I hope those of you who were able to attend enjoyed our musical of The Little Mermaid. We anticipated that it would be a great production and it not only lived up to our expectations but exceeded them.

I saw some little girls in the audience dressed up as their heroine Ariel and heard other young children gasp in fear when Ursula made her appearance! It was great seeing the audience laughing with the humour, going silent during the pathos, holding their breath through the romance and just thoroughly enjoying such a spectacular production.

As you can imagine, there was a lot of work put into this production by staff, students and volunteers but there were five things that really made The Little Mermaid such a success.

1. 1.  The vision and courage of the Arts Department and the GCC staff. The GCC Arts Department knew what was expected after so successfully producing The Beauty and the Beast two years ago and they still embraced this musical with the same passion and dedication. The drama, music, costumes, lighting and stage ambiences were a tribute to Stacey Whyte, Ebony Hilton, Sonya Kadel, James Follett, Patrice Cutlack, Jenny Evans, Colleen Crase, Tanya Cullen, Renat Yusupov, Kerrianne Draper, Melinda Carlson, Susan Manthey, Natalie Woolston and Rob Maguire. There were also countless others who worked behind the scenes like the property and IT team.

   2. The quality, calibre and dedication of the GCC students. Students have been in rehearsals since last year and set aside huge chunks of their time to make this musical such a success. The talent on show at the performance was indicative of GCC’s student abilities as well as their discipline, perseverance and commitment. Many students gave up good shifts at work, study time, opportunities to go out with friends and family in order to be part of the musical. Personally, I’d like to thank Erin Holland, Ariana Doolan, Jonty Brown, Julian Munyard, Emerson Grange, Calim Stevenson, Jayde Curtis, Casey Woods, Penelope Clifford, Riley Myers, Ryan Stead, Nathan Wood, Ewan McPherson, Kirra Dodwell, Kyara Smith, Isabele Holley, Catherine Manthey, Abby Briggs, Jasmine Andrews, Zoe Roche, Natassja Briggs, Alexandra Cameron, Rachael Griffiths, Isabella Scheiwe, Olivia Muller, Brianna Carrinton, Harrison Rosenberg, Kiona Scott, Lize Kasselman, Mattea Maksimous, Eleanor Robertson, Chloe Boss, Lexi Brannigan, Marisa Tredoux, Lily-May O’Farrell, Chelsea Lewis, Jade Brown, Jasmine O’Brien, Lara James, Meg Jarvis, Angelique Hallett, Georgia Chapman, Olivia Wolfe, Jordie Stevens, Joel Woodhead, Bakani Kombanie, Matthew Johnson, Tim Sidey, Liana Perry, Kiana Reeves, Emily Scheiwe, Paige Richard-Williamson, Breeanna Robinson, Joshua Bull, and Harry Brannigan. When you see all these names together you can really take in the scale of the commitment by our students and their families.

   3. The generosity of our volunteers. What a lovely community of volunteers we have! These people gave up their time and skills week after week to help pull the musical together. This was especially true in the orchestra pit where we were blessed to have some of our regular music tutors as well as parents and spouses. Special thanks to David and Julia Exton, Pieter Roeland, Katie Caldwell, Matt Gill, Erik Dodwell, Emilie Rosenberg, Terry Robson, Hila Yusupov, Jenny Broderick, Dawn Price, Chrissy Davis, Karlee Hutchinson, Janice Morris and Melanie Capps.

   4. Teamwork. This is the almost magical ingredient that turned the huge list of names above into a professional team to bring three spectacular performances to the stage. It wasn’t just the talent of the individual members but the mutual support, respect and responsibility that was expressed during the rehearsals, meetings, practices and planning.

   5.  Audience. It was lovely to see each show being performed before packed audiences and I am sure that the cast and crew of The Little Mermaid appreciated the turnout. What a great reward for all their hard work! Having three full houses was certainly one of the reasons for such an enjoyable and professional musical so thank you to everyone who attended. Thanks also to the parents for all the extra pickups and drop offs not just over the weekend but over the last eight months of rehearsals. We appreciate the effort and I’m sure that dedication will leave a lasting impact on your child.

      

      

      

      

      

       

Grandparents’ Day – Thursday 21 June

Won’t it be lovely when we can fit all our grandparents in our new Performing Arts Centre? In the meantime, we will be using the Undercover Area like last year but this year there are two main differences.

The first difference is that all the seats have been ticketed so if you have grandparents wanting to attend, please remind them they must register their attendance. This not only helps with our catering but ensures each person has a seat. In the past, grandparents have arrived early so they get a good view and in doing so they missed out on the delicious morning teas prepared by our Hospitality Department. Naturally, all the tickets are free – it is just a way of registering grandparents’ attendance and saving their seat.

The second difference is that the morning tea is being held on the grassy area on the eastern side of the library. This is due to all the construction taking place outside the church. It could become a little crowded as we had 500 grandparents registered more than a week ago so there will probably be many more by the time of the event. Students, please remember to make other plans if you normally play or gather in this area.

Mike Curtis, Principal