We were thrilled and blessed to not only showcase some of the best talent going around at our College by once again staging a full-scale production in Semester 1 of 2022, but to present it as the first major College event in the RW Gibson Music Performance Centre.
Shrek the Musical was the perfect choice for our major production. Its story of friendship, acceptance and finding your place in the world has made it a popular show for schools. The message it carries is worth celebrating, particularly after the experience of the past two years.
For all involved, two years of cancelled performances gave an added sense of significance and anticipation to the lead-up as everyone felt an overwhelming sense of joy about being back in the rehearsal room together.
As always, a phenomenal amount of work on the part of many people over many months made it all possible, and what a show it was!
With a packed RW Gibson Centre for every performance over the three days it ran, the cast, orchestra and crew delivered in spades, with some amazing talent on display that was well celebrated by everyone who attended. The attention to detail and magnificent set, sound and performances – and fantastic contributions from students and staff to create a memorable experience for all – made it one of 2022’s highlights in the life of our College.
A major production touches the lives of hundreds of people within our College community. It requires collaboration on a vast scale between students, staff, parents and others across multiple campuses and year levels, as well as various teaching and learning faculties. Staging performances for audiences also requires the expertise of people within the College’s professional support staff team.
The Shrek cast comprised students who auditioned from Years 8 to 12 across three campuses, while the orchestra predominantly consisted of students from Years 9 to 12, alongside some staff members. The set featured art works by students from Years Prep through to 7. Year 10 food studies students designed and produced Shrek-inspired snacks for sale during interval at the evening shows. Year 7 students produced soundscapes to accompany the stage pre-show and during interval. The production team comprised staff from cross-campus Drama and Music faculties, and others, and there were many parents, friends and students who contributed behind the scenes in a multitude of ways.
For everyone involved, and for everyone who saw a performance, it was a joy to once again experience a College major event that brings so many people together!
Student Reflections
“I loved every minute of playing Gingy in Shrek and it has definitely been a major highlight of my school journey. This experience has been bucketloads of fun form learning all the material to trying on my costumes to finally performing in front of an audience. It’s so rewarding taking that bow at the end of the show and feeling proud of all the work everyone has put it to make this performance possible. Although I love being on stage the best part about the whole experience is the friendships, I have made not only in my year level but across year levels and campuses. I definitely recommend that students get involved in the next musicals/productions to come as it is such a special experience!”
“I was privileged to be a violinist in the Shrek orchestra, under the skilful baton of Jacqui (Anderson)! It was amazing seeing the show come together; we came so far from the very first rehearsal! A highlight was our first rehearsal with the cast, and the excitement of opening night – our very first performance! Also getting to spend time with other talented musicians, and make new friends.
The musical was so much fun to be a part of – having watched many CCG musicals in the past, it was absolutely rewarding to be involved myself!”
“After being unable to perform last year’s Spelling Bee musical due to the challenges of COVID, it was so exciting and rewarding to be able to be a part of the Shrek orchestra and be able to perform to an audience. While the rehearsals did challenge me at times, these challenges helped to improve my skills and come out the other side as a better musician. The best part of this experience for me had to be production week, when I got to see all the cast, orchestra and crew’s hard work come together, but also have down time in between shows to relax with the people I had got to know along the way. This has definitely been one of the highlights of my time at CCG, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
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