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Notre Dame students present musical comedy set in the Renaissance

Virtual performance of ‘Something Rotten!’
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École Secondaire Notre Dame High School fine arts students will perform in a virtual performance of ‘Something Rotten’ March 24 to 27. (Image from Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools) École Secondaire Notre Dame High School fine arts students will perform in a virtual performance of ‘Something Rotten!’ March 24 to 27. (Image from Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools)

Fine arts students at École Secondaire Notre Dame High School will showcase a virtual performance of Something Rotten! from March 24 to 27 at 7 p.m.

Set in the Renaissance period, the play follows brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom who are desperate to write a hit play but are stuck in the shadow of Renaissance rock star — Shakespeare. After consulting with a local soothsayer, Nick finds out that the future in theatre involves singing, dancing and acting, so the pair set out to write the world’s very first musical.

“After our program was interrupted at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, this was a great opportunity to let the students’ creative energy shine. Although the final product is in a different format, we persisted with rehearsals both in school and at home and were able to learn a little about film creation,” said artistic director Jordan Johnson.

He said one unexpected benefit of being unable to perform matinees to the elementary and middle schools was the opportunity to prepare a PG-13 show and explore more mature themes.

Band director Tim Brehaut said producing the show for a virtual performance introduced students and staff to professionals in video editing, show production, and sound recording.

“While it was disappointing that we were not able to present a live performance for our family and friends this year, the adjustments we made have opened up all kinds of new experiences for the students and staff,” Brehaut said.

The production followed all COVID-19 protocols during rehearsals and the recording of the performance, including wearing masks, lip-syncing, individualized recordings, disinfecting and hand sanitization.

Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased on ShowTix4u.com.



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