Nor'West News: July 04, 2017

14 Tuesday July 4 2017
Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
NOR’WEST NEWS
Burnside High takes
on Disney classic
• By Julia Evans
FOUR MONTHS of preparation
will come to fruition when
Burnside High School performs
its musical production of the
Disney classic, Beauty and the
Beast.
Performances start next
month but if you drive past the
school now you might notice
a container sitting outside the
Aurora Centre.
Inside is the secret to the production
– the original set used in
the 2006 Showbiz production of
Beauty and the Beast.
With a cast of more than 70
students, head of Arts Faculty
Gavin Hurley and arts consultant
Ravil Atlas were mulling over
which musical to produce this
year.
Their thoughts went to the
talent available and what kind
of production they could afford
to do.
But they’d heard a rumour the
sets were sitting somewhere in a
container on a farm in Darfield.
“We knew we had the perfect
cast available for Beauty and the
Beast but we also understood
that it was a Disney show and
needed the requisite wow-factor
of a production,” said Mr Atlas.
Mr Hurley went to see if the
rumours were true and after a
SCHOOLS
visit to Darfield, the sets were
indeed discovered sitting in a
container.
Arrangements were made to
get the sets back to the school
and the costumes were located
in the North Island, so the show
was booked and practice began.
Both the sets and costumes
were made by Showbiz in
conjunction with Peter Jackson’s
WETA Workshop.
“I saw the National Academy
of Singing and Dramatic Art use
them to great effect a few years
ago in Ashburton and I knew if
we could get the sets and cos-
REHEARSAL:
Sophie
Gilmore who
plays Belle
and Sam Burt
who plays
Beast. ​
tumes we could
put on a great show,” Mr Atlas
said.
The student orchestra will be
led by Chris Petch, head of the
music department, with the
direction falling to Mr Atlas, a
former Broadway performer, now
conductor and stage director.
Beauty and the Beast will be
held on July 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28
starting at 7pm.
Matinees are available on July
23 and 29 starting 2pm.
Tickets can be purchased
through the school reception or
by phoning 358 8383.
THUMBS UP: Rangi Ruru Girls’ School’s national chamber
music semi-finalists.
Musicians score well
A TRIO of chamber music
groups from Rangi Ruru Girls’
School have done well in the
prestigious NZCT National
Chamber Music Competition.
Buda and the Pests made up
of students, Isabella Gregory,
Jessie Anderson, Valerie Xiang
and Holly Evans won the South
Island regional final of the contest
last Saturday at The Piano in
Armagh St.
They, along with other finalists
The French Connection made
up of students Sarah Lawrence,
Rachel McSweeney and Victoria
Park and Amadeus Emily Davey,
Lucy Costelloe, Victoria Park,
Rebecca Harris and Anna Bruce
have all been selected for the
national semi-finals.
Only five groups from
Christchurch will head to Wellington
in August for the semifinal
and finals with three of
those coming from Rangi Ruru.
The girls will go up against another
nine groups from around
New Zealand that have been
selected.
Six will turn to 12 and will
progress through to the final.
In addition, Resolutions has
won a place as one of 24 choirs
(one of four from Christchurch)
in the NZCF Big Sing National
Finale, to be held in Auckland
from August 24 to 26.
Director of music at Rangi
Ruru, Janet Kingsbury, said
the school continues to punch
well above its weight in music
competitions and events around
the country.
“With a huge representation
of 13 girls in the New Zealand
Secondary Schools’ Symphony
orchestra, representation in the
NZSO National Youth Orchestra
and New Zealand Secondary
Student’s Choir, internships and
masterclasses with recognised
and talented musicians, our music
scholars continue to proudly
showcase the quite phenomenal
skills at Rangi,” she said.
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rather be in demand
around the world?
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