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Young Americans 2012

Friday 24th to Sunday 26th February 2012

So, after months of anticipation the Young Americans arrived at Manor College on Wednesday 23rd February, a day earlier than planned. All day pupils who knew they were taking part in the workshop had been grinning like Cheshire cats and were so excited to take part in the work shop again. At 6.30 the homestay families arrived with some startled looking parents but very excited pupils.

Thanks to the organisational skills of Jenna, the company manager, everything worked like clockwork and within 15 minutes the hall was empty and the Young Americans were ready to start their five day stay with the pupils of Manor College.

On Thursday morning the buzz around school was fantastic with pupils of all different ages and interests, excited to see the Young Americans.

Three lessons of shows were planned to allow more pupils to see the group and then be able to take part in the workshop at the weekend.

The shows took place in Grange Hall and every pupil and member of staff were amazed by the energy and talent that the group showed.

Each Young American spoke to the pupils and got to know them before performing extracts from their show which we would see fully on the Sunday evening.

At break time, they stayed in the hall and spoke with the Y10’s and Y11’s, then performed their final show before settling down in the drama studio to audition for the next tour.

On Friday morning they arrived to set up the Sports Hall as the workshop venue. The professionalism of the group as they unloaded, set up and organised the space was again amazing. Each individual knew what job they needed to do and the space was set in less than an hour. It was certainly a lesson for our BTEC Performing Arts students of how to set up a performance area.

The workshop started with the Young Americans collecting the 176 pupils aged from 8-18 from Grange Hall and introducing themselves before Mindy, their director, explained how the Young Americans began and what they do now. The participants were then treated to a performance by individual soloists, the whole group singing as a choir and then a performance of the opening number and suddenly we were straight into learning the whole routine.

The evening continued at an amazing pace; with songs and dances being learnt, singing and dancing circles in the three separate age groups. There was time for a break in the middle where the Young Americans were provided with a hearty meal cooked by the ladies of Friends of Manor College (FMC) - donations were received from some local shops including Greggs & Davisons the Butchers, as well as Hart Biological donating money to feed the group for the weekend. After the meal the workshop continued and the pupils went home at 9pm having learnt full routines already.

Click to Open Young American Rehearsal Photos