Cheer for Charities Week!

RGS CHARITIES WEEK is an annual fundraising event in which the school raises money for two charities, selected each year by a whole-school student vote.

The first of this year’s beneficiaries is Josie’s Dragonfly Trust. They support young cancer patients with very limited time by helping their families to create precious and lasting memories together. The other chosen charity is the Great North Air Ambulance. They operate three helicopters to bring emergency medical aid quickly to often remote and inaccessible areas.

Miss Hayes, the teacher in charge, said her target is to improve a little on last year and reach £10,000. As for possible activities, she told us: “We are still in the planning zone, however I know that there will be a cake sale, staff v student games, as well as a sponsored readathon.”

It will start on Monday, 26th November with activities taking place during breaks and lunchtimes. STAGE-STRUCK RGS students in Years 7 and 8 are currently rehearsing a spooky spectacle of a musical called The Addams Family. The show, written by Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman, and Rick Elice, is based on the well-know cartoon strip that spawned a TV series and a movie. The eponymous family are a whacky, ghoulish American clan with an affinity for all things macabre.

Bede Doe (12), who plays the family patriarch Gomez Addams, said, “The hardest part of my role was having the ability to act in a Latino-American accent, especially while singing!”

Imogen Stobart (12) plays the mother of a normal family, the Beinekes, whose son is dating Wednesday Addams. She told us “a lot of the humour comes from the fact that the Beinekes just don’t understand the Addams family’s very odd lifestyle.”

The chorus, known in the show as the spooky ‘Ancestors’ of the family, are eerie and ghostly characters who take glee in the Addams Family’s struggles.

The production is being directed by RGS drama teacher Mr. Walters. He told us that he had picked the show as it was a “fun musical” that would give Year 7 and 8 “experience of a full singing, dancing, happy American musical.” He explained about the “groovy costumes and groovy music” and promised “some big numbers” and “lots of colour and lighting”. He expressed his opinion that “everyone’s going to be a star.”

The show, which is open to the public, will take place on the 6th and 7th December at 7pm in the school’s Miller Theatre. Tickets, available online from Eventbrite, are £8, with the proceeds going to support the school’s Charities Week (see story to the left). For prospective parents and students, there is also an open sponsored rehearsal taking place during RGS Open Morning on 17th November.