The Press. The Wall, by Pink Floyd. A Malmesbury School drama production.

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Malmesbury Standard Thursday, July 5, 2001 It's music for the mind as supergroup give permission for school show SUPERGROUP Pink Floyd has given permission to Malmesbury School to present a production of their classic show, The Wall, at the school tonight, tomorrow and Saturday, 7.30 pm.
The story is about a rock 'n' roll star who loses his mind while watching war videos.
He has a hard time, illustrated by vigorous performances by a large cast of school students aged 14 to 18 and a school band, with production by Messrs. Topsom and Bradshaw.

MALMESBURY SCHOOL THE HERALD July 2001 Issue No. 5

"THE WALL" - A Review

This excellent show was presented at the upper school from Thursday 5th July to Saturday & th July.

Music and visual effects were both of an outstandingly high standard and the production team and cast even received a message of support from Pink Floyd's Nick Mason! "The Wall" tells the story of a disillusioned rock star called Pink who spends his days watching television, fantasizing about his previous life and generally going mad. This difficult part was filled with great subtlety by Ben Christie. Other notable acting (and singing) performances

came from Louise Barnett as Pink's mother, Sidney Robb as his wife and Matt Farci as the Performance Artist. Special mention should also be made of band members Ollie Hamilton, Mike Unwin, Joe James, John Silverwood (guitars), Daniel Cameron (drums), Martyn Coram (keyboards) and Ben Glossop (saxophone). The technical crew led by Mr.Ranger and Mr.Calderbank also did a fine job. Finally, great credit must go to Mr. Topsom and Mr. Bradshaw for putting such a high quality show together. "We don't need no education" the cast chant and sing, but on this evidence it hasn't done them much harm. A superb evening's entertainment. Giles Yeates

MALMESBURY SCHOOL PRODUCTIONS, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
We are extremely lucky at Malmesbury School in having many teachers and parents who are prepared to help organise school productions. Since March this year, there have been four productions, with three different production teams! The most recent, Pink Floyd's "The Wall", was produced by Dale Topsom, who is an Art teacher by trade. The show was unusual and can best be described as an extended pop video, with brilliant surreal images being projected onto a huge screen from a lap top! Chris Bradshaw is in his element when producing rock music, and once again he managed to bring out an authentic and energetic sound from his talented musicians. The high quality of the show was also due to the the brilliance of Andrew Calderbank, who was in charge of sound. Geraldene Barnett was responsible for most of the choreography, which was excellent. Both Geraldene Barnett and Andrew Calderbank are parents and we are extremely grateful to them for the hours that they have given.
Only three weeks before "The Wall", Evelyn Hamilton produced a very original version of "The Jungle Book" at Lower School. This show will be remembered for its large enthusiastic cast, dressed so colourfully and imaginatively. What also made this production special was that Evelyn Hamilton was leading a team made up with new staff! Giles Yeates was co-director and Sarah Thomas produced some excellent choreography. Perhaps the show will be best remembered for Bill Badley's musical direction and excellent music that he composed especially for the show.
Earlier this year I produced Ben Elton's "Popcorn" with two casts and a reduced version of John Godber's "Teechers" with sixth form students. The standard of individual performances was very high.
I thought that readers might be interested to read what shows have been performed in previous years. My records go back to 1988. They may not be entirely accurate, so I apologise in advance if I have left anyone out.
1988 Bugsy Malone (John O'Brien / John Hughes / Yr 9-13)
1989 The Boyfriend (John O'Brien / John Hughes / Yr 9-13)
1989 A Midsummers night's Dream (John O'Brien / Yr 9-13)
1990 The Crucible (Melissa Jones / Yr 9-13)
1991 The Golden Pathway Annual (Melissa Jones / Yr 9-13)
1991 Fantastic Mr Fox (John Parker / Yr 7-8)
1991 The Chambermaids (John Parker / Yr 8-13)
1992 Oliver (Russell Blackaller / John Hughes / Yr 7-8)
1992 Blood Wedding (John Parker / Yr 9-13)
1993 Babes in the Streer (Evelyn Hamilton / John Hughes / Yr 7-8)
1993Grease (Russell Blackaller / John Hughes / Yr 9-12)
1993 My Mother Said I Never Should (Evelyn Hamilton / Yr13)
1994 A Comedy of Errors (Evelyn Hamilton / Yr13)
1994 When I was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout (abridged) and My Mother Said I Never Should (Russell Blackaller Yr 12-13)
1995 Oklahoma (Evelyn Hamilton / John Hughes / Yr 9-12)
1995 The Visit (Evelyn Hamilton / Yr 10-13)
1996 The Witches / Gemma and the Giant Peach (Dale Topsom / Yr 7-8)
1996 West Side Story (Russell Blackaller / John Hughes / Yr 9-12)
1996 The Tempest (Russell Blackaller / Yr10-13)
1997 The Storm (The Tempest abridged)(Dale Topsom / Yr 7-8)
1997 The Vackees (Yvonne Joyce / Chris Bradshaw / Yr 7-13)
1998 Alice (Dale Topsom / Yr 7-8)
1998 You Really Got Me (Russell Blackaller / Chris Bradshaw / Yr 9-13)
1999 Little Shop of Horrors (Dale Topsom / Chris Bradshaw / Yr 7-8)
1999 Jesus Christ Superstar (Evelyn Hamilton / Chris Bradshaw / Yr 9-13)
1999 A Streetcar Named Desire ( Pierrette Sims / Yr 12)
2000 Macbeth and Queen (Russell Blackaller / Chris Bradshaw / Yr 9-13)
2001 Popcorn (Russell Blackaller / Yr 12)
2001 Teechers (abridge) (Russell Blackaller / Yr 13)
2001 The Jungle Book (Evelyn Hamilton / Bill Badley / Yr 7-8)
2001 Pink Floyd - The Wall (Dale Topsom / Chris Bradshaw / Yr 9-13)
Many of you will be asking, "What next?" The future is different. We are moving into a new building and Andrew Butterworth is leaving! Andrew Butterworth has performed in many of our productions and we will miss him greatly.
Plans for the next year are not finalised, but there is talk of Bill Badley and Sarah Thomas producing something in Lower School in the first half of next year. I will be producing a Sixth Form show on March 6th and 7th 2002. This will be the last event in Upper School Hall before it is demolished!
The Summer production next year will be "The Wizard of Oz" which I will be producing with Chris Bradshaw. This will involve Year 7-13 and will be the first production in the new building and the first whole school production. There will be matinee performances for children and we intend to invite primary schools to come.
As you can see, Malmesbury School has a great tradition of a diversity of shows with a diversity of people. See you at the next one!
RUSSELL BLACKALLER HEAD OF DRAMA

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