ARTS WEEK LAUNCH

We are nearly at the end of a fantastic inaugural Kolbe Arts Week.  The launch on Monday was a cultural evening of dance, music and drama in the visual arts exhibition area in the Sports Hall.  Four dancers accompanied the opening prayer before Mrs Caroline Payne formally welcomed guests. Mr Mark McGowan made the opening speech, commenting especially on the standard of art exhibited. 

Year 12 students did a great job handing round refreshments as well as talking to visitors about their artworks. Entertainment was provided throughout the evening by dancers and “living statues” as well as solo performances and ensemble pieces from our gifted musicians.  Ms Genevie Baker, CEO Curriculum Consultant for The Arts, praised the artists’ work commenting “… it is wonderful the way these young people express themselves using so many different mediums.”

Lauren Payne was presented with the Kolbe Art Acquisition Award for her highly creative acrylic painting entitled “Fairy Tales Corrupt” and visitors were invited to nominate their favourite piece of artwork for the People’s Choice Award.

Congratulations go to the Arts staff for a wonderful programme, not just for the evening but also for the week and we look forward to the Showcase Performance Friday night when the People’s Choice Award winner will be announced.  Thank you to our P&F caterers and our support staff who worked so hard behind the scenes at the launch.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL INVOLVED IN "CRUISIN' - THE MUSICAL"

Cruisin', a musical set in Australia in 1959, looked at the lives of an immigrant family and their integration into the Australian culture.  Cruisin' was Kolbe Catholic College's musical offering this year and it played several shows, three of which were sell out crowds.

The musical involved over 60 students from all year groups in the College.  Students worked extremely hard, rehearsing since Term One, to make this a professional and entertaining show and I believe they were completely successful in this endeavour. I know that many students have discovered some hidden talents through this process and several have surprised even me with their level of ability and commitment to this production.  I would like to send a big thank you to all the families and friends of Kolbe Catholic College for your support in this event and my personal thanks to the students in the cast, backstage crew and band for the extraordinary time and effort they have all put in for the duration of the project.

Many staff members worked tirelessly on this undertaking.  In particular I would like to thank the Performing Arts staff involved, Alisha Stedman, Peter Legg, Anita Musca and Kath Hunter for their huge amount of work on the project.  Countless other staff members and parents were also involved in various backstage roles and I would like to send out a special thank you to Leanne Joyce for her tireless work with the backstage crew and Rose Mascaro who played in the band and has been in block 7 so often we have voted her an honorary member of the Performing Arts Department!  Involved as a part of the cast, making his stage debut, was our fabulous motorbike rider Matthew Martinovich who made the perfect 1950s bodgie and for the first time the role of Stage Manager was filled by a student, Year 12 Ben Caunt, who did an outstanding job.  I would like to thank all the other staff and students that helped out backstage including three fabulous parents who helped with costumes, Kathy Cooke, Brenda Hicks and Paula Bauer.

The show turned out to be a huge success with over 800 people coming to see it over the five performances.  The feedback from all was positive especially from people such as Rod Christian and Peter Waterman (The Writers), Genevie Baker (CEO) and Teena Raffa Mulligan (Sound Telegraph) who included a very complimentary write up in her paper.  The primary school students that attended the matinee on August 1st were kind enough to send the cast reviews and pictures outlining their experiences.  They were very enthusiastic about the show, giving it scores like 10 out of 10 (and in one case 15 out of 10!).  The feedback from parents and students (those involved in the project and those that were not) was also extremely positive, with students that did not audition this time vowing they would not miss out next time!  I would encourage any students interested in the Performing Arts to audition for the 2009 musical performance.  It is such a huge event and an experience these students will carry with them for the rest of their lives. 

Make sure to look out for the next big event for the Kolbe Catholic College Arts Department - Arts Week.  This will run from September 17 - September 21 2007 and will showcase the works of many of the College's art students.  The program of events will be advertised in the newsletter soon and we hope to see you there.

Ms Katherine Gauci
Drama & Productions Coordinator