Gharaffa Students Bring Disney's Aladdin to Life in Spectacular Musical Production

On 8th and 9th June, Gharaffa students performed ‘Aladdin’ for the school community. Students from Years 4-6 were invited to sign up for a musical production Extra Curricular Activity (ECA) and this wonderful cast was created. Rehearsals began in January and students worked tirelessly over the past few months to prepare a magical show for everyone.

The production was led by music teacher Miss Connolly and parent Lauren Purin. Lauren has a background in drama and so supported with acting and putting the scenes together, while Miss Connolly focused on the songs and choreographing the musical. Mr Pegrum’s Y1-3 dance group also featured in ‘Friend Like Me’ to ensure that all age-groups could participate in the production.

Aladdin is a renowned Disney movie and is especially popular with primary students due to the 2019 re-make. I wanted to choose a musical that was known to students to get them excited and involved since most of them have never performed, or even watched, a live musical as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have an amazing collaboration with The  Juilliard School to promote the performing arts in Nord Anglia schools, so through the production we were able to focus on skills such as singing, acting and dancing.

With star performances from our lead characters, as well as energetic chorus numbers, everyone who was involved showed their full potential and talents. This was the first musical production since 2019 and Gharaffa was full of excitement and energy in the upcoming weeks. The production wouldn’t have been possible without a great team which also includes Ms Cinthia and Ms Corvinelli along with the wonderful IT and maintenance team who brought magic to the show with the staging, lighting and sound. Thank you to everyone who was involved!

- Ms. Connolly