For the very first time in its 122-year history, Glen Dhu Primary pupils took to the stage to sing, dance and act their way through a musical in front of a 300-strong audience.
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The remarkable one-off performance on Wednesday brought 44 pupils from grades 3-6 together, rehearsing from July to get a pitch-perfect performance at Punchbowl Christian Centre.
The show was The Piper, written by Margaret Carpenter and directed by drama teacher Caitlin McCarthy, had such a warm response from the school’s community that the initial seating numbers of 180 was more than doubled on the night.
Pupils Ella Frerk and Lincoln Newman-Beams took part in the musical, which was Ella’s first time on stage and involved learning to act, perform in costume, sing and more.
“I was a rat and a girl called Lydia,” Ella said.
“We had to learn our lines and how to work all together and to get the moves right and walk right and everything like that.”
Lincoln played the part of the adult character Fred, who was “really annoyed about the rat problem” in the play.
“We had to have certain voices and certain walks as well,” he said.
Teacher Sarah Woodcock-Davis said having the first musical in the school’s history had been an excellent opportunity for pupils to try different things and “find their spark” in the creative arts.
She said the school is developing its arts program with hopes of holding another musical next year.
Warmly received by the audience, the pupils clearly enjoyed their stage debut as well.
“It was so cool,” Ella said.