Elf Is A Festive Treat
7th December 23
The annual Upper School Production took a festive turn this year as students from Years 10 – 13 performed ‘Elf – The Musical’. Just like Buddy The Elf himself it really upped the levels of Christmas cheer and was a huge hit with the packed audiences for it’s three night run. In addition to all the performers the band who provided all the wonderful music was also full of KAS students playing alongside professional musicians.
We spoke to some of the cast members about what it was like taking part in the production.
Ahaan, Year 10 was one of the cast who took on a variety of roles as part of the chorus. He told us “I was quite excited when I found out we were doing Elf. I do the UAL Drama course at GCSE level and so I enjoy any chance to get involved with performing. To audition we had to prepare a song from Elf, a duologue and a dance. Everyone who auditioned got a part, which was really good. Compared to other performances I’ve been in, it was a step up acting wise but the same fun experience, it’s been really fun to do, I’ve enjoyed it, 100%.”
Tilly, Year 13, took on her final ever KAS production in the role of Jovie: “I thought Elf was a strange pick at first, as it wasn’t one of the big musicals, but I ended up thinking it’s a really good pick. It’s a great ensemble musical and when I listened to the soundtrack, I liked the music. It’s been really good working with the cast, even more so than in previous shows. Everyone has just clicked and we all work really well together. Getting into character for the dress rehearsal was a great moment, seeing everyone in make-up and costumes ready to go was brilliant and actually quite funny.”
Tabitha, Year 11 played Buddy’s sister Michaela Hobbs, she was buzzing when we spoke to her after the first night: “The whole production has been so fun, I’m really, really proud of it – every time I’m on and off the stage I’m whooping with joy! While it is difficult to manage all the rehearsals with my GCSEs, needless to say I’m still having fun, its not detrimental to my studies. The experience you get from being in a KAS production is fantastic and so valuable. I’ve made so many new friends who are in the years above me who’ve come into the School at Sixth Form. Obviously with the performance aspects of it I’ve learnt so much but also the technical side, learning about lighting and sound, it’s so so precious!”
The cast included another Tabitha, Year 13 who played Mr Hobbs secretary Deb. As a student who is studying for the UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Performance and Production Arts, she’s use to performing but was still excited to take part: “We’ve worked really hard to make this show happen, it’s taken a lot of Choice sessions and extra rehearsals after school and at weekends. Taking part in the show is something we do in addition to our course modules because it’s great to be part of a full scale production like this one. The set is so good and the amount of work that Matt and Rob put in on the staging and Nell and Lucy and everyone who helps on the costumes (on top of the performance stuff) is amazing.”
