SCHOOL LIFE Drama Showtime! / Guys & Dolls The Joint school production this year flagged up that I have been in this job too long. We
discussed putting on a production of Guys and Dolls with a joint cast from the Grammar School and the High School. My only hesitation on putting on my favourite musical was that in my mind I had already directed this show for the school fairly recently – when it was pointed out that the last time I had staged the show at AGS in 2000 there was no further hesitation in picking the show to stage once again. The main barrier to re-staging the show actually came down to logistics. When I staged the show back in 2000 the school was a quieter place and the extracurricular events calendar less packed. This meant we had over a year to produce and rehearse the school production. In these much busier times we had only 6 weeks. A smart solution presented itself. We would stage not just one show but two with two casts, two directors and two stage managers meaning we could rehearse two shows simultaneously in different parts of the school. The first 45 minutes would be a showcase of musical theatre talents with pupils singing and dancing show tunes with a live
band. The second half would be a specially abridged version of Guys and Dolls with prerecorded music. As always AGS is blessed with amazingly creative and talented staff. Mrs Isherwood wrote, produced and directed the show tunes part of the school production. Under the title Showtime! Mrs Isherwood skillfully wrote a script that tied together show tunes from Hairspray, Chicago, La La Land, Beauty and The Beast amongst others. She worked with a talented cast of primarily lower school pupils. Some of the older pupils such as Logan Walmsley, Millie Archer, Sarah Nicholls and Lauren Hoft helped out with the choreography. Mr Nathan led a live band comprising of Dylan Holmes-Cowan, Dan Choudhury, Corin Scott, George Garman and Jack Izard. Showtime! was 45 minutes of fast, high energy dancing and singing. It was a real showcase of up and coming talent. There were plenty of
standout moments with Samantha De Castro and Maiwa Banda proving they are going to be stars of the future following their soulful and powerful singing. There were also some surprises – Bolu Oyedepo, Tommy Roberts and Sujatro Dubey had shown up to offer technical support at an early rehearsal and before they knew found themselves on stage as part of a very funny rendition of Moses Supposes supported by Finlay Power and Logan Walmsey. The abridged version of Guys and Dolls was in the safe hands of Miss Treherne. She provided the cast and crew with a great vision for the show. She also has an enviable ability to create dance routines that provide really clear storytelling. The audition process for Guys & Dolls threw up a first. We found it impossible to choose between our leading man and our leading lady. The solution was to give four talented actors a chance to play
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