Blackburn Primary School staging Joseph
Introduction
Blackburn Primary School in West Lothian has a school roll of 95 and an equivalent of 7.6 full-time teachers.
Recently the school put on a production of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It played to sell-out audiences after pupils benefited from professional coaching and support from local businesses.
Aims
Blackburn Primary decided to stage 'Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' as an enterprise project by the Blackburn Primary Theatre Company.
Method
Permission to stage the musical was obtained from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company. Enterprise co-ordinator Gillian Gray gained experience in production techniques through a work placement at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre
Audition and selection
The P4-P7 pupils took part in 'X-Factor'-style auditions for roles. The panel included the head of West Lothian Youth Theatre and a teacher from the National Youth Choir.
The pupils selected to perform gained experience by going backstage at Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Members of West Lothian Dance Team coached them in basic dance moves.
Front-of-house and stage management
In the run-up to the performance, P4/5 pupils were given responsibility for front-of-house (selling sweets and programmes, photographs of the cast, displays, etc). P5/6 pupils were responsible for organising props, scenery, costumes and make-up. P6/7 pupils were responsible for designing leaflets and programmes and for the box office.
Employer engagement
P5/6 pupils were taught make-up techniques by West Lothian College students. Russell Europe donated tee-shirts for the chorus, and local enterprise business BLES made the flats for the scenery at a reduced cost.
P6/7 pupils were 'most ably supported' by Inprint, which added professional quality to the pupils' designs for leaflets, programmes and tickets. It printed them free of charge.
Gillian Gray says:
Glasgow's King's Theatre was staging a production of 'Joseph' and we paid for a workshop led by members of the company. The children worked on characterisation and practised dance routines, which encouraged them to work as a team. It also gave staff the chance to work alongside the company and learn new skills.
Outcomes
Gillian said: 'Finally, after seven months of planning, organisation and very hard work, it was show-time!'
The opening night went to plan and an enthusiastic audience left singing the praises of their children. Many parents bought tickets for the following night's performance.
The second night was a sell-out. Cast members greeted the invited guests and escorted them to their seats. The performance again went very well and guests later met the cast at a buffet reception.
The 'West Lothian Courier' ran a great photo story the following week. There was editorial partly written by the school's Administration team. The final task was to send letters of thanks to everyone who had so kindly and generously supported the school's endeavours.