from tHe director:
This musical Back to the Eighties was not our first choice. In fact, it was ‘down the list’ of our preferences for 2024. However, in hindsight, it truly was the one we should always have been looking towards. With the advent of every ‘musical year’, the challenge comes to find something different to continue to push and grow our students, as this is the primary question around the mammoth investment that we make, whether it’s financial, time, talent or the sheer hard grind of rehearsals. Back to the Eighties is like nothing we’ve done in my time at King’s Reedy Creek, at least.
Flash back 40 years - I myself was in Year Eight, a spotty 12-yearold, singing along to the AM radio station in a rural Queensland town, watching the film clips on television and reading the magazines to stay up with the pop culture. The phones were still attached to the wall, and we had to ride our bikes to visit each other after school, and maintaining our ‘tribal affiliations’ through our friendships was of the utmost importance in the social pecking order.
Flash forward to 2024 and our students aren’t much different – apart from the facts that they don’t listen to ‘the radio’ or ‘read magazines’, nor do they ‘watch film clips on TV’ much either. But they do love pop culture, no matter how they find it. Celebrities, music, Hollywood stars – they’re all still part of our lives, just as much as finding our ‘tribe’ in which we belong. This musical has brought untold opportunities for us ‘oldies’ to share with the ‘youngsters’ what it was like – the similarities (there were lots!) and differences (there weren’t many) of being a teenager in a school where the jocks and the nerds think they’re poles apart, and the ‘normal kids’ get stuck in the middle. Everyone reckons that ‘no-one understands what I’m going through’ and yet, peel off the outer layer, we’re all simply craving acceptance and acknowledgement, as we navigate our way towards our unique identities.
It has been a delight to journey back into last century’s most colourful and upbeat decade, and our students got to experience a slice of their parents’ upbringing which may possibly produce some empathy for the fashion choices they see in old photos, and the dance moves that appear when a Madonna or Bon Jovi song comes on!
The Company has learned much about themselves and their fellow performers, and grown in appreciation for hard work, dedication and commitment to ‘nailing that choree’ one more time. I would like to sincerely thank not only the students and their families for the support and understanding during our fast and furious rehearsal process, but more importantly our Creative Team who have not only pushed our students to become better artists on stage, but better people offstage. To Simon, Ellia, Sara, Glenn, Nat, Lance, Ben, Jacob & Caitlin – thank you for coming on board this crazy ride, and I pray that you too have many precious memories from this experience. Dare I suggest that we’ve had the ‘Time of (our) Lives’!
cHriS Harm director of Performing artS
1 1985: Return to School ‘Senior Year’ Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Kids in America
2 ‘William Ocean High School’ - School Assembly Girls Just Want to Have Fun Footloose
3 Outdoors - after school
4 ‘William Ocean High School’ - School Assembly Election Day · Mickey
Michael’s Election Rap Video Killed the Radio Star
5 Corey Jnr’s bedroom
The Glory of Love
6 Maths classroom
Let’s Hear It For the Boy
7 School yard - lunch time
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
You Give Love a Bad Name
8 School lockers/ Teachers’ staff room
You Give Love a Bad Name (reprise)
9 ‘William Ocean High School’ - School Assembly Man in the Mirror act one:
Artistic Director & Producer
Musical Director
Assistant to the Musical Director
Choreographer
Vocal Director
Production Technician
Costume Coordinator
Costume Assistant
Sets and Props
Assistant to the Director
Performing Arts Trainee
Corey Palmer Jnr
Corey Palmer Snr
Michael Feldman
Tiffany Houston
Cyndi Gibson
Mel Easton
Feargal McFerrin
Mrs Chris Harm
Mr Simon Reddrop
Ms Caitlin Leach
Mrs Ellia Davis
Mrs Sara Reddrop
Mr Lance Solomon
Mrs Natalie Kelso
Mrs Fiona Wruck
Ms Jody Lock
Kaylie Vermooten
Allana Hyslop
l ead caS t
David Johnstone
Mr Tobias Marais
Nicholas Boler
Mya Mariu-James
Mia Ryan
Samantha Bacon
Kim Easton Esther Grosser
Jedidiah Johnstone
Eileen Reagan Alisha Holmes
Laura Wilde Imogen Reddrop
Debbie Fox
Ms Sheena Brannigan
Rose Kozina
Zoe Peach
Mr Stevie Cocker Tanner Jackson
Billy Arnold Waihekeo Rissetto
Lional Astley
Huey Jackson
Kirk Keaton
Alf Bueller
Featured Female Singer
Jackson Graham
Didier Liddell
Noah Sanson
Eunice Egger creative t eam
Cameron Broadrick
dance trouPe
Olivia Barnwell
Ella Hiscox
Amelia Morgan
Isla Bristow-Wilson
Molly Hiscox
Laura Owen
Scarlett Cross
Amelia Knight
Izzy Rollins
Abi Croucamp
Alicia Kyne
Leila Tolhurst
Megan de Sousa
Olivia Kyne
cHoruS
PUNK/ROCKERS
Annie Boler
Mila Botha
Kirsten Campbell
Josiah Galer
Mars Klein
Jessica Ladner
Zelri Marais
Kelsey Tait
GOTHS
Grace Ewers
Matisse Hammond
Hannah Kelso
Olive Lucas
Grace Papworth
Anna Robinson
Jaicey Tester
Amelia Tewksbury TRACKSUITS
Keira French
NERDS
Grace Baker
Jade Barrett
Marissa Barrett
Milli Beakley
Esther Hawkey
Archer Jackson
Daniel Lim Asher Moes
Jesse Rose
Allana Hyslop
Ava Moes
Brielle Parkes
Layla Pigdon
MATERIAL BOYS
Jayden Abele
Tikaia Craig
Justin Huang
Eddie Kay
Malena Torales
Tahlia Donovan
Lailah Luton-Bradford
Gemma Watts
Eunice Egger
Ivy Maguire
Ada Yi
NORMALS
Trinity Broadrick
Laiken Everleigh-Sweeney
Emma Fortescue
Grace Foster
Grace Giovas
Ellie Harding
Liona Shishkin
Kyralee Smith
Indiana Stevens
Aya Ucharatna
Hannah Walker
Hayley Zhang
POPULARS
Sherry Qi
Lita Rajasekaran
Ava Sanson
Alicia Sweaney
Sophia Whiting
Emilia Wruck
muSicianS
Mr Jacob Aspinall
Mr Glenn Miles
Mr Ben Pohlmann
Neala Chang (Yin) Michelle Huang
Jini Lu
Jacob McGregor
Corbin Whitworth
backS tage creW
Billie Burton
Josiah Green
Issac Gorton
With thanks to Luke Criss and his Vision Production Team
All Saints Anglican School Trinity Lutheran College