CONGRATULATIONS to Musical Theatre Society for winning Society of the Month for December. Here's what they had to say about the event they ran that bagged them the award.
#1 What was the objective of your event?
- To entertain an audience with songs, dances and acting pieces from a range of different musicals.
- To raise money for our chosen charity, Allsorts Youth Project (A local charity that listens to, supports & connects children & young people between the ages of 5 and 25 years old, who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or unsure (LGBTU) of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity).
- For every member of the society to have an unforgettable and meaningful experience.
- To raise money for our underdeveloped society, to help us to do amazing things in the future and give more students opportunities.
- We have raised over £180 (a third of that will go to AllSorts Youth Project and the rest will go to our society!)
#2 When did your event take place?
Wednesday 5th December 2018, 7pm – 8.30pm
#3 Where did your event take place?
Grand Parade campus - University of Brighton, Room 225 – Performance Studio
#4 How many people came?
60
#5 How did the attendees participate?
- There were 22 members in the society, who had been working on the showcase for months, who performed an hour and a half show of songs, dances and acting pieces from all types of musicals. They all coordinated in their personalized black ‘Brighton Students’ Union’ t-shirts.
- 35 tickets were sold: We received a brilliant response from the audience; although there were not many audience members, they were incredibly loud and supportive, making the night into even more of a success.
- Dom (Sound and lighting technician)
- 2 volunteers who helped sell cakes for our chosen charity (Allsorts Youth Project) and checked tickets as audience members started to arrive.
#6 What did you learn?
I learned that it takes an awful lot of dedication to put on a show. This showcase took over 2 months to make, which included promoting the society (in order to receive members) creating the arrangements of songs, planning a 2 hour rehearsal schedule each week, making the cover art for the Facebook page and programs, setting up a system online to sell tickets and a lot more that you would not even think about..
Our members have put in so much hard work and determination to make this show possible. As well as 2 hour rehearsals once a week, they have been meeting up outside of rehearsal times at people’s houses and extra booked rooms. I have learned that you have to be incredibly organised in order to run a show. You have to sometimes prioritise the show over many other things. However, that did not matter to us, because you can evidently see that every committee member and general society member enjoy what they are doing.
Some of us also gradually learned directing skills, teaching a group of 20 members and putting group numbers together with such a big society. We also learned a lot about ourselves and each other’s abilities and everyone became more confident and happy in their performances. From this experience, I am confident that we can put on an even better show in the future. I have big plans for the society, including putting on another showcase in the spring, and possibly putting on a musical in a bigger theatre next year.
#7 How does your event benefit students?
I have seen that this event has benefited our students an incredible amount. It has boosted the confidence of each member in different ways. This society has helped members grow into self-assured performers who have realised that they are doing what they are doing because they enjoy it so much. Some of our members have not performed in years, and this event gave them a chance to show their true self again, and take part in something as a community.
We have grown to be one big family, as cliché as it sounds, and have become best friends through this amazing experience. I have learnt that silly songs and dance numbers can bring a lot of people together. We are also proud to be contributing to the Brighton LGBTQ+ culture heritage by providing a safe space and raising money for such a wonderful charity (Allsorts Youth Project)
This event will also give members experience in musical theatre, which they can include in their CV, helping them for future jobs/auditions. Our musical director, Lizzie Hartree, created all of the arrangements herself for the group numbers, Mia Wallis Humm and myself, Megan Donovan, directed all of the acting involved in the show, and Louisa Koschyk organised and even created some of the backing tracks. This experience will again, help our members in the future.
