Being in a musical in high school is one of the best things you can do! In terms of benefits, educators might comment on the musical, team-building, disciplinary, physical exercise and confidence skills that students gain. We'd like to add that they're just a whole lot of fun and the friendships you make are like none other. 

There's just one problem...

Not many musicals are actually designed to complement the strengths of a school. It also takes many years for the rights of a show to be released, often leaving students with the feeling that they're not performing anything fresh or relevant to them. We've written a musical that aims to complement the strengths of young people, with subject matter we can all relate to. 
      
Now we bet you're wondering what the plot is! Well without giving too much away, here's a little summary:

Ernie is a student in his final year at Finchley’s School for Gifted Young Adults. With a 20 period day, beginning at 6am, the school is full of high achievers following their motto “Noli comedere secundam, ne umquam sis secundus.” or in English: ’Don’t waste a second, and never come second’ He gained admission by miraculously winning a national running race when he was younger, but has never been able to perform as highly.

Late for school, again, he has to sprint to get there on time. He drinks a lot of water to keep him going. Once he makes it to class, he fails to answer a question because of seeing a strange vision of a woman talking very quickly. Upon telling his best friend, Sarah, about the strange vision, she assumes Ernie is just being followed by ‘Madamoiselle Guilt’, a personification of the pressure that all students feel to work hard and do well. They both dismiss it, and Ernie gulps back some more water, still not recovered from his strenuous run.

After being teased by the high-achieving school bullies, and being ignored by his beautiful crush, Vanessa, Ernie notices that he really needs to pee after drinking all this water. Vanessa begins to leave when he desperately reaches and calls for her to slow down. Suddenly, the scene actually does slow down and Ernie’s fast-talking vision appears again. However, since the scene has slowed down, the lady now talks slow enough to understand. She explains that he has the power to freeze and slow down time, and how to use it. The only limitation: for the power to work, he must need to pee. Ernie, in his naivety, is ecstatic but fails to see any ulterior motive by the strange lady in the vision.

The Mafia, led by this very lady, are happy that Ernie has finally come of the right age to implement their plan. Ernie uses his powers to gain academic and social success, but soon the plan ensues and he disappears. Sarah, Vanessa, and his new bully friends all race out to look for Ernie, and they finally stumble across the ultimate crime scene. What has the Mafia done to Ernie? What is he about to do? Can anyone stop him?
    

Why it would be ideal in a school:
- Many chorus numbers (possibility of different groups playing chorus in different songs, with a larger cast)
- Appropriate humour, but still very cheeky
- Relevant message to young people about not succumbing to pressure or competition
- References to things that young people say, do and use
- This is not an overly politically correct, squeaky clean show. We know how young people feel about those.

It's very simple:

$6000 will cover 4 nights basic hire at Monkey Baa theatre in Darling Harbour.

$3 is for a slushy that we will buy ourselves to celebrate reaching the funding target. 

Putting on a musical is never easy. Challenges include choosing a compatible cast, selecting the right band, effective promotion, budget management etc. 

We plan to tackle these with a very clear sense of role for all involved. Directorial decisions (such as staging, over-arching decisions effecting the show, final yes's and no's) will be made and implemented by Will. Musical decisions (issues with the band, teaching music to cast, making sure all sound effects are in place) will be made and implemented by Alice. Choreography and movement decisions will be made and implemented by Louise Flynn, Brent Street graduate and our choreographer for the show.

Roles in producing and promoting the show will be filled by Kate Haynes and Gabriella White, two experienced and organised members of our production team.