KNYSNA NEWS - Treasure Island - the musical by Riverwood Primary School was just the tonic the school needed at the tail end of a long, hard year. Performed on 9 and 10 November, the story about a boy's imagination was sprinkled with musical numbers performed by Grades R to 7 pupils.
The audience meets a young Jim Hawkins at the start of a very bad day; he gets sent to his room for yelling at his mother. He escapes this reality by dreaming up a wild treasure-hunting adventure.
In the world he creates, he finds a treasure map, sails across the ocean blue, survives a mutiny on the high seas, meets islanders, uncovers a lost treasure and becomes the hero of his story.
The pre-show programme allowed the Grade R to 7 children to showcase their adaptations of much-loved pirate-themed songs, for which Terrah Mello had arranged colourful "boomwhackers" and musical bells as accompaniment.
The Intermediate Phase classes impressed all with their pre-show recitals of choral verses. These included The Addlepated Glundersnedd (Grade 7) and This Poem's Not About a Dog (Grade 4) by Kenn Nesbitt, as well as Shel Silverstein's Sick. The Grade 5s had a snappy time with Gareth Lancaster's The Crocodile.
These witty poems set the mood for a merry evening. The pre-show programme ended with Grades 4 to 7 performing Mello's body percussion arrangement of Hans Zimmer's Up is Down. The foot stomping, hand clapping, body-slapping syncopation was a hit with the audience.
Mello had a vision of producing a musical concert involving all the children in Riverwood Primary. The performances were the culmination of her creativity, hard work and many months of practice in drama and music lessons.
"We are grateful for the generous funding from Susanne Isaacs in the USA which covered the costs of rights, equipment and materials that went into creating all aspects of the show," said school principal Carrene Sands. "Thanks to Terrah Mello (director), Caleb Mello (accompanist, structural design), Melissa Brouard (stage design, prop management) and Irene de Klerk (coordinating efforts), the staff and children. The treasure for Riverwood Primary and Stepping Stones Pre-Primary children and staff is learning that 'Team work makes the Dream work'."
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