Concert of Remembrance

by

Jacquimac

Part 7

It was Friday before I could practice again, I`d tried a couple of times since I got home but couldn`t concentrate, I had to ring Julie about rehearsals tonight because I had forgotten were we doing it.

As soon as we arrived at the church hall everyone was asking how I was, was I ok to rehease?, I assured them that except for a slight headache I was fine.

We couldn`t practice the opening as it required all of us plus the person doing the narration who was at the theatre with the other group.

We had enough musicians with the jive band so all we had to do were the songs and comedy skits, at first i looked terribly ropey but as everyone finally settled down it started to come together, OK it was long way from being anywhere near good enough but it was the first night of rehearsals.

Monday we back at school the doctor had removed the stitches on saturday morning and the headache was gone. Straight away everyone started to have a go at Darren till I stopped them.

After I told them what had happened and that we were friends again they all backed off and calmed down, I felt safer now as just about the whole school was looking out for me.

I didn`t realise it till after the concert but except for the sports teams almost every kid in school was in the concert in one way or another no wonder Mrs Cockroft was over the moon. She was happy that the school got the publicity and showed the school in a good light for a change.

It wasn`t a big school only a couple of hundred pupils but there was always the bad element that showed the school up. Pranks that went wrong usually with someone getting hurt or something getting damaged. there had been a few expulsions the previous year so hopefully things were settling down.

The teachers all lived locally and some off them had been brought up on the area so knew all our parents and families well. It wasn`t unknown for a teacher just to visit a home for a social chat but all in all the teachers were great.

I remember getting home one evening and finding six of lady teachers sitting and talking to mum, I thought I was in trouble but it turned out they had all grown up together and were just a social get together.

Wednesday is a Bakers day were we don`t attend school, the teachers are supposed to do some sort of training, mums taking the day off work and we`re going shopping, and my brothers are going to be redecorating my room.

We have a night of from rehearsals on thursday the choir and orchestra are going to a complete rehearsal with our group to see if everything fit`s in the time frame we`ve allowed for our part.

We know the concert is still a few weeks away but we need to try out the timings for both parts of concert so we can or drop songs etc, we don`t want to go too much over the time we`ve allowed for each part or people might start to get bored.

On wednesday evening we performed the run through and found we had about 30 mins fill, afteer much thought I suggested an act similar to the Andrews Sisters who were quite popular at the time, with 2 of boys doing Flanagan & Allen we filled the gap.

Rehearsals carried on over the weeks but we were starting to feel tired, with school and rehearsals it was a case of long days, but eventually we got everything down as we wanted it.

There were a couple of more attacks against me but they were`nt violent, OH I got pushed against walls ,bumped into and tripped but all that stopped when the culprits were suspended, eventually the pupils that were causing me problems got the message after Tom and Bill cracked a few heads.

It was decided that next year I wouldn`t go to the local secondary school instead I was to attend a nearby Girls School. I would still be a member of the Drama Club as it was nothing to do with the school.

Rehearsals were now only being done two night a week to ease the pressure on the performers but I think we all continued to practice anyway, this concert was too important for us too mess it up.

The costumes had arrived and the seamstresses were busy making them fit, props were done and scenery painted, the theatre was a beehive of activity. Everyone and anyone was helping they could.

The concerts were being held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the two weeks prior to Rememberance Sunday, the theatre manager asked if we could do a special performance on Saturday the week before for the British Legion, It would be televised on shown on local the TV. As the TV company was offering to make a sizable donation we agreed as long as everything was ready on time.