Hello everyone !

I hope you are well !

I’m writing to let you know about our awesome show this year based on the music (and outfits) of none other than Sir Elton John! What with his appearance at the Jubilee this year and his being an undisputed national treasure, he seemed the perfect choice for our annual school musical. And the kids loved his music and unmistakable style.

At Christmas the MS and GS sang Are You Ready for Love?, a song they would be humming at some point pretty much every day for the rest of the year as its one of those that gets stuck in your head! After that they were avid Elton fans, requesting to dance to I’m Still Standing, Crocodile Rock and Bennie and the Jets during our daily free-dance sessions. I loved watching them soak up the music and forge their own unique styles of dancing. As the year progressed, they would ‘let themselves go’ more and more and dance without inhibition, gaining in confidence along the way. Some would tell me they preferred the slower tracks such as Your Song, Rocket Man or Sacrifice and would take their dancing very seriously, contemplating each movement as the songs played.

The children were keen to start learning the lyrics to their favorites, so, with the help of Harry and Jenny (my ESL puppets) we set to work. They learnt to sing Rocket Man and Your Song and before long they were huddled around my piano singing together. The first time they sang the chorus to Rocket Man together they gave me goosebumps, and I knew we were on to a good thing! The MS and GS learnt Hakuna Matata with the PS and TPS and were proud to teach them the chorus to Rocket Man and Your Song.

Now came the time to think about putting our Elton John school musical in place. Due to the restrictions at the time, we knew we wouldn’t be able to perform live (stupid Covid!) but that wouldn’t stop us! We explained to the children they would all be actors in their very own Elton John inspired clips/films. They were excited…especially when they heard there would be costumes!

I filmed the children while Lili directed them and we had such fun! Dressing up, dancing, singing and acting with and without the green screen made for some wonderful memories. Anyway, I won’t tell you too much as I don’t want to ruin the surprise! Watch this space for some sneak peaks of the final cuts! 😉