For around 40 years our Kura in collaboration with Villa Maria have put on amazing and outstanding shows on both stomping grounds. Each year for production both schools come together, in agreement our schools would take turns organizing the annual production, for example in 2018 STC organizing the production of “High School Musical”.

In 2019 it was Villa Maria’s turn to organize the production, and together brought an awesome show of an old classic “Footloose”. 

2020 STC organized the production “Hairspray”.

This year coming back strongly and with Villa organizing, we took on the challenge of a Disney favorite: “Beauty and the Beast.” which was an outstanding show. This article is based upon why students should participate in college productions, and what do the students get out of this great learning experience.

I decided to interview Ezra Neal about production, which was his first year participating and had an awesome audition to be given the lead role as the Beast! Ezra is a year 12 Samoan and Māori student with a passion for the music industry, plays multiple instruments, and an extremely talented vocalist! He had first heard of the production from the announcement made last year by Ms. Smith explaining the production for 2021 and auditions for lead roles were open, hesitant to audition but ended up auditioning because I signed him up.

“I'm kind of glad that you signed me up because it turned out to be an awesome experience, getting to know my fellow peers and the students and teachers from Villa”. Learning a lot about himself as well, his vocal ability, learning new things such as theatre features but the main thing you’ll learn in production is balance.

Considering any preparation, as a journey, for example, preparing for Polyfest is a journey because of the learning outcome as well as the challenges we face together, one of the challenges Ezra had faced on this journey was balance. Your ability to take responsibility is really put to the test. “Before beginning rehearsal, I had to prepare myself for what lies ahead”. Taking responsibility for his own learning within the school, learning choreography, lines, and songs.

Once a production becomes underway everything else you have going on has to be put on hold, committing yourself to the rehearsals night and day. Then there is the stress of family and friends asking about your whereabouts, some students who have part-time jobs, some students who are active within their church community, and then there is the stress of the academic performance at school. One thing I remember is that you are not the only one who may be facing similar challenges but it’s all about working together for it to all be worth it.

This performance experience really benefits students as they get older. After graduating high school, you are now being exposed to the outside world. You’ll no longer have your teachers to rely on for help with anything as their job is done once you graduate. I really believe balance is key to life success and for students to achieve that goal I really believe that they should take part in school productions because it teaches lifelong lessons on how to prioritize things in life.

By Matthew Pelenato