'I have to be honest, it surpassed all my expectations - like watching a West End Show! All the cast are so talented.'
'Blown away with tonight’s performance. Some up and coming West End Stars! Well done to all the cast.'
'Wow what a show. Totally blown away by our incredible school and every single person involved on and off stage. I want to see it again!'
'Wow what a performance! Thank you so much, I had to keep reminding myself, these are school kids! It was tantamount to a professional theatre show.'
These are just a few examples of the comments we have received from the audience at our 2024 Senior School production of Les Misérables, and those of you that were lucky enough to have got tickets will know what they mean - what an outstanding show!
The amazing voices and stage presence of our soloists - Toby as Jean Valjean, Jon-Christopher as Javert, Beth as Fantine, Albert as Marius, Lily and Elsie as Cosette, Darcey as Eponine, Will and Harriet as Thenardier and Madame Thenardier, Alfie as the Bishop and Alex as Enjolras - not forgetting our youngest soloist, Barney (in Form 1) as Gavroche - totally captivated the audience, supported by a brilliant cast of 70 students and directed by Mrs Sadler-Smith, Mrs Parker, Mr Pomroy and Consultant Director Carol Carey. The show received standing ovations every night, with a FULL standing ovation on the closing night, which was thoroughly deserved.
When it was first announced that we would be doing Les Mis for our school production, there was a real buzz about the college. It's a difficult and ambitious show to put on as the whole piece is sung - would they be able to pull it off? But the directors knew that this was the year that they could, indeed, pull it off - and that they did, with the audience absolutely blown away every night!
Head of Creative and Performing Arts, Mrs Sadler-Smith, said 'Wow! We never thought this moment would happen! We had always said that there might perhaps only be one opportunity in a Performing Arts teacher’s life where you feel ready to plant the seed of imagination in your team and say the crazy words... “How about doing Les Mis next year?”... and well, here we are! The quality of singers here at Shebbear College have gone from strength to strength, and that, together with the phenomenal “team spirit” that our Performing Arts students hone themselves, it just felt like it was time.'
'What the audience saw this week is a cast filled with fantastic children who just love the Performing Arts' she continued, 'and they enjoy performing, on stage, with their friends. We could not wish for anything more than that, and it has made our jobs an absolute pleasure.'
A huge thank you needs to go to Carol Carey, our Consultant Director. A Shebbear parent and an actor herself, Carol attended rehearsals to get everything blocked and ready for show week, but she has also played a big part in our creative vision. She has led the creative team in making our Memorial Hall our very own French Barricade, brought to life by our Maintenance team who created our wonderfully atmospheric stage! Also an enormous thank you to Robin Shephard-Blandy from Illuminate Design for creating the most wonderfully lit and beautifully sounding stage that there ever was! The technical side of things was supported by Toby in Upper Sixth, who, not content with playing the lead role, was also heavily involved in the set and lighting design!
Congratulations to each and every member of the Shebbear College Les Misérables Company - a show that will be remembered forever!
Here are some more of the amazing comments we have received following the show.
'Such a wonderful show. I wish I could see it again'
'It was absolutely amazing! The performances were flawless. So pleased to have managed to get last minute tickets.'
'I saw the performance last night, it was outstanding! Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved for a wonderful evening.'
'Totally blown away! It was truly fabulous. Well done all.'
'Absolutely incredible. The whole production was inspirational. Thank you to everyone involved. So super proud'
'We were totally captivated. Thank you so much to all the cast & crew, and to all the adults involved in giving our children such an amazing experience! They totally nailed it!'
'Absolutely amazing! Everyone involved should be so proud of themselves. The best show!!!'
'Absolutely amazing production. Congratulations to all involved, and massive thanks to the cast and crew for delivering such an enjoyable evening!'
'What a privilege to be able to watch this amazing performance. You could see and feel the emotion and passion from all the cast - they completely became their characters. Truly inspirational and it wouldn't have looked out of place on a West End Stage.'
'If I didn't know, I would have thought it was a Stage School performing - absolutely brilliant.'
'Wow, and what a performance it was! Huge congratulations to every member of the cast, you were all just outstanding, and a big shout out to the crew and backstage team for so much hard work.'
'Beth - first song in and you made me cry, such clarity . You were on par if not better than the character I saw at the West End - Beautiful. Thank you for an amazing performance.'
'It was absolutely brilliant! We stayed up till midnight doing a post-show analysis talking about all the amazing things we'd noticed!'
'We were blown away by the production! A million thank yous to everyone for the amazing experience.'
'Toby was fantastic, absolutely amazing.'
