Term Two Musical

As auditions came to a close, and roles were all filled, the 41 students participating in the 2018/19 production of West Side Story were thrown straight into the challenges of musical theatre.  Ms Blake led the boys as they started off learning several dances that the majority of the lads would perform in the show. The girls indulged in their own dancing numbers, such as “America” which, I must say, they picked up much quicker than the boys did. On the vocal side of the show, Mr Newns has been working hard with the two gangs, Fabiana G, Mackenzie ‘19, Ashley C, Hope ‘20 and Timothy C, Ellis ‘20 on one of the biggest numbers in the show: “Tonight”. The ladies have nearly perfected their vocal performance of the song “America”, while Ashley and Timothy have been rehearsing several duet pieces which aid in shaping the more romantic side of the production. Without a doubt however, the acting portion of this show has been the most demanding. From sports day practices, to Sunday rehearsals, Mrs Widenmaier has been guiding her acolytes through the process of finding not only our characters, but ourselves as people. Although it may be quite challenging at times, the dozens of boys who come in to rehearse several times a week, always enjoy it.  Mr Howe has also dedicated many of his Sundays to coming up Island to assist the boys in what will be the most physically and mentally challenging scene in the show: the fight scene. This scene has the not-so-gentlemanly gang members slugging it out with each other for several minutes at a time. With a scene this demanding on our bodies, we start of every rehearsal with Mr Howe by doing leg workouts to his favourite tunes.  With all three aspects of the show becoming more sound, our directors have started having us do segments of the show which include dancing, acting, and singing - and even fighting. As the ensemble take a few weeks off over Christmas Break, we are all excited and ready to come back prepared to go all out for musical in the two months before the performance.  We hope to see you February 27th to March 2nd in the Killy Theatre for the first ever Brentwood production of West Side Story. Tickets can be booked here http://theatre.brentwood.bc.ca/Venue/16005/Details/ Jack N-G, Ellis ‘21