The RGS Musical Explained
By Molly M
Chaos, charisma and creative brains all in one place, in a nut shell, that’s how I would describe Reigate grammar school theatre productions. From the chirpy production of 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee to the terrifyingly powerful musical of Sweeney Todd, RGS has covered it all, but of course there is still many more to come.
Working on these school productions are a joy to do, although the whole process is agonisingly tiring, its 100% worth it, Because the trill of standing on that stage and giving it your all is like nothing else you'll ever experience.
It all kicks off at the beginning of the Autumn term when we get the Email titled "Drama productions 17-18". That exact moment your heart starts to pulsate at an irregular pattern while you click on the link that takes way too long to load but then you see its musical year/any other type of production EVER. Musicals to a devised piece. We do it all. To audition for any play at RGS you have too Act (obviously), sing and dance, whether you have two left feet or an award winning ballet performance its compulsory, but its nothing to be frightened about because in the drama studio its all a bunch of fun. After the auditions there's about a week and a half of recall and casting time, then the cast list is out and its time for everyone on the sheet to wave goodbye to their Sundays.
Rehearsals start rather laid back and chilled, read throughs... then voice coaching with the head of music... after that one of our many experienced drama teachers who is playing the role of director begins to string it all together, with after school rehearsals the creative cogs in their brain start churning that’s when the come out with ideas such as "All the costumes in Annie need to be neon" or "the wigs in Coram boy need to have fluorescent LED lights in them" that’s when everyone in the cast laughs at them, thinking they aren't being genuine. Oh how wrong you could be! But despite the strange thoughts they come up with each one makes the show what it turns out to be... a quirky masterpiece. But no doubt about it no matter how far you’ve come in the rehearsal process, the week before show week is tiring to say at the least, staying at school till 7 to perfect the curtain call, or a lunchtime rehearsal to ensure everyone has those harmonies down to a key, every waking moment that week is spent going over and over lines in your head just to make sure you know the exact entrance and exit you need to be at to make sure the show runs smoothly. In this week it’s a given that everyone will go a little crazy at one point or another, but its defiantly not drama if it doesn’t involve one person exclaiming "what is going on"! Then comes show week, where you see each small piece of the puzzle fall into place, and you see what it was all for, the late nights, the early Sunday morning's, the constant snacks. Everything pays off. You come out with a brilliant life experience, a lovely group of friends and 10 bobby pins more than you had before!
The 2017/18 Musical production is Guys and Dolls written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, currently we're in the "laidback" stage but I assure you that I can see the hectic storm brewing on the horizon!