Happy December to our lovely performers, the Christmas countdown is well and truly on!
How are we all? As always, we need a catch up on what TPS has been up to this past month and we know that one event in particular is extremely important for us to look back on. Safe to say, this event has kept both the TPS tutors and students very busy over the past few weeks with rehearsal prep. After all, this was a very special and festive event – the annual Christmas Light Switch On in Lancaster town centre.
Many of our wonderful students performed under the spotlight on stage with quite the crowd gathering! We were proud to see students from a range of different ages coming together to embrace the festivities and to remind everyone in Lancaster that ‘Santa Claus is coming to town!’
In the few weeks prior to the performance, classes at TPS consisted of Christmas songs and festive cheer as our students were busy learning and rehearsing for the show. Pretty much everything that our students learn at TPS is exciting, but, nothing can quite top Christmas songs, as its just that extra bit special when we have such a family environment in our home at the theatre. Each session created a wonderful atmosphere and got students and tutors alike, excited for the lead up to Christmas.
As the performance day approached, our students were greeted by TPS tutors at Lancaster Library, where they went in to prepare and warm up for their big performance in their very own green room. The team gave a prep talk to the new students who hadn’t performed before, it may seem daunting now, but once you’re up on that stage you’ll conquer those nerves and you’ll start to enjoy every minute. Before the students took to the stage, they all looked the part with their Santa hats on (including the tutors), which complimented the TPS t-shirts and jumpers too! The festive colour of red was in full force…
Once we had everyone ready and warmed up, we began to line the children up ready to head out onto the stage and the TPS tutors were there to support them along the way. The stage was visible to a big cheering audience, which was very exciting but equally a little daunting, especially for our younger ones. Although we could sense a few nerves amongst our students, once they began performing, we could see grins and smiles, as they spotted parents, friends and guardians in the audience. It was heartwarming to see their faces light up as they saw the cheer and support from those they love in the audience that came to watch. We often find that this always seems to encourage our students and puts them at ease on stage as they find comfort in the support of their loved ones in attendance.
Alongside parents, family and friends, there were also lots of other friendly locals who supported and enjoyed watching our amazing performers. We hope that everyone enjoyed the TPS Christmas performance and could sense the festive spirit, regardless of their connection to us.
On stage, many classic Christmas songs were performed by our students, including ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ and ‘White Christmas’ and all of our students performed amazingly! As always, the tutors watched with pride as their students smashed their performance. Seeing the hard work put into the weeks leading up to the performance payoff is so rewarding for us all at TPS.
Performances like this that take place in the heart of our community remind us of the sense of community in Lancaster, as it brings everyone together, even people with no connection to TPS. We hope that our performance brought a little joy to everyone, as this is especially important at Christmas time.
…We hope you enjoyed reading our festive themed blog! Christmas time is great for performances, after all it’s ‘the most wonderful time of the year!’ Our Christmas party is fast approaching on Sunday the 11th of December, so if you haven’t purchased your ticket, do hurry! You don’t want to miss out…To all our performers, thank you again for reading our latest blog and we can’t wait to write to you all again soon.
Merry Christmas from all of the TPS Team X
Written by Molly Lawton: Marketing & Design Assistant
