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Wakatipu High School - All Shook Up.

Location: Wakatipu High School Theatre
Region: Queenstown
Dates: Wed, 9 September 2020 - Sat, 12 September 2020 @ Daily.

  • Wakatipu High School  - All Shook Up.

All Shook Up is the first musical to be held in Wakatipu High School’s theatre.

Wakatipu High School’s 2020 musical is All Shook Up written by Joe DiPietro, directed by Jake Hansen with musical direction from Alison Price. Loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, All Shook Up is set in 1955 in a square little town in a square little state, where a young guitar-playing man changes everyone he meets. This hip-swivelling, lip-curling musical fantasy will have you tapping your blue suede shoes to such classics as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”

Greta Balfour, one of this year’s leads, is a big fan. “I love the soundtrack. There isn’t a song in the musical I don’t enjoy listening to. It's also great for the audience since it's all well-known Elvis Presley songs, so they can engage because they know the music." 

The large cast features Ollie McLean as Chad, and also stars Ryan Connaghan, Cameron Kennedy-Brown, Yvette Mitchell, Marco Ploeg, Sophie Thompson, Todd Vermeir, Hannah White and Lily Wiapo.

As usual, All Shook Up is nearly entirely student-led. Yvette Mitchell and Ryan Connaghan take up the role of student directors this year. Students are leading nearly every aspect of production with Sami Roberston as production assistant, set design and props are run by Lucy Glover and Arwyn Donnelly-Cranston, costume is led by Brier Morgan, technical features (lighting, sound and videography) are managed by Riley Tenquist and Kane Viggers, and the show’s amazing choreography is by Claudia Watts, Ella Lanuel and Maggie Frew. Band leaders include Harrison Maguire, Micky Nguyen and Dillon Bouchier and there are also students supporting hair and makeup, marketing, backstage and front of house.  Three Wakatipu High School alumni - Hugh Taylor, Jack Wilson and Josh Hines-Townsend, are assisting with different elements of production as they continue to keep the special tradition of WHS musicals alive. They also want to help current students build up skills in various areas of the theatre, just as they had been mentored when they were students.

Jake Hansen is very pleased with how his cast and crew is working this year. “I love working with high school students, they’re passionate and energetic. What students bring to roles is special. Sometimes they have completely outrageous and out of the blue ideas and it just works with what they’re working on - which is fantastic.”

All Shook Up runs from the 9th to the 12th of September, with shows starting at 7:30 pm.

General admission is $15 for students, $30 for adults and $80 for families (2 adults + 2 students) (booking fees apply).

Seating is limited so get your tickets now from iticket.co.nz: https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2020/apr/all-shook-up 

“It’s going to be loud, it’s going to be energetic, it’s going to be so much fun.” - Cameron Kennedy-Brown.

Location

Wakatipu High School Theatre

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