or at the door.
Next week, audiences of all ages will be entertained by the (Almost) Totally True Story of Hansel and Gretel.
“A parody of the typical Hansel and Gretel story the public is familiar with, it’s a twist on a bunch of different fairy-tales,” says enthusiastic acting and dance teacher Danielle Berger, noting it coincides with the premise of the current Hollywood movie Into the Woods. “It’s something familiar to the kids; I think they buy in better, like they did last year with Peter Pan.”
Berger says the 25 students in her Grade 11/12 Sullivan acting class are thoroughly enjoying the production that includes elements of Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
“It’s great because it’s great for all ages,” says Berger. “We want to get as much of the community out to support this as possible.”
The (Almost) Totally True Story of Hansel and Gretel takes place in the Sullivan campus theatre next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show is at 6:30. Tickets are $8 and are available at the Sullivan campus office or at the door.
The following week, Berger’s two Grade 11/12 dance classes will perform in a recital showcasing all the dances and choreography they have learned throughout the semester – jazz dance, hip-hop, contemporary, modern and a musical theatre piece.
The students will also perform numbers they created by forming their own groups, choosing their own music and choreographing their own dance.
“This is really neat because it gives the students more responsibility and the opportunity to show their own style of dance,” says Berger, who pointed out the students have been working on the choreography since school began. “They’re a great group of hardworking students, very artistically talented kids, and I am so excited to see all their hard work come together and for the community to come out and see it too.”
The SAS dance recital takes place at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27, 28, 29 in the Sullivan campus theatre. Doors open at 6 and tickets, at $8, are available at the Sullivan Campus office or at the door.