A joyous celebration of song

A celebrationjoyous

of song

If the spectacular performances of the Years 9–10 students and Junior Company from the Preparatory School, in the toe-tapping, high energy Middle School production, Antionette’s Showstoppers are anything to go by, the future of musical theatre at St Andrew’s College is truly bright.

With the new Performing Arts Centre at St Andrew’s under construction throughout 2022 and no theatre onsite to perform in, the creative team behind the Middle School production had the task of finding a show and venue which would still provide the students with a full theatre experience.

They met the challenge head on by creating their own show, Antionette’s Showstoppers, a celebration of some of the best loved Tony award-winning songs from musicals as diverse as Kiss Me Kate, Oliver, The Sound of Music, Funny Girl, The Lion King, Shrek, Hairspray and Hamilton.

During the show’s three-night run at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre at the University of Canterbury in late October, the young cast, aged from 8–15, delivered some brilliant performances, resulting in well-deserved standing ovations.

Director Ginnie Thorner, says putting on the show was wonderful, and slightly terrifying in moments, but as they say in show business, it all came together on the night. “One of the biggest challenges was not being able to rehearse at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre. We only had six hours in the space before opening. However the Secondary and Preparatory students took it in their stride. We were so proud of their performances. With so many styles of song, the choreography was tricky, and many of the cast had never danced before but they did incredibly well.”

Hana Pearce (OC 2019) returned once again to choreograph the show, assisted by Ginnie Thorner, and had a great rapport with the young cast, helping them to master the often intricate, fast-moving choreography, with multiple performers on stage at once on many occasions. Xanthe Pearce (Year 11) also assisted and choreographed a couple of the songs herself.

The stunning costumes created by Costume Designer, Sylvia Campbell, with her trademark attention-to-detail, made for a visual feast. The band, featuring William Ernest (OC 2014) on keyboards and Hayden Lam (Year 11) on drums, led by Musical Director, Duncan Ferguson, put in another stellar performance. The music required a lot of time and attention, and Duncan put hours of work into creating the many layers of tracks required for the songs.

A dedicated technical crew, and team of supportive friends and parents, also did their part to create another highly memorable show at St Andrew’s College.