“Here and now, it’s time for celebration… we’re all in this together!” Referred to as the Grease of today’s youth, Disney’s High School Musical JR, was recently performed by Year 7-9 students at Gubei Campus. The musical is a modern day love story that emphasises the importance of being true to yourself, following your dreams, working hard, and teamwork.

The inaugural production ran three performances for a full theatre of families, friends, fellow students, and staff. The student actors rehearsed throughout the spring and worked diligently to produce the performance for the YCIS community. As a result, the students pulled off an energetic and highly entertaining show that received standing ovations from the audiences!

Mr Robert Dil, Co-director and Choreographer for the show and a Drama teacher at YCIS, notes, “It was tremendously exciting to work on this production with our students, and to see their passion, excitement, and enthusiasm for theatre continue to grow and flourish as they worked so tirelessly to bring the show to life.”

The YCIS production of High School Musical had over 75 cast members with a full production team, including Year 13 IB Theatre and Music student, Isabelle, as a Co-director and Choreographer. She reflected on the experience, saying, “Co-directing and choreographing the production was great fun, and it was also a really important learning experience for me, especially to be able to work alongside such an experienced musical theatre director, Mr Dil. I also had such a wonderful group of students to work with. Watching the end result brought tears to my eyes, watching not only our work pay off, but also realising how much everyone had improved, and how much fun they were having, too!”

The focus of the Drama programme for students in the Lower Secondary years (Years 7–9) is to allow all students who are interested in drama to experience being involved in live theatre, and to develop an introductory programme for those who are interested in continuing with the performing arts in the Upper Secondary programme. To learn more about the Drama programme at YCIS, please click here.