| As we come close to staging this year’s show, it seems fitting to reflect on last year’s against-the-odds achievement when we managed to stage our 30th consecutive school musical, by moving outside!
In the height of the first lockdown, when we would have been choosing the school show for the following year, Mr Eastman persuaded Miss Pellant and Mr Hunt to do something different, suited to the very strong musical talented of our current students. So the three members of staff set about writing a jazz fusion-style musical, using the The Great Gatsby as a starting point. The novel is a very popular social satire of the 1920s commenting on the shallowness of the glitz of the roaring twenties – the parties and jazz that arose from the prohibition-era and the American Dream concealed corruption, bootlegging and broken relationships and Fitzgerald’s novel, although often glamorised, poses questions about the flaws of escapism and over-indulgence.
As the summer 2020 lockdown continued, the three writers met virtually over teams, often working late into the night, first distilling the story and then picking the best songs to tell that story in a juke-box style. As time went on, they got increasingly excited about the potential of this novel. Of course, they also learnt why such an iconic book had not had this treatment before – how do you put the Valley of Ashes, the booming growth of New York, and the numerous car chases on stage? It works superbly in Baz Luhrman’s film – but the Centenary Hall?
We settled for a story within a story approach, with Nick, the lead character, lamenting his attraction to The Great James Gatz, retelling his glamorous interaction and its demise into Gatsby’s death, by pulling guests out of a speakeasy party to enact it using a range of physical and epic theatre techniques. Even the orchestra were embroiled as a band in the secret speakeasy, and their postmodern fusion of songs would carry Nick’s story.
As we came back to school in September 2020, to begin rehearsals, it soon became apparent it would not be an easy feat. We had a bumpy road of rehearsing in bubbles, school restrictions and closures – but through a combination of online and outdoor rehearsals in the wind and rain, along with commendable determination from the students to make this happen whatever was thrown our way by the pandemic, everyone involved persevered to put on a show, that was truly Great!
Rehearsing outside gave us the idea to stage the show in the manor gardens, and somehow, the weather gods took pity and gave us a glorious week at the end of term. Guests brought their own chairs and picnics, to spread out COVID-safe across the lawn. It made for magical evenings: the sun set during each show and the festoon lights and giant hanging chandelier sparkled, as the story took it’s darker end tones: the last number was a reworking of All Tomorrow’s Parties by Velvet Underground, which was somehow very fitting for the national mood by that point in the pandemic.
There were many outstanding performances from the cast “onstage” (or patio), and the orchestra side stage, not least Oscar Garbett who played Nick, holding together the whole story and balancing the story-in-the-story tricks superbly. James Gibbs played the Nick inside the story, and brought his usual skill in building up character subtleties. Robert Harrison, Avalon Vowles, Kit Oliver-Stevens, and Matilda Nicholls took various leads in the story (Tom Buchannan, Daisy, Gatsby and Myrtle), bringing their vocal talents to the range of songs that got the show toe-tapping.
They have been long-standing members of the cast, who have now headed off to university, along with the talented Austin Incles, who once again took part on stage and playing in the orchestra. All these students were in year 13, along with Seb Boot, Fred Williams, David Pearse and Cerys Smith in the orchestra, so by the time the show was staged they were on post-exam summer holidays, and so should be commended for their perseverance in supporting the show to the end. There were strong performances also from Lily Shanks as Jordan Baker, and George Menter as George Wilson, who with many others in the cast, return centre-stage for Sweeney Todd this year.
As we hopefully leave the pandemic, TBGS has been working hard to rebuild all the important activities that are so vital to the all-round development of students at the school. This year’s production returns to the Centenary Hall, with a bigger cast, our most ambitious set, and a number of special effects, to bring the unnerving story of Sweeney Todd to life. We can’t wait to share it with you! |
