PNBHS/PNGHS 2022 Senior Production

Over the first two weeks of this term, intensive workshops and auditions were held as we selected our Company for 2022. For cast, the auditions have never been so competitive – we were highly impressed by the level of preparation which enabled us to complete the process a week early! Of particular note was the strength of the Year 10 group coming though from both schools. Their abilities are reflected in the casting of several as lead roles or understudies. Credit for this goes to the Singing, Music, Dance and Drama teachers in both schools and in the community. As well, skills they learned at their primary and intermediate schools are much appreciated. Among the latter, acknowledgment is particularly due to Barry Jones and Gillian Collett at PNINS. A number of these young people featured in their excellent last production, Mary Poppins. Our own Junior Musical Theatre group directed by Kirsten Clark, has also made a big impact on the skills of our young men.

Rehearsals have begun and we are very excited by our Company, listed below, and the prospect of bringing one of the classic musical theatre shows back to the region. It is the first show we have repeated since 1997.

Mrs Rachel Wenham is busy building a strong lineup of Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors. If you would like to support youth theatre in what will be one of the top musical theatre events of 2022 in this region, please contact her at wenhamr@pnbhs.school.nz

Senior Crew

Stage Managers: Tiaki Pomana. Jonathon Hillas

Head Mech: Liam Bland with assistant: Chamasha Kaluarachchige

Lighting Operator: Thomas Orr with assistant: Adelle Ballantyne

Sound Reader/Mics assistant: Riley Best

Tracks Operator: Jason Gui

HOD Mics: Jaiden Bell

HOD Follow Spots: Brandon Winter

HOD Hair/Makeup: Cam Baker

Trainee Stage Manager/Swing: Tristan Little

HOD Props: Emma Harris-Broad

Crew Teams

Props: Ruan Daniels, Rosie Gowan, Sienna Gravit, Emma Ormsby

Stage Crew: Linn Herzig, Matthew Cook, Caden van Wyk, Ellite Tang

Mics: Maheli Lankeshwara, Reinhelda Gowthaman

Follow Spots: Megan Winter, Adelle Ballantyne

Sound FX Operator: Bella Nguyen

Makeup/Hair: Katarina Kenzie, Maia de Wit, Ella Daynes, Jiya Bothra, Millie Silk, Karla McNabb

Band (These musicians will accompany the performance backing tracks we will be using)

Violin: Angela Fang, Sophie Ward 

Cello: Issy Li, Bass: William Duncan,

Trumpet: Arahan Pilkington, Scott Du, 

Tenor Sax: Leo Xu, 

Tracks operator: Jason Gui

Cast

PNGHS

Abbie Taylor, Paris Kareko, Stellar Talauta, Alice Moir, Madeline Bevan, Lily-Rose Parker, Laura Lopez, Alyssa Smiler, Kate Coutts, Lara Harjes, T Cici Sun, Maddi West, Madeleine James, Ella Udy, Nadia Mabey, Kaitlin Murphy, Ivy Ho, Kadia Easton, Lilly Rooney Malissa Sun, Georgia Kirk, Sashini Punchihewa,  Nicole Doidge 

PNBHS

T Harry Laverick, T Kade Kareko, T Joshua Webster, Lachlan Fraser, Connor Puanaki, Callum McKinnon, Fraser Babb, Jack Billing, Noah Purcell, Jack Parker, Eli Hancock, Jake Maskill, Max Hodgson, Josh Harrison, Camden Woodroffe, Saem Millward, Axis Simon, Will Tate-Davis, Johnathan Stone, Jesse Franks

Principals

Aunt Eller - Alice Moir, Understudy - Cici Sun

Curly - Jack Billing,    Understudy - Josh Harrison

Laurey - Madeleine James, Understudy - Maddi West

Ado - Annie ParisKareko

Will - Jake Maskill, Understudy - Camden Woodroffe

Ali Hakim - Axis Simon

Jud Fry - Eli Hancock

Carnes - Will Tate-Davis

Principal Dancers: Sashini Punchihewa, Nicole Doidge, Georgia Kirk, Malissa Sun, Kaitlin Murphy, Ivy Ho, Camden Woodroffe/Jake Maskill, Noah Purcell, Kade Kareko, Fraser Babb, Lachie Fraser

Junior Theatre Showcase

Many thanks to all those who gave their time and experience to create this superb development opportunity for our young men. Sadly, Covid limited our final performances but we must be grateful for what we did get. We are extremely fortunate to have so many leaders with a passion for the Performing Arts to guide and inspire these young men. 

In addition to those mentioned below, Alexia Clark and Taryn Baxter also assisted with JMT choreography. In performance we were very well served by our young Technical Crew: Liam Bland, Tristan Little, Jason Gui, Matthew Cook, Ruan Daniels and Ethan Worsley. 

Thanks also are due to the fantastic support provided to their sons by parents and caregivers. Thanks also to Sally Wenham for photography and videoing. Our audiences certainly enjoyed the new squab seating thanks to the generosity of the PTA and the school.

Junior Play

The Hysterical History of the Trojan War, written by DM Larson, adapted by Chris Burton, directed by Sophie Belcher.

The Junior Play was an absolute pleasure to direct this year. I put together a cast of 12, which suited the script perfectly. This is a short 25-minute play which consists of some of our original and favourite Greek roles such as Odysseus, Poseidon, Achilles, Hector, and Apollo! 

The boys were exceptionally helpful throughout the rehearsal process. It was especially thrilling and gratifying to see the cast develop their acting abilities to new heights and to see them transfer their skills onto the stage with our Junior Showcase matinees. Although it was slightly disheartening and unfortunate that we did not get to perform our night performances to friends and whanau, we still managed to have sold-out shows with our school matinees. This certainly helped boost our spirits during these challenging and uncertain times! By Sophie Belcher

Cast 

Cassandra - Matthew Wongchoti, Helen - Micaiah Gloyn, Paris - Joshua Harrison, Apollo/Homerettes - Kade Kareko, Hector/Homer - Camden Woodroofe, Odysseus - Ash Clough, Achilles - Henry Bovey, Athena - Joshua Harrison, Zeus/Guard - Gabriel Crisp, Menelaus/Homerettes - Hunter Giltrap, Hera - Charlie Wuts, Poseidon - Jessie Franks, Agamemnon/Homerettes - Thomas Mason

Junior Musical Theatre

Big River scenes directed by Kirsten Clark assisted by Old Boy Mark Kilsby and three senior students, Noah Purcell, Tom Varney and Ethan Conger.

This year’s Junior Musical Theatre saw 23 Year 9s and 10s audition for roles and take to the stage to perform scenes from the musical Big River. Big River follows the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, based on Mark Twain's classic 1884 novel.

The boys took on roles which included two middle aged women, a drunken father, a runaway slave, young school boys who dream of being robbers and having adventures, the town judge, some dim-witted yokels and two satirical pranksters! These characters are all linked together by the main character, young Huckleberry Finn, who encounters them on his trip down the Mississippi to help his slave friend escape to freedom.

The boys rehearsed every Thursday morning before school and some also on Monday mornings. Rehearsals included learning songs, dance moves and dialogue. A culmination of approximately 25 hours of rehearsal saw JMT perform to their peers only, as unfortunately, Covid did not allow for outside friends or family to watch their performance. This years show was the longest in the history of JMT and included songs by four soloists and two big company numbers.

It was an outstanding production that was enjoyed by all those involved and also by those who watched it. By Kirsten Clark

Cast

Rhys Hobdey - Announcer 1, Shrawan Venkatesh - Announcer 2, Teo Jauregui-Na - Announcer 3, Oscar O’Brien - Announcer 4, Kade Kareko – Huck, Regan O’Connor - Miss Watson, Micaiah Gloyn - Widow Douglas, Saem Millward – Jim, Jun Hee Cho - Judge Thatcher, Camden Woodroofe – Pap, Akshay Aneesh - Tom Sawyer, Max Hodgson – Spud, Luca Deegan – Simon, Jesse Franks – Jethro, Daniel Soh – Dick, Matty Leary – Billy, Scott Du – Ben, Hugo Liuvaie – Joe Harper, Jake Maskill – Duke, Josh Harrison – King, Nikhil Baine – Hank, Hugo Liuvaie – Andy, Ethan Davenport – Floyd, Shrawan Venkatesh – Lafe, Ben Harre - Jed