Leader of the Pack! Underdale High School (S.A.)

Underdale High School’s annual musical production took a different approach this year. Audience members were able to sit either informally at tables or more conventionally in theatre seats.
Leader of the Pack, loosely based on the life of singer-songwriter Ellie Greenwich, is filled with wonderful sixties songs, played with amazing energy by the school band. This year the band was a real focus – onstage throughout in their glamorous lamé jackets, providing the accompaniment for the vocalists.
Each song had its own style and the students learned a lot about microphone technique as well as dance moves!
The title song was a hit, with the student playing the girl who fell for the motor-cycle boy ably supported by three members of staff, who took to their cameo roles with great enthusiasm, finding leather jackets and teasing their hair for true 60s looks.
The production design had a cartoon feel, with cut out hearts, cars, accordions and a fake piano.
The audience left humming the tunes – and had to be restrained from joining in with numbers such as Doo Wah Diddy and Da Doo Ron Ron – as the cast discovered, they could enjoy the same songs as parents and even grandparents!
Melinda Boston (Arts Coordinator)

Originally published in the November / December 2008 issue of Stage Whispers