The beginning of Term 4 has been heavily co-curricular oriented. Junior Musical Theatre concluded their training and preparation with an excellent five performance season of excerpts from Newsies, in our Little Theatre. Driven by the passion of Kirsten Clark, with assistance from Old Boy Mark Kilsby and senior students Jake Maskill (Choreography) and Saem Millward (Vocals), the young Company performed with great energy and skill.

Leading from the front were Sam Bradnock as Jack, Luke Wallace as Davey and Josh Pati as Race.

Also in the cast were:

Les- Kasra Mitchell-Kouttab, Racetrack - Josh Pati,  Skittery - Devon Blackburn, Crutchie - Robert Bosher, Specs - Edward Corkery, Pie Eater - Brodie Littlejohn, Boots - Max Varney,  Mush - Ashton Littlejohn, Swifty - Macauley Drummond,  Bumlets - JP Halatokoua, Noddy - Connor Houldsworth, Pulitzer - Mattias McGregor, Jonathan - Maheswar Karakkattu, Kishor Kumar Seitz - Jacob Lauridsen, Wiesel - Cameron McGrath, Oscar Delancy - Dennis Johnson, Lawence Delancy - Benji Leary, Reporter - Flynn Knight, Spot Conlon - Josh Smith

Gaining experience in Theatre Technology leadership were Molly Williams (PNGHS), Sakthi Prabhu, Ishmam Biswas, Tommy Cottrill and Ruan Daniels. Developing their operation skills were Charlie Davidson, Mahin Sujau and Kavin Prabhu.

Our second big undertaking in the first three weeks of Term 4 has been the workshopping and auditioning of Cast, and selection of Crew, for our 2025 PNBHS/PNGHS Senior Production of Newsies. We saw huge growth in some of our Chitty performers, as well as some very exciting new talent making a number of our final selections very difficult! However, it was all worth it as we have been able to produce an extremely talented lineup:

Jack: Ben Viljoen, Katherine: Kaitlyn Crafts, Bella Smout U/S, Crutchie: Campbell Mackintosh, Davey: Angus Taylor, Les: Kasra Mitchell-Kouttab, Medda: Prya Simon, Pulitzer: Tyler Thompson, Race: Lara Ogilvie, Roosevelt: Karam Dhari, Snyder: Mattias McGregor, Wiesel: Regan O’Connor, Mayor: Oscar Mudgway, Hannah: Sienna Lim, Ari Steer U/S, Seitz: Suia Samuelu, Bunsen: Shian Millward, Finch: Luke Dallas, Albert: Gabby Cavan, Romeo: Lenny Hansen-Wall, Henry: Max Bradnock, Elmer: Shloke Dutta, Nunzio: Colin Qin, Tommy Boy: Ari Steer, Mush: Angelica Kwok, Jo Jo: Josh Smith, Specs: Lachlan Hall, Buttons: Max Varney, Oscar Delancey: Colin Qin, Morris Delancey: Dennis Johnson and Amelia Bennett, Angela Du, Cole Buchanan, Devon Blackburn and Principal Dancers

Principal Dancers:

Poppy Shoebridge, Emily Sutherland , Nikhil Baine, Lara Ogilvie, Lenny Hansen-Wall, Willow Brizzell, Charlotte Leleni, Angelica Kwok, Abby Maskill, Gabby Cavan, Ngataria Pomana, Kiara Wijayawickrama, Willow Brizzell.

Any show is only as good as its Technology Leaders and Operators and again we are favoured with a very strong lineup: (*Senior Crew)

SMs: EJ Buckingham*, Ruan Daniels*

ASMs/Head Mechs: Sakthi Prabhu*, Molly Williams*

Co-HODs Props: Rhiannon Hesp*, Atta Rahim*

HOD Lighting and Sound: Ishmam Biswas*

HOD Body mics: Emma Pryce*

HOD Follow Spots: Megan Winter*

Lighting/Sound: Tommy Cottrill

Follow Spot: Charlie Davidson

Body mics: Isaac Fox, Emma MacPherson, Liwan Griffin

Stage Crew: Jack Wilson*, Ethan Veale*, Leejun Kim, Daniela Neilson-Sanchez, Eva Wilshire, Kavin Prabhu, Xylys D’silva, Benji Leary

Sound Reader: Mahin Sujau (Backup: TBC)

Props: Natalie Jackson, Eva Jauregui, Logan Crafts, Sadeetha Kohaban, Heesu Kim, Libby Huang, Mitchell Berry, Tinofara Sinamai

Makeup/Hair: Azmain Ifrit, Niamh Hince, Lanyah Ilangana-Latu, Jeein Ahn, Aurora Goldsack, Scarlet Baker

We will be the first in New Zealand to perform the full show of Newsies. Packed with action and memorable music you’ll love, this show is based on the real event of the paper boys’ and girls’ strike in New York City in 1899. Sparked by newspaper magnates such as Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer demanding the newsies pay more for their papers, the previously unheard of militancy of the newsies caught the industry on the hop, and spread through other youth-labour dependent industries too. With a few audience-friendly additions such as a romantic line, the show follows the struggle and its significant outcome!

Rehearsals are now underway for our nine performance season running

March 20 -29 2025.

Bookings open online December 1 at www.pnbhs.school.nz