COHUNA is well known for its connection to the music industry, associated with some big name performers, but local talent will be on show at the St Mary’s School production of Jules at the end of this month.
The performance involves all year levels at the primary school, with the musical written by teacher Elaine Keely.
Ms Keely said the performance involved stepping back to the 50s for a family night of rock n’ roll fun.
“It’s a funny rock n’ roll show,” Ms Keely said.
She said the performance would provide an opportunity for local residents to enjoy a night out.
“We all need something happy to think about, rather than the doom and gloom of the drought and everything else,” she said.
Ms Keely said the show’s origins date back to the 90s, but has evolved over the years.
“Originally it was written 25 years ago,” Ms Keely said, noting that was when she first wrote the script.
“It was only short and we used well known rock n’ roll songs back then, like Rock Around the Clock and You Make Me Want to Shout.
Copyright issues with songs used in that original version of Jules prompted Ms Keely, who has since become an avid writer of musicals, to write her own songs for the production.
“I wrote songs to go with the play and then other schools in the meantime have put it on, which is lovely,” she said.
However, there’ll be new elements on display when St Mary’s bring the production to life.
“I’ve revamped it and we’ve added new characters and I’ve written three more songs to go with it, so other schools have not done these songs.
“We’ve added quite a few characters, extended the play and tweaked it quite a bit,” Ms Keely enthused.
Such is the extent of the evolution, all songs in the show are now hers.
In 1994, Jules was a project for grades 5 and 6.
Those year levels will take the lead roles again this time, but every class will have a song and dance routine during the performance.
Some of the youngsters in this year’s production are children of former students who were in the original version of Jules.
Ms Keely is delighted members of her new cast have embraced the musical.
“The kids have put their own slant on things,” Ms Keely said.
“They’ve come up with their own ideas and suggestions. Some of them have got real potential to be very good directors.”
Continuing a St Mary’s School tradition, part of the proceeds will be directed to a cause, with The Royal Children’s Hospital music therapy program set to benefit.
The production of Jules forms part of the Big Cohuna Festival.
