Before we finished in May of last year, we were informed that our TY year would not have a musical due to financial difficulties from the previous shows. As disappointed as I was about this news, I was also excited to find out what we would be doing instead. We were informed in September when we came back to school that we would be doing a Variety Show. When I first heard these words I thought it would be a talent show as we did auditions for everyone in the school who was interested. However this wasn't the case. Mr Coughlan, our vice principal had a script prepared for us. The show was to be called GAA With A Twist. It would depict the changes of Ireland from the time the GAA was set up to what it has become today. We would have both play and musical elements and we would still get around the same benefits as an actual musical.
Casting began in early - late October and rehearsals began in early November. This only gave us a matter of weeks to have our lines learned, our costumes bought, the stage painted and prepared and the songs perfected before D-Day on the 14th of December. The first half of GAA With A Twist was based on the beginnings of the GAA with its founders and old Ireland in general. The plays, Many Young Men of Twenty (TY A's) and Philadelphia Here I Come (TY B's) were used here. The second half gave a light hearted mood as we still had the influence of the GAA but we had the presence of well known musicals here such as Grease (TY A's) and All Shook Up (TY B's). The audience knew many of the songs in the show and I believe they enjoyed this aspect. They were able to interact with us during the céilí scenes and sing along with our ensemble at the end of the show which was nice.
I had the privilege of playing Natalie in our scene in All Shook Up. I had a couple lines to learn and 3 songs with my class and year group. I also had to learn a dance with Vincent, who played Chad. We had to sing a song called 'There's Always Me' together. This part took me out of my comfort zone a bit and improved my confidence as I had to sing and dance which I wouldn't be used to doing. I also had to do it all in front of an audience and my year group and so this made me nervous to get it right. I feel I did an ok job in doing the part justice.
Overall, I believe the show went alright. However I feel that we maybe should've been given more time to rehearse, maybe by rehearsing more in the weeks leading up to the show instead of being in class and maybe starting to rehearse earlier than we did. However in saying this the show went well mostly without any mishaps. I believe Ms Coyle, Ms Lohan, Ms Murtagh and Mr Coughlan did a good job in organizing us and we all thank them for doing so.
Casting began in early - late October and rehearsals began in early November. This only gave us a matter of weeks to have our lines learned, our costumes bought, the stage painted and prepared and the songs perfected before D-Day on the 14th of December. The first half of GAA With A Twist was based on the beginnings of the GAA with its founders and old Ireland in general. The plays, Many Young Men of Twenty (TY A's) and Philadelphia Here I Come (TY B's) were used here. The second half gave a light hearted mood as we still had the influence of the GAA but we had the presence of well known musicals here such as Grease (TY A's) and All Shook Up (TY B's). The audience knew many of the songs in the show and I believe they enjoyed this aspect. They were able to interact with us during the céilí scenes and sing along with our ensemble at the end of the show which was nice.
I had the privilege of playing Natalie in our scene in All Shook Up. I had a couple lines to learn and 3 songs with my class and year group. I also had to learn a dance with Vincent, who played Chad. We had to sing a song called 'There's Always Me' together. This part took me out of my comfort zone a bit and improved my confidence as I had to sing and dance which I wouldn't be used to doing. I also had to do it all in front of an audience and my year group and so this made me nervous to get it right. I feel I did an ok job in doing the part justice.
Overall, I believe the show went alright. However I feel that we maybe should've been given more time to rehearse, maybe by rehearsing more in the weeks leading up to the show instead of being in class and maybe starting to rehearse earlier than we did. However in saying this the show went well mostly without any mishaps. I believe Ms Coyle, Ms Lohan, Ms Murtagh and Mr Coughlan did a good job in organizing us and we all thank them for doing so.