Musical Theatre

“We must all do theatre to find out who we are, and to discover who we could become.”– Augusto Boal

In many schools around the world, musical theatre (a theatrical performance of songs, spoken dialogue and dance) is used as a ticket to learning and a tool for building performance and public speaking skills.  What we learn on and around the stage is sheathed in reason, civility, responsibility and fosters the development of all-rounded children.Under the guidance of a parent, Mrs. Ruth Kintzel, the Musical Theatre Club staged its debut Musical dubbed “A New Start” on Thursday, 3^rd May 2018 at 6.00pm in the Library. It was a short yet fun and entertaining event to which all parents, staff and friends of the school were invited. The play was written by Mrs. Kintzel and the children spent hours to rehearse and to perfect their act.

The narrator, Hannah, recounts the story of Musical Theatre students who try to improve on their performance and to overcome their challenges. She sings Everything’s Possible from Seussical and urges the characters to reach for the sky. All actors retained their real name so the musical was an enactment of a quintessential ISA Musical Theatre Club except that our children are better behaved.

The stage opens with two new students, Jose and Ewan, who have just joined the Musical Theatre Club but wonder if they made the right decision; they can neither sing nor dance. Their anxiety is deepened when they meet a badly-behaved class and students with exceptional capabilities and dreams.There is Amanda who is an accomplished sportswoman and a polyglot (she speaks six languages - Hebrew, Russia, Japanese, French, Spanish and German). She sings “I Speak Six Languages” from the 25^th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. There is also Faline, a girl who dreams of fame and seeing her name in the Broad Way lights; she sings ‘When I see my name in lights” by The Boy from Oz.

Seyram tries to calm Ewan down and entreats him to keep a positive attitude; he can do anything if he puts his mind to it. She sings “Think Positive” from the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The children’s behaviour deteriorates, they revolt against their terrible and boring teacher by singing “Revolting Children” from Roald Dahl’s Matilda the musical. The Principal, Augustina, tries to resolve the problem by introducing a new teacher, Nubuke, and cautioning them to behave well.Selorm also tries to persuade the class to listen to the voice of reason and urges the newcomers to shed their worries. He sings “Hakuna  Matata”, a song from The Lion King, a Disney animation, and a Swahili phrase which means “no worries”.

This new teacher manages to inspire the students to mend their ways and to realize their full potential. In the end, the class works very hard and pulls off a riveting performance to the admiration of all. They sing “Thank You for the Music” , from the musical Mamma Mia, and regain their love for theatre. Thereafter, their teacher shows the class bloopers from their weekly sessions and the progress they have made over time.

The lesson learnt is that every child, regardless of challenges, can amount to much with perseverance, hard work and determination. The teacher makes the difference.

We are grateful to Mrs. Ruth Kintzel for her dedication to the Club and for our maiden Musical Theatre, and Daniel Jennings for bringing his sound engineering skills to the table. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us. As always, the children were the stars of the night for simultaneously singing, dancing, acting and bringing the pieces together. They fell into theatre and found a different layer of themselves.