Defying gravity...............

It seems crazy that it was 7 months ago that I auditioned for the Showbiz production of Wicked. The time flew by and before I knew it it was opening night!! This has by far been the best professional experience I have ever had!
I love being a teacher and I have spent the last 15 years focusing all of my time on mastering my profession to the best I could. Getting to teach music every day is literally the best job in the world. I had forgotten though how amazing it was to be a performer myself. I have always been a singer since grabbing a plastic mic around age 2. Musical theatre was a massive part of my life before teaching and although I don't intend to quit my job and take up performing full time it is amazing to now be doing both. My only concern about getting back into performing was whether I had the energy to teach and perform. Since the start of the year I have been eating healthier and exercising more. I knew I needed to be fitter if I wanted this to work. Once we went into tech week I knew this would be the most challenging time. I was honestly shattered being at the theatre until 11pm and then getting up to teach, but, I just loved it and so it was worth being a little tired!!
As a musician this experience has been challenging and massively rewarding. It has also given me valuable PD as a teacher also. Working with renowned musical director Richard Marrett was a dream. He is an amazing director and seeing him in action was fantastic. I have taken many things from him that I can use in my own teaching. I have made some excellent contacts in the industry and also made some wonderful friends.
Wicked really has been a life changer for me. Being able to work as a singer professionally again is a dream come true. I know this will also only have a positive effect on my teaching also.

Showbiz bio

Musical Theatre mayhem!!!

It's been a manic term........ In year 8 and 9 we have focused on Musical Theatre as a genre for Term 1. This was a collaborative project between myself, Joanne (HOD Drama) and our two part time PA teachers Luke and Sarah. We all had one goal and that was to get all of our juniors on the stage performing. Cue dramatic sound........
We spent a lot of time initially researching musical theatre and putting this new genre into context. Many students had no idea what musical theatre was, some only thought of good old High school musical and some students already had a vast knowledge and were already fans of Hamilton and Mean Girls. We had ALOT of differentiation..... Some students were so keen to perform and as soon as we headed into the practical element were on their way. Others had a passion for sets and props and began designing. Some students were a little reluctant and preferred to research the genre further and produce detailed slide shows. We had a vast array of work happening and even those students that still were not sold on performing on stage they understood the genre and could explain features and give examples. FANTASTIC. In our final showcase each class presented their work, this was a class performance from each ( and yes everyone in the class stood on stage and did something!!! Even the nervous kids stood at the back and sang or danced their heart out) RESULT!! we had some fantastic solo and small ensamble performances, some fab research and some gorgeous set pieces.
There are many things we will take from this project and change and tweak. There were certainly things that didn't work. But, most importantly there were lots of things that did work! Everyone enjoyed themselves and in the end every student involved stood on a stage and performed and left the term with new knowledge on the wonderful genre of Musical Theatre.

Music mentor!!

This year we were lucky to gain another music mentor from the NZ music commission. This is a wonderful initiative by the commission which is completely free of charge. A mentor is assigned to your school and they run workshops based on what you want for your students. This year we were super lucky to get the amazing Lavina Williams! Lavina was such a perfect fit for Hornby and we fell in love with her immediately. Lavina is an amazingly talented performer from Auckland, she is part Samoan part Fijian. She is a singer/songwriter but also an accomplished musical theatre performer. She is the only polynesian woman to have ever been cast in the role of Rafiki in The Lion King. Wow!!!!! Lavina talked us through her amazing career as a singer. Our students were captivated! One of the biggest hurdles for our kids is for them to believe that they can follow their passions in performing arts and that they can travel the world and be a musician. It is possible!!! Lavina really encouraged this and focused on believing in themselves. We had two wonderful days working on stage presence, stage craft and songwriting. Our students soaked up the time and I was really proud of them for putting themselves out there and really giving everything!! I also gained so much from Lavina. It was really interesting to see her giving feedback and having fresh eyes looking at our performances was so rewarding. This was such a perfect way to end the term, I know all my senior musicians benefitted hugely! What an amazing thing for New Zealand to have this commission so that our tamariki can experience working with mentors that we would never usually have the opportunity to access.