Every two years, St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School in Finchley put together a school musical that is always a massive hit. With multiple performances for the school community and local primary schools, the school musical is always a highlight for the students at St Michael’s, involving a range of people with all types of skill sets: from the talented performers to the stage managers and sound team. This year, the school performed an entirely new musical written by Mr Philip Godfrey - ‘Labyrinth of Life’ - and I caught up with some of the performers and technical team to find out how these shows were organised.
On one of the Sunday rehearsals, the cast were practising two of the larger chorus numbers. Unlike other performances, this show was entirely written by Philip Godfrey, one of the talented music teachers here at St Michael’s, so the cast found themselves learning songs and dances literally from scratch. Spending almost an hour and a half on each dance learning the choreography, the effort and passion they all have for the show is clear. Min, a stage manager, said that rehearsals are structured so bigger dances like these are learnt in depth on Sunday afternoons, while smaller sections are looked at more briefly during lunch and afterschool slots. Spending so much time working on these routines may sound tiring, but most of the performers have said that they don’t find it hard work and that they’ve found the rehearsals very enjoyable - their work ethic is truly inspirational!
I found speaking to the two A-Level students, Elaiza and Glenise, who were the dance captains and choreographers for the show very interesting. They have both been participating and teaching the dancers to younger years, as well as personally choreographing a central dance solo within the play. Both talented dancers, they have been rehearsing for the ‘Labyrinth of Life’ performance as well as the Barnet Dance Festival, all while balancing this with studying STEM subjects at A-Level. They said that despite their aims of continuing with more science-based subjects after their A-Levels, they would recommend that anyone start a creative outlet like dance to both help with stress and to discover a new passion outside of their schoolwork, as the arts aren’t limited to any one type of person.
An underrecognized part of the show are the technical team, who work behind the scenes and aren’t seen by the audience until the final bows. For example, preparing the radio mics for technical rehearsals and then the performances are essential in making the shows audible and accessible, as well as removing some of the strain from the hard-working performers! The sound team were often found doing the essential job of untangling wires and checking they were still working, as well as sprinting around after cast members to ensure that every microphone was where it needed to be - a job that seemed very fast-paced and challenging, but all the sound team said they were happy to be contributing to the show and enjoyed learning the technical aspects to putting it together. The stage managers are another aspect of the show who, while they aren’t seen by the audience, are integral to ensuring that every scene flows seamlessly into the next. Whether this is by keeping cast members quiet behind the scene, giving people their cues, or preparing costume fittings for each person, they are essential for the smooth finished product that the audience sees every night.
The final performances of ‘Labyrinth of Life’ were very successful, with glowing reviews from students, parents, and teachers alike. The performers and technical team worked very hard with learning their lines or organising said performers, but this all paid off to give four excellent productions that the community of St Michael’s are very proud of!
