PUBLISHED 26 September 2022
Last week across three evenings 83 pupils filled the drama studio, auditioning in front of the Performing Arts department for their chance to be a part of our upcoming production of Chicago.
On Tuesday, students from Years 7 – 13 took part in a vocal and physical warm-up before exploring a range of different principal characters from the musical. It was truly wonderful to see pupils across the year groups work together and really throw themselves into the action.
Soon after we heard a collection of 53 pupils singing "Roxie", 25 individual renditions of "All That Jazz", and 5 individual performances of "Razzle Dazzle".
And then came the call-backs! Over 3 separate call-backs pupils were once again put through their paces sharing their individual characterisation of male and female principal parts.
7am on Friday morning the Creative Team met for their final casting meeting and at 8am the decisions were made.
As such I am most delighted to reveal that all pupils who auditioned were successful in being cast in Chicago. Students in Years 7 – 9 will be a part of our Junior Chorus. However, this year we wanted to take things even further through the introduction of our Principal Ensemble. This is a collective of older students who, over the years studying drama and music at AKS and through involvement in many other productions have really and truly developed their performing skills.
Finally, we are excited to reveal that our principal cast this year is made of 20 pupils.
We are most eager to start the rehearsal process and can’t wait to see each and every pupil, no matter how big or small the part may be, shine on stage at Lowther Pavilion in January.
An article by Miss M R Worthington