2004 "Annie" production: 28th June - 1st July

Thank you to all the people who helped with the school's production of ‘Annie'. Staging such an event requires an enormous amount of talent and goodwill. It is clear that we have talent and goodwill in abundance! The performances during the four nights represented the culmination of an enormous effort behind the scenes that started months ago. Clearly, this effort was worth it as the students provided us with stunning performances over four nights. Thank you to all those people who played a role in the production of ‘Annie'. In particular, thanks to the following teachers who often had teams assisting them:

Taryn Carr (Director), Sharon Knight (Musical Director), Krista Hilderley (Choreography), Heather McMeekin and Kerrie Little (Set Design), Jacky Vanweerd, Nicola Burgisser and Anna Munn (Costumes), Duncan Millward and Rob Padgett (Lighting and Sound), Patricia Meder (Stage Manager), Prue Fagg (Front of House) and PTA (Refreshments).

Of course, there were many, many people who helped these teachers. Thank you to all the parents and friends of the school who contributed so selflessly (often when they didn't have children involved in the production). A production on the scale of ‘ Annie' takes teamwork. There was teamwork in abundance over the past months as people have toiled away behind the scenes preparing for the performances. Thank you to the students who performed so magnificently during the performances. Never mind New Zealand Idol, we have a school of stars in our midst!

Annie sold out every night, meaning that more than a thousand seats were sold over the four nights. A number of people attended more than one performance with some people attending every night! Staging such a show on this scale obviously costs a considerable amount of money. Thank you for supporting ‘ Annie' through ticket sales and thank you to the people who made significant donations. We could not have produced ' Annie' on the income based solely on the income from ticket sales. Thank you, one and all, for helping to produce a memorable occasion for the community of Campbells Bay School and a wonderful musical experience for our students.

For many of our students this was their first experience of such an event. In the words of President Roosevelt (in the final act of ‘Annie' ), this was a “new deal!” for them. Let us hope that this is just the beginning and their involvement in ‘ Annie' will prompt them to become involved in other productions. We take a break from musical productions next year as we are involved in the Mid Bays Schools' Music Festival at the Bruce Mason Centre. A musical will return (hopefully!) for Year 5 and 6 students in 2006.

• official programme