The production of the 35th High School Project – The Great Grand Road Trip will celebrate its opening night tonight with an evening of video viewing on the Spriet Stage for participating students, the Board of Trustees, sponsors, staff and special guests.
The Great Grand Road Trip is available free online from September 29 at 7:30 p.m. until October 11 at midnight. Viewers are requested to register online at grandtheatre.com, after which a link to view the production will be sent by e-mail.
“At the start of 2021, there was still a lot of uncertainty about what programming we could offer and our capacity levels in our rehearsal and performance spaces. What was certain was that we wanted to have a Kind of a high school project opportunity for our students. We spoke with Andrew Tribe, a High School Project alumnus and production director of Grand’s 2019 High School from Titanic: The Musical and asked him to put his creative brain in at work and did he ever deliver. a few days ago, and it’s 20 minutes of joy and shine. I’m so thrilled with what Andrew, the students and professional theater mentors put on in place, â€said Dennis Garnhum, artistic director.
The Great Grand Road Trip is a love letter to London, Ontario. An original work created by Tribe, the High School Project students spent three weeks curiously exploring some of London’s favorite landmarks and imagining the possibilities of theatrical magic. Students used unique London environments to reimagine classic musical theater numbers in new and exciting ways, outdoors. Hailed as the biggest and sprawling summer music revue of all time, The Great Grand Road Trip video is 20 minutes long and is followed by a 10 minute student-produced behind-the-scenes documentary / video, which will allow viewers to see up close and personal look at what it took to produce The Great Grand Road Trip.
Out of 100 applications and auditions, a total of 36 students from London and the region, grades 9 to 12, were selected to work in a variety of capacities to develop this one-of-a-kind production which shot at Boler Mountain , Storybook Gardens, Eldon House, Fanshawe Pioneer Village and a special stop at the Grand. Thirty students were in front of the camera and six worked behind in photography, videography, illustration and animation.
“After 18 months of being stuck at home glued to our screens, it has brought the company – students and mentors alike – great joy to see the exteriors of London with fresh eyes. The Great Grand Road Trip is a celebration of young people, starting as individuals and coming together as a united group, â€noted Andrew Tribe.
“We selected songs from the musical theater catalog that best presented each location. Location always came first, with songs being selected asking ourselves: what story could we tell here? From Finding Neverland to Singin ‘in the Rain to Bring it On – The Musical and more, I’m excited for audiences online to see what we’ve created together, â€Tribe continued.
Students rehearsed in a space generously donated by Western Fair District, which left ample room for social distancing and compliance with COVID-19 protocols.
The Grand Grand Road Trip
High school project 2021
Created and directed by Andrew Tribe
Assistant Director: Ashley Kippax
Musical Director: Matthew Atkins
Choreographer: Jason sermonia
Band Members: William Li, Justin Rivet, Jake Schindler
Participating students:
Kees Alcantara
Emilie Alton
Ziad Anan
Hephzibar Ngozi Anyim
Thomas brunt
Sierra Choong
Madison Comfort
will cramp
Emma Cuzzocrea
Riley DeLuca
Evelyn gadsdon
Violet Goens
Dexter Greene
Trinity Hebb
Mika holzberg
Sarayu Janga
Jessica ladd
Cindy li
Miguel Constantin Mandapat
Christmas Maraka
Marshall Sun
Maggie Mckenzie
Jackson mcmullin
Max Middleton
Blessing of Onyekwere
Alex Pearce
Emma Puscalau
Camila Rodriguez
Kira shui
Will simon
Ridley smith
Olivier Stanton
Isaac szoldatits
Lea Webb
Mia Youmbi
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