CEDARS Upper School students are pictured during final rehearsals for the school's annual musical production.
This year's show, Copacabana, is a story based on the song by Barry Manilow, in which an up-and-coming songwriter called Stephen is trying to compose a new song about a girl called Lola.
The show is set in 1947 in New York, at a night club called
the Copacabana, run by a rather gruff but naïve owner called Sam Silver, where a bevy of would-be singers are trying to make the grade.
Unfortunately, Sam is bankrolled by a dangerous big-time gangster called Rico, who runs an unsalubrious outfit in Havana, Cuba.
Lola is kidnapped and taken there, and the action which follows tells how Tony manages to rescue her.
The cast of 27 students, drawn from all year groups, was headed up by Dan Hutton, who played the role of Stephen/Tony, and Megan Levey, (Samantha/Lola).
Other leading roles were performed by Iain Levey, Matt Darby and Lizzie Mounter, and trainee-teacher Kelly Sarson.
The production team was led by the school's head of drama, Helen Shapter-Wheeler, and music teacher Abi Cashman, assisted by sixth-form musician Dan Boardman.
The dance sequences were choreographed by Emma Whitemore, a local professional dancer, and Amy Robbins, another sixth-form student. The cast had the good fortune to be led in a one-day workshop by West End star Sean Kingsley, who had sung the role of Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables" three years ago.
The full article contains 260 words and appears in Leighton Buzzard Observer newspaper.
