Sherbrooke Elementary production of ‘Dreamcatcher’ brings the school together with music
Around 60 students from Sherbrooke Elementary (SES) are involved in the school’s upcoming production of Dreamcatcher, a musical by John Jacobson and Mark Brymer.
According to music teacher Tracey Rivette, most of the staff at the school had a hand in the production in one way or another, either with the actors, the set design, tickets and promotion, or letting Rivette borrow students from classes for short rehearsals.
“It’s really been a team thing,” Rivette said, “I couldn’t do it without their support.”
The story of Dreamcatcher, according to Rivette, has a double meaning. While on the surface it is about dreamcatchers, which protect dreams while people sleep, there is a character, the trickster, trying to take away the other character’s dreams of a better world.
“It’s about believing in yourself,” Rivette said, a solid message for the young students.
“We sell tickets, but that’s basically just to pay for the sound,” Rivette said, explaining the main purpose of the show isn’t to turn a profit.
“It’s an opportunity for the kids to
perform.” “I’ve missed it,” commented Rivette, saying the school hasn’t done a musical in a few years.
In previous productions, Rivette said the students usually sang to pre-recorded music or worked with a pianist.
For the first time, the SES Grade 6 rock band will be will be playing most of the songs for the show.
“Now that we have actual instruments in our classroom, we can do that kind of thing,” she said.
The 15-member band will share the parts, playing a variety of instruments including guitar, bass, keyboard and drums, among others.
“The lovely thing is they just want to try everything,” Rivette said.
Smoothing out the transitions and switching of players in between songs while the actors are performing has required a lot of coordination, Rivette said.
Rivette and the students began working on the show in January.
“You can’t put together a musical working half-an-hour a week,” Rivette said, explaining she and others involved have been working during recess, lunch hours and spare periods in addition to the weekly Wednesday rehearsals.
While the rock band has been working on the songs, the choir, comprised of around 40 students from Grade 2-6 have been learning their parts, and teacher Matthew Johnson has been working on the actors.
Set design is being handled by art teacher Celine Lacompte with the help of Norm Marsh, who have prepared around 18 dreamcatchers to hang on the set and around the gym.
Isabelle Goulet is taking care of tickets and promotion, Rivette added, saying it is a whole school affair.
The poster for the show was made by a Grade 3 student taking a water colour painting options class. “She’s so proud,” Rivette said, again pointing out how many students and staff have helped with the show.
Rivette agreed a production of this size has a ripple effect throughout the school.
“The Grade 1 students can’t wait for Grade 2 so they can get involved,” Rivette said.
Rivette said the Grade 5 rock band will perform a number of songs before Dreamcatcher begins on Thursday.
“They will be the next generation,” Rivette said, wanting them to get some stage experience.
There will also be a brief African drumming demonstration before the show.
“It’s all part of hooked on school,” Rivette explained. “How do we get the kids to love school, to want to come,” she said.
When she first started rock band six or seven years ago, Rivette got a maximum of 10 students. Now, there are as many as 18 interested in learning instruments and playing music.
Dreamcatcher will take the stage on Thursday, May 18 at 7 p.m. at SES.