'MEC Press' March School News Publication 2020 | Page 6

We did our first run through in costume on
31st of January. It was cool to see everyone
dressed up and it was amazing to see how
creative people became with their costume
design. We had a technical rehearsal on the
2nd of February which was great because it
was our first time performing with stage
lights which improved the overall
performance. When we had our first
rehearsals with costumes, makeup, lights,
and sound, we started to feel the buzz of the
show and the excitement was palpable on
everyone’s faces.

After 6 weeks of rehearsals, opening night
had arrived. As we got ready, we could see
the audience filling up with students,
teachers, our families and much more. It’s
safe to say everyone had some sort of nerves
at start. However, everyone wore foundation
and makeup so we didn’t look sick on the
stage! Some people even made wrinkles with
makeup to look more in-character.

We gathered in the resource area to watch
the first scene: ‘Jailhouse Rock.’ It was our
first time seeing the audience’s reactions to
the scene and the cheers could be heard from
the resource area. Without a doubt, this gave
us a boost to try our very best and enjoy the
experience. The next scene was ‘Heartbreak
Hotel’ followed by ‘C’mon Everybody’ and
‘Hound Dog.’ Between scenes, we took
photos with our friends and the leads and
watched the show from the monitor in the
resource area.

We also had to make outfit changes. The blue
chorus were to change from their prisoner
costumes into their villager costumes after
‘Jailhouse Rock’. The yellow chorus had to

transform into statues by dressing in togas
and painting themselves with white paint for
‘Let Yourself Go’.

The red chorus turned into devils and angels
in ‘Devil in Disguise’, wearing devil horns and
halos. Lastly, the green chorus changed from
villagers outfits to fancy wedding outfits for
the last scene, ‘Burning Love’.

The night flew by and before we knew it, we
were bowing on stage at the end of our first
show while the audience roared. Backstage
we quickly got changed out of our costumes
and had a quick assembly with Ms. Dunne
where we congratulated everyone on our
success so far. We then left to go home before
did it all again the next night!

We ran the show for 6 nights from
Wednesday to Sunday. Each night we hoped
it wasn’t going to be our dip night. In the end,
each night was fantastic and went very
smoothly. We noticed how the audience
reacted differently every night and each
night was unique. It was tiring however we
did to sleep longer the next day to rest before
going into the school in the evenings.

On the final night of ‘All Shook Up’, it was
clear everyone was emotional. Some tears
were shed as we left the stage at the end of
the show. It had been our lives for the past
few weeks, whether it was rehearsals,
construction, photography, art or the
programme.

Thanks to Isabel Doherty, Caoimhe Bashir,
Nayna Rexon & Sebastain Sachs for writing
and eiditng photos this content.