Just when you think the spotlights can’t shine any brighter, St. Joseph’s High School has gone and upstaged itself.
To celebrate their 100th anniversary last year, St. Joe’s premiered the stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The school was the only one in Ontario, and among three high schools in the country to get the rights to the production, on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. The play is the work of Jack Thorne.
This year, the magic and wizardry of Harry Potter have been superseded by an unimaginable tragedy that rocked the world and forever changed life in Gander, Newfoundland on Sept. 11, 2001.
St. Joe’s has won the rights to perform Come From Away, the story of 38 planes, carrying about 7,000 passengers, that were diverted to Gander International Airport. The musical has just been released for amateur production.
Rob Bannerman, an English and drama teacher at the school explains how they were able to pull it off.
Bannerman adds a complicating factor is the fact Come From Away is currently running in London.
He stresses that all those involved in the St. Joe’s production realize the significance of what they are now rehearsing and that has amplified the energy levels.
Grade 10 student Brielle Willemese (seen below at right with Marley Slaght) finds her role as one of the pilots to be “empowering.”
She points out that the student production at St. Joe’s has a key element that differentiates it from the Grand Theatre presentation.
“I think what we do a good job of is getting the real emotion across of all the different characters. Because we all are friends in real life, going through real experiences together and then we also go through real experiences on stage, so i think we have more of a connection that way.”
Marley Slaght, also in Grade 10, plays Diane Marson, who was flying from London to Houston aboard Continental Airlines, and met her future husband, Nick, aboard the flight.
Slaght adds she enjoyed spending time researching her character.
“I think them coming out about it sends a whole different message and it’s a good thing. It’s showing that people are strong and can find happiness in adversity and so I think it helps me to find something different in the show and bring it out.”
Come From Away opens May 27 and runs through June 6 with performances at 7 p.m. On May 30 there is a 1 p.m. matinee with no evening performance and on June 6 there is a 1 p.m. matinee and an evening performance at 7.
Tickets are available at https://sjh.ldcsb.ca/
Written by Ian McCallum
