Last night was our last official concert of the year as our talented singers and musicians played to a packed out St Mary's Church. There was a delightful assortment of vocal arrangements including solos from Vicky Egerton and Rhianne Groom, a duet by Grace Bartlett and Ania Witka and of course, the Bradon Forest Choir. One of our peripatetic teachers, Miss Fleet, directed a number of arrangements, my favourite of which was Walking in the Air, with a number of singers and Hannah Sellars and Elliot Gunton on flute. Just lovely! Miss Fleet later commented: "Well done - the best by far of the concerts I have been to this year!"
Thank you, as always, to everyone who came and supported. The audience were even entertained by the vicar who treated us to a really jolly number about love at Christmas. We're hoping it will be a regular slot! We've had some wonderful comments including this one from a parent:
"The concert last night was super, we thoroughly enjoyed it, especially my father who is always very appreciative."
That's it from us this year but we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and warm wishes for 2012. We look forward to seeing you back in the theatre on January 26th for Waiting for Dave!
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Ending 2011 on a high!
Friday, 9 December 2011
We Wish you a Merry Christmas!
With over 70 performers across the two nights, the 2011 Bradon Forest Christmas Music Concert was yet another success! I think I say this every time, but I love our concerts. We have such a wide range of performers, from the experienced GCSE Ensemble Group (pictured) and their own moving arrangement of 'Do They Know it's Christmas', to first time flute soloist, Charley Hill with 'The Holly and the Ivy'. What's especially lovely to watch is the support that the students provide each other. For example, on Wednesday, Alecia Kissell played a piano solo. I think she was a little nervous as a few mistakes were made and Alecia got a bit flustered. After stopping and starting she managed to finish 'The First Noel' to ruptious applause from the students. On Thursday evening, Alecia played it through perfectly and her friends cheered even louder!
With, as I said, over 70 performers, I can't mention them all, but every one of them did us proud. The choir seem to be going from strength to strength and their rendition of 'Infant Holy' gave me goose pimples! The KS4 Jazz Ensemble's performance of 'Santa Baby' was delightful and the Orchestra are flawless! Once again, the Staff Hand Chime Group managed to ding and dong our way through two numbers, including one of my favourites, Jingle Bell Rock. Thank you to everyone for their patience... we are getting better! Mr Duncan's Ukulele Group entertained us with two numbers. 'The Cave' by Mumford and Sons, and 'Christmas Time' by The Darkness. I think I will have to try and get a clip of the latter up as they pulled out all the stops, including some very amusing solos and vocals by Mr Widdop. The group have now expanded with 5 students, Mr Duncan and now also Mr Butler and Mr Widdop. The Maths department are obviously trying to boost their kudos and know that music's where it's at...
There was a lovely warm buzz in the theatre last night and everyone was congratulating the performers as they left. I was having a chat with one of the parents and she said to me that as she was sat there enjoying every single performance, she couldn't help but think, "I wish I'd gone to a school like this." That's something we should be proud of and we will continue to support and encourage new artists, actors, musicians and singers to get on stage and show off their talents! A special thank you to Miss Groom and Miss Hedges for hosting yet another jam packed, encouraging and entertaining concert. Roll on the next one!
"Hearty congratulations on last night. Best concert I’ve been to in ages. Really entertaining." Miss Maunder
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
5 Star Review!
Well that's it! It's all over! The run of A Midsummer Night's Dream has come to an end, but what a run it was. The final show on Friday was a sell out and the audience had been superb all week. Thank you to everyone who came and supported.
'Midsummer' is one of the better known Shakespeare plays, but even so (as you can imagine) it can be quite hard to follow the original language. However, our talented cast delivered their lines with conviction and understanding, so that even if our younger audience members couldn't follow the text, it was very clear how the story was progressing.
The set was beautifully created with several large fairy-light wrapped branches lining the back of the stage, with various lighting stages to represent the different times in the forest. When the front curtain was first pulled back to reveal the trees, there was an audible gasp! Rather than the traditional one Puck character, we had a 'clan' of five Pucks who all spoke in unison. With choreography by Hannah Guy, and a lot of input from the Pucks, the physicality of their movement was especially enchanting and mystical. Titania and Oberon, played by Ailsa Calder and Justin-David Machado, were a particularly dominiating presence on stage, commanding all the fairies with convincing supernatural authority.
Most of the laughs came from the 'play within a play', where the group of workmen, led by Quince (played outstandingly by Rae Elias), perform the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe. Bradley Williams as Francis Flute and Oliver Webb as Nick Bottom were full of energy and the whole -mini-cast were on top form, even at the end of a two hour play!
Congratulations to the entire cast. This really was a top Bradon Forest Theatre production, though I'm sure that Mr Calder is already working on how to try and beat it for next year!
"Thank you and your excellent cast so much for a fabulous night on Friday. The show was fantastic – what amazing talent we have here at Bradon Forest! Can’t wait for the next one!!"Miss Mainstone
Friday, 10 December 2010
Rounding off the Christmas Season
This weeks Christmas concerts also went down a treat. The carol service at St Mary's Church was a lovely, heart-warming affair, followed by the school concert in the theatre. It was great to see so many students taking part - despite sickness trickling through the troops! There was a wide variety of ensemble, solo and group performances, including some choir and orchestra pieces conducted by the students themselves. Well done to all involved... and bring on the Spring concert!
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Sing in your Christmas Cheer!
Tomorrow night we have the school concert in the theatre, starting at 7.30pm. There will be festive refreshments served before the performance and during the interval... so bring your change!
Enjoy a wide variety of Christmassy treats performed by the choir and glee club, the orchestras, soloists, rock school band and ensembles! The concert starts at 7.30pm and should be finished vy 9.15pm.
Not only will you have the usual high standard of musical delights in, but the Music Department are plotting with some of the other staff at Bradon Forest to give you a special treat!
Remember to wrap up warm for the Church Carol service - it's cold out there! Brrr...
Circomedia: A Night You Won’t Forget
On Saturday the 18th of December, Circomedia- Bristol’s very own world-class circus and theatre school- is offering friends and supporters the opportunity to book tickets for an exclusive cabaret evening.
Starting from 7pm in the atmospheric St Paul’s Church, we invite you to enjoy an alternative Christmas event in the company of the best circus and physical theatre performers in the country. With a mouth watering fork buffet provided by local Zest Food, stunning circus displays in our cabaret show, beautiful decorations and musical entertainment the night is guaranteed to be unforgettable!
You can book a seat or table at a cost of £47 per person. Tables seat ten and are arranged facing the performance area in a cabaret club style- perfect for viewing both the ground based performers and spectacular aerialists. You will also be entertained by your host for the evening, a rather special compere with some unique tricks up his sleeve. Following food and performances our DJ and dancing is sure to keep you entertained until the bar shuts at 12.30am.
St Paul’s Church is an intimate and enchanting venue. Our bar serves beers and ales from local companies Bath Ales and Bristol Beer Factory while the wines are selected by Corks of Cotham. Our experienced Front of House team will ensure your evening of sumptuous food, entertainment and dancing goes smoothly and that you experience a night you won’t forget…
Tickets are limited and selling fast. To book or for further information please contact Ali on 0117 924 7615 or email ali@circomedia.com
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Christmas Busking
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Looks like Christmas came early
That's right, a post from me.
I'm glad to see the German contingent in this blog is strengthening by the day.
So Advent is upon us already. How, by the way? How is it basically December already?
It also signals the beginning of the end for my stay here, as I now only have two and a half weeks left. Still, that means holiday soon, for you too. I love it here and I think I will be sad to leave, though not sad to go home. It will feel very strange I think. I have a very real life here now and it feels like it, I feel very comfortable in the city and with the German way of life. They have that famous continental relaxed nature and commmunicate a lot with each other...they just have that extra streak of German efficience.
I can also relate to everything Dominic's said about stuff here, especially public transport. I've been catch 10 or more trams a week for nearly three months now and I've seen a conductor on the tram....twice. The funny thing about the pedestrian crossing thing is that they think that in England we're really disciplined about it - i.e. staying on the pavement until it goes green - and are actually trying to emulate us. As for the audiences, crazy? Very. Standiing ovations appear to be a national pastime. The funniest moment, albeit with mostly children in the audience, was after one of the morning performances of 'Emil und die Detektive', where the actor playing Herr Grundeis, the baddy, got roundly booed, very very loudly. This was of course a positive thing because he'd played his character so well, not because he was awful, of that I can assure you.
Incidentally I had a very interesting encounter when I went to have my hair cut. The families ever more suprisingly influential links, mean that the kids get free haircuts at one of the classiest coiffeurs (if only I could double italic that word) in Düsseldorf. I'd actually got my hair cut one day before I left England, planning to not have to go again until I got back. However, for the sake of the family photos at next week's family Christmas gathering, the mother of my guest family asked me if I'd mind. I wasn't really bothered so they made an appointment. Unfortunately, work meant that we couldn't make it and as the next one, despite wandering around and shopping a fair bit, still wasn't for ages, one of them agreed to just trim off my fringe quickly. I then spent five minutes in the hands of a very flamboyant Italian man, who apparently has lived in Germany for over thirty years and still speaks it nearly as badly as me. It appeared that as long as he could still do the hand gesture (you know the Italian one), language for him wasn't an issue. The aforementioned family links have also allowed me to meet a world-renowned mime artist - his stage name is Nemo - which is pretty safe. We are planning to have him round one afternoon before I go, so he can give me a crash course in mime and 'find some hidden treasures'. I'm in suspense already.
Anyway, yes, theatre, let's go. We had an international dance festival a couple of weeks ago. This included performers coming from all over the place - Spain, France, Israel, China and even Wuppertal which is a monster twenty minutes away. What was excellent for me was that alllllllllll these people and of course the large contingent of German technicians etc. spoke English to communicate with each other. Very safe. I got a peek at a couple of rehearsals which was cool. The chinese company had some rather mental video effects and some wonderful singing, the Germans had some very interesting modern ensemble dance, and the Spanish had some pretty incredible acrobatic-y dance moves.
I've also managed to watch a couple of other rehearsals. 'Treulose' by Ingmar Bergmann, which is a tragic love story really. The staging was very minimalistic and all white with just three chairs and a few props. It worked very well I thought, and the actors successfully brought out the emotion of the piece, though of course I couldn't understand all of it. The other was a play called 'Fulle des Wohllauts' by Thomas Mann, a one-man play, which here incidentally is played by an actor also with the surname Mann - Dieter Mann. It's a very intellectual piece, I suppose it has to be to be an hour and a half long monologue. It's in a sort of palatial living room and the staging is centred around an old record player in the middle of the stage, as the story is about the life of a composer. To be honest, I couldn't understand most of it, though the acting was clear, it was more of a sort of lecture than a real play.
I also managed to have a brief look at a rehearsal for 'Der gute Mensch von Sezuan' (The Good Person Of Sezuan) by Bertolt Brecht, which premieres next Saturday. Having studied Brecht at school last year and having seen a company actually perform a version of this play, it is actually something like familiar territory for me, which is here, naturally, a seldom occurrence. It was a bit strange, as normally you can just quietly slip into rehearsals unnoticed. However, this time the lights in the auditorium stayed on so everyone could see me. This confused me to start with before I remembered it was a Brecht piece - lights staying on in the auditorium was one of his theatrical techniques. Luckily, when asked who I was by multiple actors/stage technicians, the words work experiencer with the lighting team seemed to hold the magic key and I could stay. They've got some way out staging, literally. there are white lanes designating streets, and there's one long one that goes from downstage centre right to the back of the auditorium. They also use the different moveable podiums that stretch across the stage to create different levels, like stairs. It is performed in a typically Brechtian style, that is, quite strangely, with from what I saw, hats being important symbols of status, depending on what sort you had. The play centres around Shen Te, who is good but very poor, and because she is good all the time, can not run her business efficiently. She thus creates an alter ego, Shui Ta, posing as her cousin. He is a ruthless businessman, and although she doesn't like using him, she has to to survive. With some incompetent gods, water-sellers, hairdressers and unrequited love thrown in, it really asks the question, can a person really be good, and in fact what does being good actually mean?
I've also put up Christmas tree lights. It's fun. It's also quite cool to be able to say that I've done it for a professional theatre.
Wow this is long. The Christmas Markets are now open, so Düsseldorf in the evening is now a riot of light, colour and people. Seriously, it's like a musical festival how packed the city centre is, it's mental. Saw the Emil crew do a few songs on the Christmas Market stage outside the theatre yesterday evening, as I'd gone into town to have a look round. As Christmas Markets are something we don't really do in England, just wandering round is delightful. Though I do wish that for all their organisational skills, they could sort out how to queue. The old adage that no one queues better than the English (the old joke is that the English can form a queue of one) appears to stand up. They just can't do it.
The plan is to go and see the Brecht play the day before I come back, in which case I will report then. However, it might be that I actually go back to England that day, as my school has its presentation evening and I've won a Drama prize :). In any case I will try and get a look at a full run and report, along with whatever else is going on. My experience with lighting is of course now much developed and it is only really the language barrier that holds me back. However, that is also improving as was the plan and I can successfully navigate myself through most situations.
We've also had SNOW!
Keep Smiling
Felix
P.S. As ever.........here come the photos.
You can see the photos from the Sezuan rehearsal here.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd you can see the photos from my city wanderings here. This includes videos of the Emil cast singing a few songs and some MENTAL if a little sideways Christmas tree lights.
