Written by: Nick Adgemis, Performing Arts Director
There has been a lot to take in for lovers of theatre over the past twelve months. Not the least of which has been getting used to live plays and musicals being in shorter supply. While we may have made some changes to the way we put on our shows here at YCIS Pudong, it has not stopped fabulous students and ourhardworking staff team from pulling out all the stops on their way to putting on two excellent musicals in Semester 2, 2021.
At the time of writing, our Secondary Musical Into The Woods is currently in production, with the curtain having just come down on a spirited matinee performance for our Year 5 and 6 students. The Secondary Musical really is a special event each year on the YCIS Pudong calendar, as it captures a unique energy and results in such great collaborations between students of different ages. With a cast, crew and orchestra comprised of students from every Secondary year group (Year 7 to 13), there is a fantastic mix of “old heads” and “new blood” in working together in the production cohort to bring this year’s show to life. Our parents and greater school community will have the chance to see Into The Woods sometime in mid-April, following a visit from our video production partners, Spark. The professional film crew were there to film the final day of production; an afternoon matinee for the whole of YCIS Pudong Secondary.
April will also see the theatre Neolithically transformed to accommodate the thrills, spills and historical satire of Rock Bottom, performed by our Year 5 and 6 students. The Upper Primary Musicals are always among the most treasured memories of students in these two year-levels, and we are excited to have it back in 2021 after a year’s hiatus.
In other news, the Performing Arts Team were also delighted with the recent news that Year 13 student, Kevin Du has been accepted to study in 2021-2022 at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA with a first-year tuition scholarship. In his time at YCIS Pudong, Kevin has proven himself to be one of the most intuitive and hardworking students of music known to any members of our staff team. Anyone who has attended a YCIS event where music has featured or watched any of our recent online showcase events will be familiar with Kevin’s outstanding musicianship and sublime performances. Of course, on behalf of all members of the YCIS Pudong school community, we congratulate Kevin on an outstanding achievement and eagerly await his future exploits in the musical field.
