CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL
BLUE BOX THEATRE
WHAT’S ON 2013-14
WELCOME TO CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL Celebrating 10 years at the Blue Box Theatre In 2004 Chorlton High School opened and was proud to launch The Blue Box Theatre to the school and the wider community. The opening of the theatre marked the beginning of a new journey for the High School, its Specialist Arts College status and the diverse community it serves. In March 2004 Prime Minister Tony Blair visited and opened Chorlton High School from the Blue Box Theatre. In the May of that year famed Chorltonians, Robin and Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, opened the Maurice Gibb recording studio as a tribute to their brother, and watched with pride as our students danced to their hits in the new theatre. The theatre, boasting flexible staging, a 300 seat capacity and state of the art lighting, sound and pprojection rig, then hosted a week-long celebration entitled ‘Opening the Box’ hosting Dance, Drama and Music events. The last 10 years has seen the theatre play host to hundreds of Dance, Drama and Musical performances from Chorlton High students, local Primary School pupils, professional and amateur groups, community groups as well as school events and lessons from across the curriculum. The Blue Box has been central to the development of Chorlton High School and has become a symbol of the arts in our school and in the local community; transforming and enriching creative opportunities for all. We are proudly celebrating its 10th birthday this year with a programme of events calendared in this brochure. The programme runs for the full academic year for us to celebrate the theatre’s heritage, as we revisit past performances and performers. We will also look to our bright future as we stage brand new experiences to continue the creative journey we started back in 2004. We look forward to welcoming you to the events throughout the year as we pay tribute to the arts, creativity and to this special building which remains central to the Chorlton High School community and beyond.
Extra Curricular Activities There are lots of opportunities for students to develop their interest in the Performing Arts beyond their lesson time. We offer a wide range of extra curricular activities across Dance, Drama and Music. Curriculum Leader for Drama: a.prudhoe@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk Curriculum Leader for Music: r.cooper@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk and c.scott@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk Curriculum Leader for Dance: l.carden@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk Curriculum Leader for Art: s.needham@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk
Drama
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
T hursday
Friday
G&T Drama Club 3:00-4:30pm (G83)
Little Shop of Horrors Musical rehearsals 2:45-4:00pm *AT
KS3 Drama Club Year 7/8 3:00-4:00pm (G80)
Year 11 Revision Session
Music
Rock School 2:45-3:45pm (Practice rooms) Steel Pans 2:45-3:45pm (F83) Harmony Vocal Group 2:45-3:45pm (F81)
Music Tech Club 2:45-3:45pm (F81) Big Band 2:45-3:45pm (F83)
Rock School 2:45-3:45pm (Practice rooms) Little Shop of Horrors Musical rehearsals 2:45-4:00pm *AT
Music Theory 2:45-3:45pm (F81)
Dance
M21 Dance Company 2:45-4:00pm (P41)
G.Y.M Dance Juniors KS4 Catch up Company Evening 2:45-4:00pm (P40) *ST 2:45-5:00pm (P40/41) G.Y.M Dance Seniors Company 2:45-4:00pm (P41) Little Shop of Horrors Musical rehearsals 2:45-4:00pm (P40) *AT
*ST - Spring Term *AT - Autumn Term
String Ensemble 2:45-3:45pm (F83)
Battle of the Bands
Thursday 17th October 2013 - 7:30pm (£5/£3) Bands will battle it out on stage for the winning title of Chorlton High School’s Battle of the Bands – with special guest judges.
Winter Dance Show
Thursday 28th November 2013 - 7:30pm (£5/£3) Come and watch a wonderful winter selection of the finest choreography from the Dance Department at Chorlton High School! You will get to watch a variety of performances from Year 7 to GCSE Dance, including a dance sneak preview from our upcoming musical production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors!’ Don’t miss this sparkling event!
Little Shop of Horrors
Tuesday 10th, Wednesday 11th & Thursday 12th December 2013 7:30pm (£5/£3) Little Shop of Horrors is a comedy horror rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. The music, composed by Menken in the style of early 1960s rock and roll, doowop and early Motown, includes several well-known tunes, including the title "Somewhere That's Green", and "Suddenly, Seymour”. Little Shop of Horrors was the first song, "Skid Row (Downtown)", "Somewhe musical that Chorlton High School performed so please join the Year 7, 8 and 9 cast of over 100 students as they perform this fabulous musical in spectacular style to mark our anniversary. On Tuesday 10th December there will be a special matinee performance of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ for the elderly members of our community who are invited to watch the performance and have a tasty lunch.
Set provided by www.prosceneium.co.uk
Year 9 Extended Learning Day Monday 16th December 2013 - From 1pm
Dance, Drama and Music students are awarded the opportnity to spend all day in their chosen art form. This allows them to do specialist Arts workshops with school staff and visiting artists and culminates in a Year 9 Performing Arts trip to Z-arts for a performance of their show ‘Duck’. Reset in Heaton Park for a Manchester audience, ‘Duck’ is Philip Osment’s modern reimagining of Hans Christian Andersens’s tale The Ugly Duckling.
Year 7 Panto Trip Dick Whittington Tuesday 17th December 2013 100 Year 7 students will have the opportunity to go to the annual Pantomine trip. This year follows the heart-warming tale of Dick Whittington, a young orphan who goes to London town with his faithful cat, Tommy, in search of fortune.
Winter Music Concert
Thursday 19th December 2013 - 7:30pm (£5/£3) Celebrate the end of the Autumn term with the Music Department’s annual festive concert showcasing talent across a wide range of musical disciplines.
Stagedoor Theatre Company Thursday 30th January 2014 - 7:30pm Stage Door Theatre Company is our KS4 Gifted and Talented group. They are creating a performance of ‘Before I Die’ written by one of our Year 11 pupils. The group have been working together for a year now and have been creating some thought provoking film and theatre pieces.
CHS X Factor
Thursday 6th February 2014 - 7:30pm (£5/£3) Chorlton’s got the X Factor! Join a celebrity panel to judge this year’s talented singers and musicians to see who will be crowned the X Factor winner.
Spring Music Concert Thursday 20th March 2014 - 7:30pm (ÂŁ5/ÂŁ3) Celebrate Spring with this incredibly popular event showcasing Chorlton High School musical talent.
Project Runway
Thursday 27th March 2014 7:30pm (£5/£3) Be bang on trend this season by attending Chorlton High School Project Runway and get swept away by the creativity of the designs featured in this unique and one off performance event. From bespoke costumes to amazing installations, we’ve got it covered. Prepare to be invigorated by this season’s choreography, sounds and designs. You are invited to this very fashionable event!
Year 10 Art Exhibition 16th-25th May 2014 We will be celebrating our current Year 10 GCSE Art, Fashion and Photography students exciting work with an art show. This will be in the entrance to the Blue Box Theatre during the Chorlton Arts Festival.
GCSE Drama The stars are coming out tonight - w/c Monday 10th March 2014 Year 11 GCSE Drama students celebrate the end of their course with their final scripted performances including their moderated performance with an external examiner on Tuesday 11th March 2014.
Encore - w/c Monday 9th June 2014 Year 10 GCSE Drama students will perform their first assessed piece of drama in the Blue Box Theatre.
10 Plays for 10 Years Thursday 24th April 2014 - 7:30pm (£5/£3) A fool’s guide to a decade of thrills and laughter at our very own Blue Box Theatre. Join story keeper Robin Goodfellow as he tries to show an inconsolable Malvolio that, despite its ups and downs, life is worth living. Set after the last scene of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, 10 Plays for 10 Years is an exciting amalgamation of scenes from 10 magnificent plays. Students will bring multiple characters to life on this journey through Blue Box Theatre history, from John Godber’s ‘Bouncers’ to Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’.
10
CHAT:SS (Chorlton High Arts Team: Site Specific) CHAT:SS started 5 years ago when funding was cut from Manchester City Council for a collaborative schools arts project. The Chorlton High Arts team felt that this kind of collaborative project was too beneficial to our students to lose. So we created our own project that was site specific based. Each year we choose a space in our own city, Manchester, and create devised pieces of Dance and Drama from a range of stimuli. A range of students are involved from years seven to eleven and every year the students are complimented on their creativity, confidence and professionalism. It truly is a celebration of the Arts in its best form; bringing Dance and DDrama together to explore interesting issues, students' opinions and exciting resources. This year’s theme will be performed in our very own Chorlton area to celebrate ten years at the Blue Box. Our theme will be ‘10’ and will be performed in the summer term to end an exciting year of Arts projects. We hope to see you there!
Chorlton Arts Festival Primary Outreach Team: Twelfth Night Monday 19th & Tuesday 20th May 2014 - 7:30pm (£5/£3)
2014 sees the 12th Primary Production that the Chorlton High School Primary Arts Outreach Team have created with Year 4 and 5 pupils from South Manchester Primary Schools for the Chorlton Arts Festival, and our 7th Shakespeare play. This year we are returning to Shakespeare's comedies with a new look at Twelfth Night; a bitter sweet tale of lost twins, cross dressing and unrequited love. The project will begin in January 2014, with introductory workshops with Year 5 and Music projects with Year 4, before the dance and drama rehearsals begin.
Chorlton Young Musician of the Year Wednesday 21st May 2014 - 7:30pm (£5/£3)
Come along to the prestigious contest where up and coming performers compete for the esteemed title of ‘Chorlton Young Musician of the Year’.
Playwriting Project
Thursday 22nd May 2014 - 7:30pm (£5/£3) This year we are excited to announce our new playwriting project 'New Writing Chorlton'. New writing from the residents of Chorlton will be devised and performed by gifted and talented Year 9 and 10 pupils in a celebration of the wealth of creativity in our local community.
One Education Music Concert Saturday 24th May 2014 - 10.30am-12.00pm
A showcase of instrumental music for Band, Orchestra and soloists performed by Manchester school children who attend the Chorlton Music Centre on Saturdays.
Composers and Choreographers Project Blue Box Theatre Birthday Celebration Friday 23rd May 2014 - 7:30pm (£5/£3) Join us and some faces from past and present for strawberries, wine and birthday cake as we mark the birthday of The Blue Box Theatre in style with the Composers and Choreographers Project. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity for gifted and talented pupils in the Music and Dance departments to work collaboratively to create a performance piece.
Pop up Theatre Exciting pop up Blue Box event coming to a space in Chorlton near you soon! This installation is an interactive media experience revealing the experiences people have had in and around Chorlton and the Blue Box Theatre itself. Be prepared to be amazed and dazzled by what the Pop up Blue Box will reveal as it makes its way around Chorlton for a limited time only. You will be able to follow its progress and be part of the experience - watch this space !
Conway Gifted & Talented Residential Trip Monday 9th - Wednesday 11th June 2014 In June every year, Gifted and Talented Year 8 students are taken on a residential to the Conway Centre, Wales. They work in groups to solve a murder, CSI style through Science, Drama, Maths, Humanities and Physical Education. Students work in teams to solve a CSI style murder using a range of subjects, skills and techniques taught over the three days. This is an exciting opportunity for students to develop their skills in core and creative subjects. Each year, we are blown away with the determination and support the students have for each other. Most students attempt to take a leap of faith and climb up an 80 foot pole and then jump for a ttrapeze with excellent precision. This is an incredibly valuable and enjoyable experience for all involved, it is always a pleasure spending 3 days with such bright, talented, enthusiastic and dedicated young people.
Summer Dance Show Thursday 3rd July 2014 - 7:30pm (ÂŁ5/ÂŁ3)
Prepare to be amazed by the final instalment from the Dance Department at Chorlton High School. You will have the opportunity to watch how our talented cohort of pupils have grown and flourished through their showcase of work. You will get to watch a sunny selection of KS3, and GCSE work, including the Year 9 BTEC production showcase!
Outside the Box Saturday 12th July 2014 - from 2pm Enjoy the start of summertime with a festival to celebrate 10 years of the Blue Box Theatre! With different stages, including comedy, live music from up and coming artists, arts and crafts and food stalls - this is an event not to be missed!
The Performing and Visual Arts departments aim to enhance the rich and diverse cultural life of Chorlton High School; complementing the academic provision with a wealth of curriculum opportunites and extra curricular activities and events throughout the year. Every academic year sees a full programme of performances and school events that allow our students opportunities to extend their talents, explore new possibilities, perform for a variety of audiences and contribute something positive to school and the wider commnity. This special 10 Year Anniversary brochure provides an overview of key events for the year, contact details of key staff and information for the events we are hosting. For further information keep an eye on our school website www.chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk or email S.Burke: Director of Arts: s.burke@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk
Did you know you can hire our school facilities? Chorlton High School has a range of fantastic facilities that we are keen to make available to the local community when they are not in use by the school including the Blue Box Theatre and specialist Drama and Music rooms. Please visit our website www.chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk for more information.
Chorlton High School Nell Lane Chorlton Manchester M21 7SL Tel: 0161 882 1150 Fax: 0161 861 8753 Email: admin@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk Website: chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk Twitter: @chorltonhigh