PERFORMING ARTS
Carnival of Choirs Deakin University’s Costa Hall filled with the sound of over 220 choristers at the 2012 Carnival of Choirs on Friday 20 July. The Geelong Youth Choir, The Geelong College Choir, Bostock House, Toorak and Middle School students joined the Choir of Geelong Grammar School (with some extra parents and students), two grand pianos and a wonderful percussion orchestra, all led by guest conductor Andrew Wailes. The performance opened with individual choirs all performing a short set of their own repertoire. It was great to see such variety in the music performed – everything from Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond) to Hotaru Koi (a traditional Japanese folk song). Actions and props were popular and added an extra dimension to some of the performances. In the second half of the performance, the choirs joined forces with the percussionists and pianists to pull off an amazing performance of Carl Orff’s great composition, Carmina Burana. The performance was a huge success and definitely worth the hours that were put into rehearsals. It was amazing to hear the combined force of so many choristers, percussion and piano. The four soloists, Nathan Lay, Miranda Orford (Yr11 A), Millie England (Yr11 Cl) and Lee Abrahmsen, were beautiful and added another layer to the wonderful performance. It was a huge effort and many people worked hard to make the night such a success, to whom we are all grateful. It was an unforgettable experience and all involved were lucky to have the opportunity to participate or listen to one of the most famous choral works. Georgie Dixson (Yr12 He) Top left: Carnival of Choirs at Costa Hall. Above: The Shoo Bops Girls and George Vickers Willis (Yr12 FB) in Little Shop of Horrors. Right: George Coltman (Yr10 FB) 24
Little Shop of Horrors ‘Little Shop, Little Shop Of Horrors, Bop Shoo Bop, You Never Stop The Terror, Little Shop Oh Oh No Oh Oh No Noooooo...’ Once again the Senior School Musical is over for another year. This year’s production of Little Shop of Horrors was a fantastic success, complete with fake eyelashes, a dentist’s drill and a very hungry man-eating plant. What more do you need? Yet don’t be fooled; anyone involved would verify that putting this spectacular spectacle together was no piece of cake. Rehearsal began early in Term 2 and ran during after school prep every Monday and Tuesday, as well as some Sundays. For anyone involved it was certainly difficult to maintain a stress-free balanced lifestyle. But every cast member would agree that the fun we had over the three performance nights was definitely worth it.
Little Shop of Horrors brought a group of people together from all Senior School year levels and Houses in order to create something amazing. Whether they were on stage the whole time or stuck inside a puppet, the sense of achievement at the end was far beyond uplifting. Everyone seemed to take a special moment away from it: whether it was Pat Miles’ (Yr11 A) adventure at the hands of ‘Doctor’ Hugo Tribe (Yr11 Fr), who has been described as “truly frightening”, the inspiring Shoo Bops Girls’ singing ability and entertaining dresses, the cheesy 60s dance moves, Tildie Hill Smith’s (Yr12 EM) and George Vickers-Willis’s (Yr12 FB) dramatic deaths or John Badgery’s (Yr11 Cu) ability to tango. I highly recommend the Senior School Musical to everyone. It is yet again another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that should not pass you by. Jessie Newhouse-Rayson (Yr11 Fr)