It's Show Time - well almost!

As we approach our next show I thought I would add a little update to our previous blogs about show planning, so here's a little update to Feature Friday - Show Planning Part 1 (from 06/11/2020)

Quite a bit has changed since that blog - all for the better I may add!

🎭 Firstly, is the venue. Unfortunately, Eskdale School didn't become our performance home, as with the amalgamation of the schools and the closure of the Eskdale site I had to start looking again. I considered various options but, in the end, there really was only 1 other suitable option and that was Whitby Pavilion. It had the space, the facilities, the atmosphere - and it came with a Stage Manager and technical team experienced in dance shows! However, it also came with a much higher hire cost than a school hall so the challenge was set to create a show to fill a much larger space with more people than we have ever had attend! This meant I had to plan a show that more people would want to come and see and this leads on to our second change.

🎭 Previously I talked about the traditional story ballets that I had created - and was creating, and I still had more ideas of ballets and musical scores we could use. However, I decided to think a little outside the box last time and do something less traditional that would appeal to a wider audience. And that's how Hogwarts: a Ballet was born! I do believe our goal was achieved as we had double the audience numbers to previous shows and, despite the increased costs, we still managed to donate twice as much to our chosen charity than previous occasions too. So, after 4 venues in 4 shows, we have finally booked somewhere for the 2nd time and will be performing our next show, Rapunzel, back at Whitby Pavilion.

🎭 The next change I spotted from my previous blog was costumes - although this is more of a tweak than a change I suppose! For the last 2 shows we were lucky enough to get funding and sponsorship to help towards costumes so the school now has a collection of costumes that can be reused for events. We are also looking to hire some costumes this time if we can find the right ones available at the right time! But the principle still stands that the costumes have to fit properly, be appropriate for dancing, come in a range of sizes, be returnable if necessary, and conform to safety standards. So this time there may be a combination of purchased, externally hired, and our own hire.

🎭 The last, and possibly biggest, change is that, for the first time ever, seniors are auditioning for their parts! As the seniors have grown and developed through the school they are wanting to push themselves more and want to take bigger parts in the show. This doesn't mean I won't be taking into consideration height, strength, ability and compatibility with others as these are all very important considerations, but the senior students will be given the opportunity to prove themselves for their preferred parts. They are currently learning the audition pieces for all the solo parts so that they can audition after half term and we can hopefully announce the principal roles before the end of the year!

🎭 So, a few changes hear and there but the main process of deciding the story, the music and the characters, and the choreography remains the same. Here's to an exciting 2025 and our Rapunzel show 🎭