Kingswood Residential
School Production Rehearsal
December 2024
The cast and crew of this year’s school production Les Misérables, worked incredibly hard at their rehearsal residential this week. Students arrived at the new residential venue, Kingswood, Dearne Valley, following the closure of Ingleborough Hall where our rehearsal residential is usually held, on Thursday 12th December and departed on Saturday 14th December.
During this time, students worked relentlessly on learning and rehearsing sections of the performance: learning new songs, rehearsing the music, choreographing and blocking songs and working on characterisation. Students worked through the whole show with the orchestra on the second day and as always, it was a joy to see students of all ages working together.
In between the rehearsals the students enjoyed eating great food, singing a whole host of songs- not in the musical with different students providing a live band and watching the film version of Les Misérables on the final night.
Thank you to all of the students and staff involved in another fabulous rehearsal residential.
Here are some of the students’ thoughts about the trip:
“The residential was a lot of fun as always- it was great spending time with everyone and starting to put the show together! There were several points where both of us had goosebumps- working with such incredibly talented and focused people for 2 days like that is really special and an amazing experience.” Isobel T-S & Emily W (Yr13 Musicians)
“One of the things I loved most about the school residential was how dedicated the teachers were to ensuring we made the most of our limited time there. They often took us to different rehearsal spaces to refine our blocking/acting or deepen our understanding of the music. Rehearsing with the orchestra was a particular highlight for me, as it offered a glimpse of how everything would come together during show week.” Emma C (Yr13 actor playing Cosette)
“What an experience it was. Prior to arriving at Kingswood, I was a little nervous. Ingleborough being closed was gutting, and Kingswood didn’t strike me as an acting venue, more of somewhere you would climb trees, and crawl through caves. Safe to say, I was very wrong. The new hall that we had access to was incredible, giving us full range to perform on multiple levels, and the feeling of excitement when the orchestra first performs live was even greater than before. Just as it was with Grease, the few days with the rest of the cast were some of the most fun in recent memory, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my last year of performing with this wonderful group of people.” James H (Yr13 actor playing Mr Thenardier)
“I thought the residential was very enjoyable... I could definitely see the progress covered in the residential which gives a very optimistic view of the final product of all the hard work going into making this production the best it can be.” Finlay C (Yr13 musician)
“I have had the pleasure of going to the residentials for my past two years of being in sixth form: the residential brings the production together, both in terms of the cast coming together as well as the show. The new environment made rehearsing so much more fun, and I'm going to miss being able to experience these residentials when I leave.” Justin D (Yr13 actor playing Jean Valjean)
“It was a great experience! It had just the right amount of free time and rehearsal. The food was awesome and I loved chatting with the orchestra as well!” Chloe S (Yr8 member of the ensemble)
“I really enjoyed the residential to Doncaster this year. Despite being intense, I loved seeing the progress we were making and it was just fun hanging out with members of the orchestra and the cast. The food was also great!” Rachel D (Yr11 Musician)
“I had an amazing time and it was a great bonding experience for all of the cast. I am now feeling much more confident with the show and most importantly had a great time.” Jessica D (Yr8 student playing Gavroche)
