Showcase 2012
The Magic of the Musicals
THE MAGIC OF THE MUSICALS was the final production of the 2012 class of the Stage School Hamburg and was thus in the tradition of the school's "Showcase". Jacqueline Dunnley-Wendt and Hauke Wendt from MCE Shows were commissioned by the school management to take on the conception and realisation of this event, which was to be performed at K2 at Kampnagel in Hamburg.
The creatives
direction and choreography: Jacqui Dunnley-Wendt
music direction: Hauke Wendt
additional choreography: Marco Krämer
It was already clear at this point that production planning and staging had to take place within an ambitious schedule.
We set ourselves the task of not simply compiling the evening from works that the students had already rehearsed as part of their studies, but to use new songs and scenes so that the students had the opportunity to have to work on a lot of material in a short time under as real conditions as possible as part of their degree. We also introduced a clear thread that would make it easier for the audience to follow the course of the show.
The evening was to begin with Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS PINAFORE and then explore turning points in the history of musical theatre in chronological order using examples such as DIE DREIGROSCHENOPER, FOLLIES, WEST SIDE STORY and CATS, through to current productions such as GLEE and ROCK OF AGES.
Some sequences were given their own scenes, others were to flow directly into each other. We were of course aware that we could not draw on all the exciting possibilities and historically relevant points - this would have blown up the time frame of the event! In addition, it was of course important for us to showcase the skills of our performers in the best possible way...
We can certainly say with a clear conscience that THE MAGIC OF THE MUSICALS has been a steep learning curve for everyone involved. We were just as pleased with the positive reactions of the audience as we were with the fact that many of the performers in the show (and thus graduates of the class of 2012) have subsequently received professional engagements. If you have learned something in the course of your work on this project that can help you on your professional path, we would of course also be delighted!
