Thursday, May 7, 2009

Thanks!

Thanks to all!

Just a note to let everyone know that our evening show went off without a hitch! The students did very well and the community enjoyed the event.

Thank you Dean, Sherri and Anne for the support and help in developing all the aspects of these operas. We appreciate all the libretto, prop and staging ideas that you gave to help make this process successful.

Dean, best of luck with your summer operas! Have a good summer, Sherri and Anne!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Bravo tutti!

Today was a real rush! From the buzz in the gym before rehearsal right through this afternoon's shows. It amazes me how much was accomplished in such a short time. As well, I've never had the chance to sit back and enjoy the show. Extra kudos to all those talented students who took on the job of orchestra!

This was really something for you should all feel very proud about.

As well, it was a real pleasure working with Sherri. Thanks everyone for a great experience!
Dean

Bravo Everyone!

Congratulations everyone! John, Becky, Rob and Melanie, you all put in an amazing amount of work throughout the project. The quality of the Operas are testament to yours and the students commitment. This afternoon's performance was fantastic. I hope you can all find a moment to sit back, savour the success, and just relax!

I'd like to thank you and the students for such an enjoyable experience at St. Mark's.

Sherri

Monday, May 4, 2009

Tomorrow's Music

Bravo on some wonderful scores, all. We have a few things to add to Ms. Moore's class, and I have written some additional music. We should try to find a bit of extra time to incorporate it. Excited to see the premieres!
Dean

The Final Day

Hi Everyone,

Wow, it's hard to believe we are already at the end of this project. I just wanted to let you know that I spoke with Zoe today and she let me know that Katherine Semcesen will be coming out to the school tomorrow to enjoy our final afternoon performances. Katherine will also be bringing a COC intern along with her.

Looking forward to seeing the final products!
Sherri

Monday, April 27, 2009

Design Day - WOW!

I just wanted to update you on the design elements for St Marks, sorry it is a little behind, I just haven’t had a moment to do it.
All in all it was a great day. I felt very welcomed by staff and students and even though the time was short we made a good start. They had a fairly good supply of materials, especially big pieces of cardboard, which was great, and everyone seemed willing to get their costume pieces and other props together.

I hope everyone feels confident with how to proceed but if they need I would happily correspond with anyone who would like any extra input with what we began. Several of the classes decided to continue making for the rest of the day which meant that they really got a lot accomplished.

So here is a breakdown of what we did

Good luck with it all.

Anne

Melanie Moore's grade 7 class 
Ms Moore was away ... so I hope the students remember well enough how to proceed. The class started on the half masks and need to completely cover them in masking tape, making sure it is well pressed down and smooth, then paint, add hair etc and an elastic or string to hold them on. I suggested that the vampires have more geometric features and the zombies have rounder ones. They should also have a colour scheme for them to differentiate the two groups. They also began the work on the meteor which is made from sections of cardboard in a sphere to which they can attach things, join the sections with paper, cloth etc if they want to cover the gaps.

Rob Scicluna's grade 8 class 
Child Soldiers – they had a great idea of making barbed wire and need to paint it
Child Labourers – they started on the oversized video game consoles, and hammers
Bonfire – they got a long way with this

John Kennedy's grade 7/8 class 
We identified each group by colour and object and they all started making those items
Jocks & Cheerleaders – created a logo in different sizes to put onto hats and clothes (anything they can), they also made pom-poms, their colour scheme is light and dark blue
Artsy Kids – they will be more patterned in clothing, they made oversized paintbrushes, they need to cover them in tape and paint
Nerds – made glasses, (one made a bow-tie) and are in the brown/beige range
Popular Kids – red and pinks, made oversized props in their colour 

Becky Sappong's class
Bus front – we got started on the cardboard cut-out with collaged décor and it identified much of the rest of the staging for their opera
They also made the coffin and started on hats for the driver, cops etc.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Onstage Rehearsals

This past Thursday was a very productive day. I'm very pleased with how well the Operas are progressing. Melanie, sorry to hear about your husband's accident. I hope the surgery went well. Thank you Becky for taking on helping to keep Melanie's class on track in terms of casting, etc.

I just wanted to review/confirm a couple of scheduling details and please correct me if I have any of them wrong.
  • Tuesday April 28 - Rehearsals will all be held on the stage
  • Tuesday May 5 - We will run through each of the Operas onstage in the morning. There will then be a Dress Rehearsal in front of the rest of the school in the afternoon. The students will then be presenting the Operas to parents and family members in the evening.

For the rehearsals on Tuesday, it would also be useful to have any of the big props (desks, chairs, etc) set up onstage. This will help to give us a clear idea of how much space is available.

Once again - excellent work everyone!

Sherri