That time we met with Gandalf

This year we performed "King Lear".  2 years ago, Finn was told he was too short to be in "The Hobbit".  This last weekend, our luck was in, and we met with the man who links both parts- Sir Ian McKellan.

Ian was in Carterton raising money to rebuild the Royal Theatre in Christchurch.  We were not far behind because we love a chance to talk Shakespeare with a legend.  A group of 10 of us headed out to see him on Sunday, sitting in the front row.

The highlights were many, but when we all had a chance to join him on stage, we thought all our dreams had come true!  He was superb onstage, humble offstage, and incredibly generous with his time with us.

We had a blast, and gained a new appreciation for a legend of Stage and Screen.

With Sir Ian McKellan from left:  Travis Brown, Oliver Healy, Mr. Buckham, Juanita McLellan, Finn Shepherd, Chris Buckham and Izabelle Brown.

Rocking out at Rockquest 2012

Ms Webster, Cody Field and Jason Ireland have been working tirelessly with the Kuranui bands to get them ready for Rockquest, and it was an epic night.

We entered 3 and a half bands.... as Sciatica was made up of 4 band members, 2 of which came from Kuranui.  Korona joined Sciatica, along with Rockquest veterans Borderline Frequency and Amplifted.  As a school we were privileged to hear the bands play before the competition, and they were epic.

On the night, our bands performed particularly well, getting a great deal of support from the crowd.  Korona, our Junior Band, won the People's Choice Award, which was a big win considering the number of entries and the high calibre of the competitors, so well done to all the bands, especially to Korona members Bethany Patten, Joe Garratt, Daniel Aburn and Sarne McGillicutty.

Bethany Patten singing with Korona

Korona members from left:  Sarne, Daniel, Bethany and Joe

Luther McCullough, front man and guitar for "Sciatica"

Theatresports 2012

Phew!  It has been an epicly busy week with Theatresports.

We entered 3 Junior teams, 2 Senior Novice teams and 3 Senior Open Grade teams.  All of the competitors worked hard leading up to their competitions learning the games and sharing the coaches.  Then we set for performance, and we did well.

The Junior teams each competed fairly and provided a great deal of fun for the audience.  The Senior Novice teams worked well together and amazed the crowd and our Open teams, including people who had never competed before, stood up to the standard required nicely.

We ended up with 3rd in the Senior Novice section and winning the Junior division this year.  Our Open grade teams all did well, with "Girls Just Want to Have Fun With Finn" making the finals.  Their ballet in performance achieved a nearly perfect score.

All in all, we had a great time and the kids went above and beyond the call of duty.  Oliver Healy worked the scoreboard all week, Zoe Renor and Dan Carlisle took turns time keeping.  Mary was brilliant, driving the school van and dropping our team home in the evenings.

We would also like to congratulate Chanel College on their win in the Theatresports competition.  This is the first time since the competition began in the early 90's that Chanel have won the overall trophy, and it was a well deserved win indeed.

Warming up backstage

"The FFG" performing for the first time - Connor, Cheryl-Kay, Jacob and Nadia.

The Year 9 team - "The International Chicken Unit"

Camille Healy and Moana Braithwaite in "Wordball" - Moana is of course a unicorn.

Finn Shepherd, Zoe Renor and Jasmine Turner performing "Gibberish Interpreter"

Ale Giorgioni (with Jasmine arms) and Travis Brown (with Finn arms) performing a riotous "Hands Interview" in the final.

The Overall Junior Champions - "The Milkshake Ninjas" in "Slow-Mo Commentary".  Connor Taumoepeau, Joe Garratt, Nicky Carlisle and Toyah Churton.

Stage Challenge 2012: Pure as Snow

Well, another Stage Challenge came to a close, well.... other than our thank-you performance next week.  It is always such a busy time around the Performing Arts Suite, so taking a break to blog is a challenge.  Between costumes, make-up and all the forms, we never thought we would get it finished.  But we did.

And I was really proud of the students. 

Kieran Tankersley and Ariane Gleeson ran the show this year, coming up with the concept, choreography, rehearsals, soundtrack, forms, fundraising, you name it, they did it!  Crazy busy.  It has been so good for both girls, not for the credits, but for all the organisational and management skills they have learned along the way.

Along with Travis Brown who helped with choreography and rehearsals, if it was on stage, these 3 had a major hand in it.  Oliver Healy deserves a shout out for his castle and getting the set there.  Cole Garratt and Jasmine Turner were stellar with lighting and backstage work.  Danica Kawana and Alena-Rose Burt were invaluable in rehearsal as well.  The committee worked so hard to get the show on the road.

On the night we took out 4 awards, for Stage Use, Visual Enhancement, Creative Thinking and Storyboard, so we were pleased with the haul.

Our congratulations goes out to Makoura College for their routine about the Christchurch Earthquake and to the overall winners, Wairarapa College for their piece about Antarctica.  It was a proud night to be from the Wairarapa.

Ariane Gleeson as Snow White

Kieran Tankersley as the Evil Queen

Travis and Setty attack Ariane in Rehearsal

Ariane and Travis in Rehearsal

Those under the Queen's Control

The Finale

The final moment