Live Theatre is Back at Heathfield!

After two long years we were so glad to finally be back on the stage.

MTI’s All Together Now gave us the chance to be part of a global event with over 5,000 performances produced by 2,500 theatres in 40+ countries/territories…we think it’s safe to say: LIVE THEATRE IS BACK!  We are so thankful to have been a part of this production journey.

The cast performed 15 songs from various musicals including Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and Giant Peach, Frozen and Sister Act: we even got a spelling lesson with Mary Poppins’ Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and a numeracy lesson with Rent’s Seasons of Love!

Despite numerous setbacks and various cast changes due to illness, the cast were definitely up for the challenge.  We only had a few short weeks to rehearse but they committed 100% to ensure that the performances were a success. For many of these students it was the first time they had ever performed on a stage.

It was lovely to welcome so many parents and friends back into college and the students definitely enjoyed performing to a live audience.  We had a strong technical crew with our 6th form students teaching the younger ones all they needed to know to put on a performance, from lighting, to running the sound desk, to stage management: helping to create our production team for the future! In addition a 15 strong Orchestra with students from all key stages provided an impressive live soundtrack to these musical theatre favourites.

For the first time ever, we livestreamed our performances for those unable to attend which was a great success with 100s of views.

We are so pleased to finally be able to put something back on stage. We know how excited the students were and we are so proud of what they managed to achieve.

Students were effusive in their thanks for staff who had worked to support the production and Headteacher Caroline Barlow noted “Performing Arts have always been important to our College and this shows what an asset they are for the joy, inclusion and community they bring. Students showed leadership, talent and teamwork over the last few weeks to bring these songs to life with such energy and quality.