Music for Teachers

Grove School - ‘Summer Holiday’

9 02 2007

I was in the audience for the Grove School (Market Drayton, Shropshire) production of ‘Summer Holiday’ last night and found myself smiling like a fool all the way through. The performance was captivating – all the cast clearly enjoying themselves which does not always appear to be the case in school shows.

The show itself is based on the 1963 film and as such is just a vehicle for the songs of a very young Cliff Richard – it will have been upsetting for some of the audience to realise they knew all the music from the first time around.

The students played their hearts out and the quality was very high. Characters responded to the action even during other characters action which is good to see and overall the musical standard of the vocal work was high. I was particularly impressed by the quality of all the solo work. All characters sang with confidence and good intonation when in the solo role. This was less good in the ensemble pieces in the beginning of the show although things soon settled down so that especially in act two the part-work was very good.

In the lead role, Jonathan, (who I remember from his early singing days in the Shropshire County Boys Choir) was confident and gave a very fine performance – the singing was always perfectly in tune and well controlled throughout. But a good show is not made with one voice alone and all singers are to be congratulated on a thoroughly convincing and most enjoyable performance. James, Marcus, Jonathan, Natasha, Harriet, Daisy and Hope all created a very fine team effort which provided the engine driving the whole production. The female vocal trio were very good and their final number was a treat. It was also really good to see young male ensemble work being presented with such style.

The comedy was well handled and there is quite a future for Keira and Robbie who captivated the audience with their gross and bizarre characters! I expect to see them commanding the stage again in the future.

The dancing was characteristic of the time (what did we look like!) and the production was enhanced by the addition of some clever animations and good support form the small instrumental combo – I must mention some fine work throughout from percussionist Jonathan. Well done.

The principal characters used head microphones and this was well balanced and didn’t provide a distraction as can often be the case – well done Martin and John.

This is the kind of event that should be available to all our students every year – it is so important for team building and providing valuable performing experience. Thanks to the staff team (and parent and governor supporters) who make this possible in so many of our schools.

Well done to the whole cast and if you in your school are looking for a light and fluffy show to make you smile and provide lots of opportunities for enjoyable vocal work then this one is worth investigating. The show is available from Josef Weinberger Ltd.