1981 School Magazine

The King and I Alter auditions and a ten day holiday, an enthusiastic cast startedonrehearsal of the 198 l Musical-'TheKingandI'. Naturally we wanted it to equal, or even better, last year's success, 'The Wizard of Oz.' Everyone co-operated unusually well to make our precious rehearsal time as productive as possible. We found the task to be not as easy as we had an- ticipated and many of us felt the 'The King and I' might prove a little too ambitious for our amateur capabilities. The play, which is set in the royal palace of the King of Siam in 1862, required a more subtle approach to characterisation than had 'The Wizard ol Oz', and presented the major problem of translorming thoroughly Australian teenagers into thoroughly subservient Siamese ! By the middle of July the efforts of all concerned, including the Music Department (Mrs. Zamora, Mr. Warden and Mrs. Best); the Art Department (Miss Boyd, Mrs. Cave and Mrs. Ford) and of course the cast and their parents, were taking positive shape. It was with great determination on the part of Miss O'Sullivan and with great trepidation on the part of the students that we faced the 31 July. Alter a dismal dress rehearsal on the 29th it was a nervous and unhappy bunch who desperately threw everything into the opening night. But the play was an enormous success, and three consecutive nights proved that all our worry and hard work had not been lor nothing. The stage crew and the make-up crew performed miracles un- der the eagle eyes of Mr. Emery and Mrs. Thomas; the lighting and sound crew under Mr. Rowell and Mr. Hughes produced some amazing effects. The help of the teachers was much appreciated. For the lirst time we were honoured by the presence ol four talented actors from B.G.S.: David Sin- namon (the King); Stuart Luke (Lun Tha); Daryl White (British diplomat); and Simon Van Kempen (British Am- bassador). They were outnumbered by the lairer sex, and definitely preferred it that way...etcetera, etcetera, etcetera... Their time and effort, and also that of Anne Cowan and Janis Claxton with the dancers is much appreciated. A special thanks must go to Anne Marie O'Sullivan, whose determination and consistent hard work and guidance made her final production at B.G.G.S. a great success, and one, we hope, which she will remember for a long time to come. We wish her the best ol luck for the future. Andrea Milliken