KING OF REHEARSALS
Rehearsals are well under way for The Lion King Junior production!
Finally the masks are arriving by the box-load all the way from The Puppet Workshop in Australia! These incredible masks are thankfully extremely light given that pupils will be wearing them throughout the whole performance. All of our lower school pupils are busy using their drama lessons to assemble costumes and props. Marnie Clarke has designed some fabulous gazelles and is leading others to ensure they are all ready to showcase the Lioness Hunt. Pupils have shown how resourceful they can be by turning lantern wires into birds, scraps of material have been plaited to create tails and we already have a host of Wildebeest masks prepared for a huge stampede. There is certainly no waste and it is amazing what can be achieved out of a heap of old scrap!
While we have been busy acting, singing and making, Andrew Whiting has worked through the night to install our new lighting rig in the Sports Hall. We have created a 6m grid, which be permanently fixed to the beams, for this and future productions. If you watched ‘The Road to Private Peaceful’ on our Vimeo channel last year, you will appreciate that the rigging took a considerable amount of time however, this year our cast can look forward to rehearsing in their new space significantly earlier. It certainly generates excitement in the lead up to production week!
The singing is sounding fabulous! This week, pupils were lucky enough to participate in a choral workshop with the energetic and talented Choral Director, Dominic Ellis-Peckham. The challenge for our pupils now is to combine the singing with the choreography and stage action, which, when carrying a mask or wearing an extraordinary grass skirt and headdress is an art in itself. This is a talented group of lower school pupils who we feel sure will put on a tremendous show.
Tickets are selling fast, so please do book early to avoid disappointment. Tickets available here.
Emily Harris, Head of Drama