Last week was a touch and go experience when it came to the Junior High School Production. A major power failure affected the Performing Arts Centre and it took a fabulous effort from our electrician Mark and IT Manager Craig to get things back on track. We held our breath as the fix put in place late on Wednesday enabled the girls to do a full-dress rehearsal on Thursday which was opened to any audience who wanted to attend. The opening night on Friday was spectacular and luckily the power issues were quickly forgotten as the girls presented a simply brilliant performance and no fuses were blown. The matinee on Saturday was well attended and the closing night was outstanding.

Very special thanks to the wonderful cast of Frozen JR– they were just amazing! We are blessed with these talented young women who are articulate and incredibly entertaining. Thank you to all of the cast for the huge amount of time and work you have put into this production. It was a sensational success and entertaining from start to finish.

Gabrielle Ram and Hannah Goldwater were sensational as Elsa and Anna. Their powerful singing and stage presence are outstanding. Of special note were the two younger versions of Elsa and Anna played by Chloe Liu and Jasmine Hughes – certainly young stars in the making.

Flora Oskam Stevens was brilliantly cast as Olaf with the cute and cheeky character that was the Snowman.  Her brilliant characterisation tied the plot line together and created some outstanding presence on stage that is hard for any adult to achieve.

Another character who almost stole the show was Millie Knights cast as Oaken. With beard and nordic attire, Millie’s dancing and characterisation was simply brilliant with her comic timing adding punch to the story followed by warm applause from the audience.

There were townspeople, love interests, snow dancers, storm and ice ensembles to make for a brilliant production. We were also fully engaged with the lighting on stage and how it was used to portray the concept of everything turning into ice crystals. All the amazing technicians including Olwyn Davidson at the sound & lighting desk made the production come alive. We were assisted by many parent and student helpers who assisted Sarah Hinton and student Lizzie Peters with stage management.

There were also teams of parents sewing, ironing and creating the costumes and make-up that set the scene for a winter wonderland.

All of the cast and crew were led by Directors Andrea Creighton and Verity Burgess with Lachlan Craig as the musical director. Costumes were organised and designed by Cathy Watkins. Very special thanks to everyone for their contribution to a wonderful and very well-received production of Frozen JR. It was often hard to believe that many of these performers were 12 – 15 years of age.