It's Greased Lightning!!!

Tonight was the School Christmas show. Yes I know every year I blog about it but this year was different. This year They put on a full on production of the musical GREASE.

Bret has been rehearsing solidly since September. Originally he was to play the part of Sonny but there was a shift in October and Bret got the part of Kenickey.

I was very nervous as we left home. I wanted Bret to do really well and I wanted it to all go smoothly. As you know the school shows that happened previously were always badly organised and went on and on for ages and ages.

We got there really and they hadn't even opened the doors yet. It was raining and I don't think Debz and Bill were happy with me for leaving so early.

Once we got in and found some good seats a few rows back, my stomach really started with the butterflies and I wasn't even going to be onstage. Ange and DN were arriving slightly later so I had to keep my phone at hand so that as soon as she arived I could go out and take her tickets to her. It was supposed to start at 7pm but the later it got it meant the less they would miss.

As it was I got a text from Ange just as it started so they only missed about 5 minutes of it.

You can always tell a good anything when it flies by so fast. I couldn't believe it when the end of the first half came already. I had thoroughly enjoyed it so far. The kids did amazingly well. Some of the singing wasn't quite there but the fact that they got up there on stage and put their full heart and soul into it.

The second half went just as quick as the first and at the end Bret got to sing Greased Lightning again as an encore. I managed to capture most of it on video but hopefully Bret will be able to get the recording of the whole show.



What really got me was how popular Bret is with his fellow students. He got cheers and whistles for his performance and this made me mighty proud and very teary. I tried to hold back my tears though the lump in my throat was threatening to burst out of my neck.

Everyone was buzzing at the end as the kids all took a bow and there were hugs all round.
We were all really proud of our boy. The show was brilliant and all the actors were stars. Bret was practically bouncing all the way home...Can't wait for the next show now!!

It's the end of a another school year

It's that time again when we drag ourselves out to school to witness the great end of year show. Unfortunately it wasn't so great this year, In fact it was like pulling teeth and made me want to cringe in places.
Not Dear Son's parts though. Oh no if it's one thing he knows how to do well and that is put on a great performance in front of the crowds.

Its been a turbulent year for the School band, several of the year 11s gave it up to focus on their studies and they lost 2 music teachers within the year so there was no stability. I sense even DS himself was losing interest for a while but he kept on and through the determination of those left and one young yr 11 who worked doubly hard to see it through, they ended the year on a high.

The evening started with the band playing us in. The young girl who MC'ed was brilliant - she had great stage presence and a good sense of humour and timing. It is a shame the rest of the youngsters couldn't follow her example.
There was a poetry reading and a solo singer and a game style show maths quiz. This could have been a great idea but it fell on it's face as the kids involved just seemed to want to mess about. There was also a showing of a Yr 11 GCSE Media film which was OK. Oh there was the dreaded choir set. Luckily only 1 song in the first half. The young lad who I mentioned earlier that took over the choir was working so hard and was trying to be serious and professional but all these young whippersnappers wanted to do was giggle and do silly little dares. Their mums must be so proud.

The interval was only meant to be 10 minutes so that it didn't finish too late but it went on for 25 minutes. The second half was pretty much more of the same but we were treated to a round of "Who's line is it anyway?" Lucky that DS knew what he was doing and he held it all together. The rest of the group just giggled and looked at each other red faced.

When it came to the last performance of the band it dawned what a sad occasion it was. Especially for Bill's friend Emma as she had been with the band since it's formation 5 years ago and this would be her last performance.
Emma is the band drummer and a lovely gesture by the school means that she now has her own set of drums at home so she can continue.

I was so relieved when it finally ended and we managed to get home before 9pm.

As well as seeing DS perform this week, Tuesday I also got to see my nephew perform in a Dance event in the city. Lots of schools from all over the city put on performances to celebrate Derby6 Dance week. Its all part of a national sports and fitness program.

The event was £5 entry and doors opened at 9am so it was an early start. I met up with Debz in the queue.
We had kind of hoped that DN's school would be somewhere near the beginning of the program but guess what? His school was 3rd from the end so we got to see all the performances.

There was lots of styles of dance including Hip-hop, Jive, ballet, interpretive dance, creative dance, freestyle, Bollywood and a bit of cheerleading. We were treated to 4 lots of High School Musical including the same school twice. There was even a couple of excellent performances by the Royal school for the deaf.
I think the group that got the biggest cheer were a group of nursery children that did "ABC123" They were so cute and danced beautifully, it was truly a star performance.

I would say check out the photos here but they don't seem to have updated yet. That is no help of course.
We got out at around 12.30 into a very hot humid marketplace.

Dear Nephew was performing a traditional country dancing routine and he performed wonderfully. For 7 year olds they were very together.

School Christmas Concert

How many of these have I blogged about now?
Well it was time again for the Christmas concert.
It was sure to be a bit different this time round as the school had a new musical director in the summer so this was everyone's first chance to see what the new man was like. The last music teacher in the school was a bit of a hero and everyone loved him. It was very hard for the children to let go and accept a new person in the role.

As it turns out it wasn't bad at all. The show was a lot longer though as there were many new elements added such as dance routines and solo performances as well as several musical performances and arrangements by GCSE students needed as part of the practical elements to their grades.

The night started off as always with the Steel band playing people in. There has been a great change around since the last concert and many members have left so DS was up there at the front.

Some of the new additions to the line-up were a drum circle, the junior steel band, a breakdancing girl and a trio of asian dancers - 2 girls and a boy. The 2 girls were very ropey and had to keep watching each other for the moves but the young lad was amazing. He had great confidence and great moves too.

Another new addition to the regular school concert bill is a young girl called Pamela. I thought she was quite good but then she announces that she has 2 CDs out and is recording another album currently. No wonder they gave her 4 spots in the program singing On my own from Les Mis, Falling by Alicia Keys, A song she wrote herself in her own language and a part in the yr11 GCSE group.

The interval came 1 hour and 20 mins into the evening and everyone rushed for the beer table. There were a couple next to us who had already had too much and were quite rowdy. I tried my hardest to move away from them but i had a wheelchair in front of me so I was limited to my movements.

The start of the second half was time for DS to shine. He was taking the male part in Evanescance Bring me to life. DD was very apprehensive about how it was going to go. I think she was cringing a bit but to be honest it was fine. He had had only a couple of hours to prepare beforehand and only fluffed his words once. I think it is an incredibly hard song to attempt to sing and the girls did it brilliantly. I was very proud of DS. He seems completely comfortable onstage and not phased by nerves at all.

It was a very mixed second half including some Asian music played on the steel pans, a song sung in Latvian and also a song sung in Tagalog. One of my favourite pieces that I always look forward to is one of the school's most accomplished musicians playing a piano solo although I wish that the audience would give her more respect when she played ninstead of chatting and fidgetting all the way through.

There was a great finale with the Steel band playing a medoly of Christmas carols and the choir joining in with a big singsong to finish.

The greatest thing about it was that even though it didn't finish until 9.45pm, we were home for 10pm - It is so good not having so far to walk!!!