Students from Brackendale and Mamquam Elementary schools are teaming up to offer musical theatre with a message. Fifty students have collaborated to create six musical skits for the show Carpe diem, and they'll be performing in front of hundreds of locals and visitors on the main stage during the Wild at Art festival May 7.
Locals can enjoy sneak previews Wednesday (May 4) at 7 p.m. at Mamquam Elementary with a donation for admission, or during their one-day tour Thursday (May 5) at Brackendale Elementary at 9:30 a.m., Squamish Elementary at 11 a.m. and again at Mamquam Elementary at 1:30 p.m.
"The kids are absolutely tickled to be touring," said Mamquam music teacher Anne Thomson.
It was Thomson and Brackendale music teacher Chris Jorgensen who came up with the idea of a musical review after discovering a music teacher's songbook themed "seize the day".
"We went wow, what a great set of songs. This would make a great show."
The teachers auditioned grade six and seven students at their respective schools and chose 50 to create skits reflecting the theme of six songs.
"One of the skits is grade 7s and they're really worried about high school next year. They sit around and worry about getting stuffed in lockers. So the theme of theirs is don't worry so much about tomorrow that you forget to live today."
A dance troupe will entertain audiences between skits and six guitar players will accompany a CD.
The students have been rehearsing since returning from spring break, and the experience has been beneficial to the students who are usually competitive with other schools.
"We've never had an interschool musical theatre collaboration to my knowledge," said Thomson. "And I'm hoping other schools with think this is a good idea and hop on board because there's a lot of competition between the schools, not on purpose but that's the way it is. So this has been so great to see the kids make friends."
