Our Wicked Witch...

In early February, Veronica and I went to Brussels with Jenny for the Grade 8 LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts) exam, the highest level of exam offered. Like her previous exam, which was Grade 6, Veronica had to sing two songs.

Here she is practicing No Good Deed from the Broadway play Wicked. She also sang When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2. Lastly, she had to perform a song as a dramatic monologue. Jenny recommended that Veronica choose a piece from a musical that she’s unfamiliar with so that she wouldn’t bring any preconceived notions to the performance. She chose Macavity: The Mystery Cat, a song based on a T.S. Eliot poem. Jenny and I weren’t allowed in the room during the exam, but could hear laughter, which we assumed was a good sign. Apparently it was because Veronica earned a Distinction, the highest honor.

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!

Although the final rehearsals were in the middle of her IB mock exams, Veronica attended as many as she could. I loved sitting in the front row and watching her. Here she is with Tom center stage during their few lines.

Theirs was a very funny song and the desk chairs made for a great car.

The show was awesome! It was wickedly funny and really well acted.

Jimmy was in charge of sound. He recruited Carlin’s son Mark, who had just graduated with a BS in Music Technology, to help out and they really enjoyed working together.

Musical Rehearsal...

Back in December, Veronica auditioned for a role in the AATG’s spring musical: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Among the 20 vignettes about love and relationships, there was only one that featured teens. Despite her part being rather small, Veronica really enjoyed the rehearsals, although it was quite awkward when she stood in during the reading of one of the raunchier skits.

Here is the dress rehearsal at the AATG Warehouse for On the Highway of Love.

LAMDA, Musical Theatre Examination...

When Veronica started taking singing lessons, she knew that she didn’t want to take the traditional British singing examinations. Her instructor Jenny suggested that she take the LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts) exams instead and Veronica loved that idea. In early April, we went with Jenny and one other student to Brussels for the exams.

Veronica sang two songs for her Grade 6 exam, starting each with a short monologue. Here she is setting the scene for singing Skyfall by Adele from the James Bond movie of the same name.

I really loved her performance of Cabaret, which was sung by Liza Minnelli in the movie version of the musical by the same name.

We got to watch the girls rehearse, but couldn’t watch the performance in front of the examiner. Veronica had to wait weeks to find out that she passed. You can watch her performance from Jenny’s earlier that week.

The Dress Rehearsal...

As I’ve done in previous years, I photographed the dress rehearsal. This show wasn’t as funny as past pantos since it didn’t have the typical double entendres, but the dance scenes were very entertaining. Ashlynn was in the front row for Time Warp, so she was easy to spot.

I haven’t included photos from Ashlynn’s other dances since she wasn’t in the front, but Ghostbusters was her favorite while Party Rock had the most complicated choreography.

I especially loved Veronica and Saskia’s tap dance.

One of the great things about the panto is that everyone is welcome to join in, so the cast is quite large. Once again, the girls had a great time. And I enjoyed going back another evening to watch the show without seeing it through a view finder.

Frankenstein, the Pantomine...

Once again, Jimmy and the girls were involved in the annual panto. This year, Jimmy was in charge of sound. He took his job very seriously, spending many hours online searching for the perfect sound effects to incorporate into the show. He enjoyed having two helpers.

Technically, Veronica was in the adult chorus, which both sang and danced. In the opening scene, Master of the House from Les Mis, she was a German waitress.

However, she also danced with the teen choir because she really wanted to be in the Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show (apparently we have warped her by exposing her to the movie at a tender young age). She and another girl learned to tap dance for a short duet; we found her this dress in Amsterdam.

Ashlynn was part of the teen chorus, which is a strange name since they don’t sing.

Ashlynn has become good friends with Georgia and Liv, who live in our neighborhood. The three girls shopped together for their costumes.

Baby, Remember My Name...

Once again the girls needed to come up with a plan for a performance for the school’s International Festival. Veronica suggested that they sing and dance to the theme song from the movie Fame.

I was impressed that Veronica opted to give the solos to Natalia and Lili because she thought their voices worked better with the song. She originally hoped to just voice project, but her mean mom insisted she needed to use a microphone so the audience could be sure to hear her over the backing track.

Lauren was again in charge of choreographing the dance with Ashlynn’s assistance. 

 
The entire show was really good this year with ten countries performing. Jimmy once again enjoyed playing professional photographer. Afterwards, we stuffed ourselves as we tried food and drinks from twenty countries.

Zombies Meet Cinderella?

After Cinderella left the ball, she took a shortcut through the woods where she ran into a group of zombies dancing to Thriller. Ashlynn looked great!

All the kids were awesome! This was my favorite scene in the show.

Our Ladies-in-Waiting...

The teen choir didn’t actually sing, but danced to Ring My Bell from the musical Hairspray.

Veronica was happy that the adult choir both sang and danced several songs. She especially liked singing Don’t Stop Me Now. She would have loved to have had a speaking part, but had to be content this year with a single line.

Our Little Zombie...

In addition to being a lady-in-waiting, Ashlynn was also a zombie. See how she was transformed from a beautiful princess into a scary zombie.

First came the scissors to tear up the lovely dress that we’d bought several years ago at a flea market that neither girl had ever worn. Then came dirt from the yard.

Between acts, the transformation was completed with the make-up and fake blood.

Backstage with the Kids...

After rehearsing every Sunday from September until the end of November, Ashlynn and Katy were ready to get on stage for the five real performances. As part of the teen choir, they started out as Ladies-in-Waiting.  

Veronica opted not to be a Teen Angel in the school’s production of Grease so she could be in the adult choir of Cinderella instead. Little did she know that she’d have her own fan club consisting of 10-year-old Kasper. 

Not surprisingly, Veronica often had a camera in her hand.

Behind the Scenes at the Panto...

Rather than having a part on stage in this year year’s Panto, Jimmy was supposed to do the lights. At the last minute, he was switched to doing sound instead, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

I went to the Thursday night dress rehearsal to play photographer; I managed to shoot 660 photos! It was especially fun to take photos before the show actually began because the Ugly Sisters were especially goofy.

Jenny directed hubby John’s non-traditional version of Cinderella: Shaken Not Stirred featuring James Bond. John was excellent as one of the Ugly Sisters.

Veronica’s Drama Performance...

Part of Veronica’s GCSE Drama grade is based on a performance devised by  looking at the above prompt, the painting Parsifal 1 by Anselm Kiefer in the Tate Modern in London. Apparently, the kids never looked up the history of the painting which is about the birth of the hero in Wagner’s opera based on the legend of the Holy Grail.

Instead, Veronica’s group performed a 18-minute piece called Negative about a girl suffering from schizophrenia. Veronica played Good, Izzy was Bad, Fergus was Dad and Ellie was the teacher. They each helped write portions of the script and kept journals of their work, which in total will count for 40% of their final grade for the two-year course.

I was happy to get to watch their dress rehearsal, but was shocked to watch Veronica commit suicide on stage. I’m clearly biased, but thought their performance was the best of the seven groups we saw that night. You can see it for yourself here.