Proserpine State High School students will take to the stage in the upcoming Broadway romantic musical ‘Sweet Charity’ in early May.
In the school’s first musical since its highly successful play, ‘We Will Rock You’, in 2021, 100 students will take roles behind, below, and on the stage in what will be an “ambitious production.”
Following the eponymous Charity Hope Valentine, a taxi dancer living in New York City in the swinging sixties, Sweet Charity is brimming with groovy love, counterculture, and gaudy fashion.
Proserpine State High School students will perform the musical ‘Sweet Charity’ in early May at the school’s Drama Centre.
The musical’s Artistic Director and Proserpine State High School head of Drama, Jenny Napier said the students were ecstatic to be performing Sweet Charity – a celebrated, long-running Broadway musical which premiered in 1966.
“Sweet Charity is about a girl who is looking for love,” Ms Napier said.
“She has spent her entire life trying to find the one person for her.”
The Broadway show revolves around the life of Charity Hope Valentine, a dancer for hire living in a bustling New York City in the 1960s.
Ms Napier said the show is famed for its Fosse jazz and pushes students on technical fronts in its set design as well as its performances, allowing them to get a taste for the dramatic profession.
“A lot of our students from previous productions have gone on to work in the profession,” Ms Napier said.
“Three of our leads from Oliver are professional actors now and a lot have gone on to technical, sound, and staging. To do big, professional Broadway shows is important for the students. It gives them a great opportunity to show their skills – and to even put those on their CVs.”
Ms Napier said Sweet Charity is complex musically and choreographically for any performer, asking them to be somewhat of a triple threat.
“It is probably beyond normal high-school students,” Ms Napier said.
“But these performers are seasoned actors now, having been in We Will Rock You and some Cannonvale State School performances – we know they have the skill.”
A 28-piece orchestra will accompany the show and is comprised entirely of students who are being mentored by professional musicians.
Sweet Charity leads Xavier Johnson, who plays Oscar – a shy tax accountant - and Allegra Bradley –Charity – said they were extremely excited to be a part of the spectacle.
“I fell in love with musicals when I saw Cannonvale’s Peter Pan at six years old,” Ms Bradley said.
“I knew I had to be a part of them and to be in the lead has been amazing. It is such a great opportunity.”
The show encompasses students from Grades 8 to 12 and runs with a ‘double cast,’ meaning some characters will be played by a new set of actors on alternative nights.
Sweet Charity will run at the Proserpine State High School drama centre from May 3 to 6 with tickets available soon.
Proserpine State High School students at the first dress rehearsal for their May performance of ‘Sweet Charity’
Proserpine State High School Students will perform a Broadway-style play following the character Charity Hope Valentine, played in half the performances by student Allegra Bradley
