HMS Pinafore
The Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "HMS Pinafore" was produced in 1958 by Mrs Antoniadis and performed by the pupils though Mr Taylor, who had a lovely tenor voice, took the lead male role. For many of the pupils who took part, it is one of their fondest memories of their schooldays. But not all the pupils were musically talented……
Sally (Struckel) Callaghan's memories of "HMS Pinafore":
"There were a few of us boarders (who sang like frogs in a tin pot) who were not even picked for the chorus. They debated whether we should be included and just keep our mouths shut or be left out altogether. The latter was decided because of the expense of the costumes.
The hall was not on the premises, so instead of sacrificing one of the staff to look after us, we went in with the rest and because of all the excitement were forgotten about. This led us to discover that if we climbed up the outside of the building and pulled ourselves onto a ledge where there was a clear pane just under the roof, we had a bird's eye view of everything below us. This was our viewing post every night, and when Mr Taylor (our Latin teacher) and Gaye Robertson (a pupil) who both had lovely voices, had to hold hands and sing their song, we used to erupt ! cheering, wolf whistling, chanting in Latin and behaving like "idiots" but it was great fun and we were never caught !
Left click on a thumbnail to see a larger version. Thanks to Yvonne (Emslie) Twilley for supplying the programme.
The next few years saw further musical productions directed by Mrs Antoniadis:
Pirates of Penzance 1959
Goodnight Vienna 1960
The Mikado 1961 (thanks to Pat (Barlow) Nel for the programme)
Iolanthe 1962
After a gap of several years, Mr Dykstra, and later Mr Johnson, put on productions of South Pacific, Oliver, Annie Get Your Gun and The Music Man.
The 15 minute Hamlet and The King and I
