A74991 Insight Newsletter Summer 2019 P3_1

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Chicago Razzle Dazzles
S U M M E R T E R M 2 0 1 9
Senior School
Bancroft’s School, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0RF
020 8505 4821
Preparatory School
Bancroft’s Preparatory School, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0RF
020 8506 6774
InsightBancroft’s School Newsletter
The show was driven forward by dynamic
and mature performances from its leads.
High kicking Emilia Hitching and Emily
Christaki dazzled as “jazz babies” Velma Kelly
and Roxie Hart respectively. Alex O’Brien
was a suitably smooth and oily Billy Flynn.
As Mary Sunshine, Gauri Godbole squeezed
every drop of comedy from her role, whilst
displaying a voice full of operatic potential.
Jake Botha’s comically downtrodden Amos
Hart won the audiences’ sympathy with his
poignant rendition of “Mr Cellophane”. They
were more than ably supported by a large,
enthusiastic chorus. The company work
is something which always sets Bancroft’s
shows apart and, once again, every single
performer was in the moment at all times.
Upper Sixth Former Olivia Welch was
responsible for much of the fantastic
choreography. She said, “It was a real
challenge as you only have a limited range of
movements to work with in order to maintain
Bob Fosse’s unique dance style. It can be
difficult to make the choreography
different. My favourite number was “All I
Care About is Love” sung by Alex O’Brien as
it gave me more scope to personalise the
choreography.” The fact that most of the
cast of 35 pupils had very little or no dance
experience added to the challenges faced
by Olivia and her assistant choreographers,
Hanna Wright and Temi Atanlusi.
Both Olivia and fellow cast member Dan
Lockley (Master of Ceremonies) spoke of
the team work involved in creating such a
successful show. Dan highlighted the “really
good environment during rehearsals” and he
added that the production “brought pupils
from several year groups together as a team.
It was hard work and production week was
tiring but it also gave us a break from our A
Level studies. Everyone worked together and
there was a real feeling of positivity.”
Congratulations to all involved in Chicago –
both on and off stage – this was truly a show
which razzle-dazzled!
Our senior musical is a hotly anticipated biennial event. Although it would be fantastic to have a West End calibre
show performed by pupils every year, it might just be a step too far for the sanity of the drama department, such is
the level of commitment and work required from all involved. Ms Middleton, with Mrs Whitbread as Musical Director
and Mr Whitbread as set designer, pulled out all the musical theatre stops to give us a fantastic, energy fuelled senior
production of Kander and Ebb’s hit musical Chicago. The Broadway and West End favourite has only recently become
available for performances by schools and youth groups and Bancroft’s was naturally very excited to be amongst the
first to stage the show which is known for its energetic jazz-age dance numbers, such as “All That Jazz”.