With over 60 students who have made it through the rehearsal process and onto the stage, The Lion King will become the largest Artz Junior production we have ever produced. I am often asked how we manage to incorporate so many students of all ages and abilities; yet continue to drive the quality of the productions upwards.
“Surely you can’t afford to be too inclusive if you want the standard to increase?”
Wrong! It’s not about setting short term targets and operating on a show-to-show basis, it’s about the long term goal: creating the right culture, making the bigger picture. All we ask from our students, is that they work hard to be the very best that they can be; we help them to understand their strengths and weaknesses and encourage them to respect those of others, and this provides us with the perfect platform to progress and succeed.
To make a great cast, we need the right mix of personalities. When Dorothy embarks on her journey to Oz, she meets a scarecrow with no brain, a tin man with no heart, and a lion with no courage; yet she manages to achieve her goal, against the odds. The scarecrow may be loyal, but he needs others to help pick him up when he falls; the tin man is emotional, but that’s ok if he can be taught to use it at the right time; and the cowardly lion doesn’t know how brave he is, until his friends convince him otherwise. Now, I am not saying that our young cast are scarecrows, cowards or heartless; but what I do know, is that having a mix of characters in your dressing room makes us more versatile, more adaptable and much stronger as a group.
“You might have the best set of golf clubs in the world, but try using them to play tennis”
I like to challenge young performers, I like to tap into their primal competitive instinct; we would much prefer them to aim high and miss, than aim low and hit. I have attended many junior productions over the years, I have watched countless nativity plays; and more often than not, whilst the audience mutter how great it was, I have left feeling a little underwhelmed. This is not because I didn’t enjoy watching young people being given a platform to express themselves, nor that I didn’t feel proud of the person I went to see; it’s because the cast are usually capable of so much more. Of course, there are always restrictions on space, time, budget, resources, willing supporters, etc. but these should never get in the way of children showing the world what they are truly capable of.
The Lion King is presented in 6 different languages, with an extremely challenging vocal score. The young actors are being asked to be puppeteers, as well as performers, and understand the eclectic mix of cultures featured throughout the story. We have taught our young cast about intonation, inflection, text and subtext; they have learned about words that they didn’t understand, choreography they couldn’t master and have done things that they had no idea they could do – all in the space of 14 weeks.
I love watching the faces of parents, grandparents, friends and families as they enter the auditorium expecting one thing, and leave having witnessed something entirely different.
“Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you are always 100% right”