Performing Arts

Performing Arts News

Too Fabulous to Fail!

Typically, every other year, when St. Johns does not produce a St. Johns on Broadway, the Performing Arts department presents a spring musical-- a festival of singing, dancing, and acting with a full band on stage and a crush of music and activity. This year, however, due to limitations presented by COVID-19, theatre and dance instructor Kim Cadley-Mach and Director of Bands Michael Warren were forced to rethink. They couldn’t have as many people on stage at once, couldn’t put the whole band on stage, and had to limit groups interacting with each other. The answer? A Spring Musicale.

They opened up the never-before-used pit of the stage for the band-- that gave them more space. Then they selected a show with care-- small groups on stage at a time, with musical band numbers and dancing interspersed throughout. The result was truly Too Fabulous to Fail, a story about a small town girl moving to the big city to pursue her dream of becoming a musical theatre actress. Naturally, along the way she manages to become the CEO of a major investment bank, runs that into the ground, gets pursued by the police, jailed, does a musical number from lockup, and manages all of this while occasionally fleeing from old ladies dressed up like Elmo. What else would you expect?

“I was so impressed with all of the cast, crew, dancers, and band performers for this show,” said director Kim Cadley-Mach. “Everyone understood the issues we faced with COVID, rose to the challenge, and performed beautifully. I am so proud of all of them!”

The band, in the pit, played for dance numbers, scene-changing interludes, and occasional commentary, which provided an extra layer of fun and interest to an already outstanding show.

“I was really proud of the entire band and their performance in this show,” said Director of Bands Michael Warren. “It was something new for them in a lot of ways-- from piecing together musical commentary, of sorts, to our first time using the pit-- and they really rose to the occasion and have a lot to be proud of.”

Another outstanding performance from St. Johns’ Performing Arts department. As Mrs. Mach summed, when COVID gave them lemons, these students definitely knew how to make lemonade!

Upper School Students Win State, Regional Honors

Band students Timmy Jackson ’24 and Alex Dimmick ’21 (above left and right, respectively) have been awash with awards and honors. Since January: ◆ Alex was selected for the All-State

High School Honor Band. ◆ Both were selected for the University of South Carolina Honor Band. ◆ Both participated in the Florida

Bandmasters Associations’ Solo and Ensemble festival, where

Alex earned an Excellent and

Timmy earned a Superior advancing to State. ◆ At the State Solo and Ensemble

Festival, Timmy earned a Superior with Distinction. ◆ Both earned and participated in the All-County Honor Band.

“I’m really proud of both Alex and Timmy,” said Director of Bands Michael Warren. “They are both so talented but beyond that, they couple that talent with a lot of hard work and as you can see, that gets fantastic results.”

Yale Camerata Director Visits St. Johns

In May, St. Johns was honored to have renowned choral director, composer, and author Dr. Andre Thomas, retired professor of choral music at FSU and now director of the Yale Camerata, come to campus to work with our Middle School Chorus and St. Johns Singers. Dr. Thomas worked with our students, shared his experiences and talked about the two compositions of his done by our groups. “The students enjoyed getting to work with him and were inspired by this experience,” said choral director Mrs. Brenda Scott. “It was an honor to welcome Dr. Thomas and to be his first group of live voices in many months!”

Spring Bands & Bells Concert & Choral Concert

In May, the bands, handbell choirs, and choral groups performed in two separate concerts.

Both nights, live audiences were humming along to the themes from Batman and Star Wars, clapping to Pharrell’s “Happy,” taking in some Elvis and Motown, and enjoying some classics. The choral concert was particularly meaningful as it incorporated fond farewells to Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Cadley-Mach, and Mrs. Fisher, who was, of course, in the audience. In addition to the fantastic music, it was wonderful to see so many Singers alumni who came out to wish Mrs. Scott all the best in her retirement (see page 46 for more on that).

Spring Dance and Middle School Drama Performance

Second semester wouldn’t be complete without various performing arts events, certainly including Dance and Middle School Drama. Presented in a joint performance, the audience first enjoyed a film presentation by Senior Julia Nichols about perceptions, both of oneself and of others, followed by the tap number, “Tea for Two,” performed by Upper School Dance students. The Middle School Drama production of Don Zolidis’ “Stage Parents” followed, and the presentation was capped off by a stunning number from “A Chorus Line.” Bravo, students!