Headmistress Sadi Powell
November 29, 2010 8:21 AM
Midsummer Variety Concert Sign-ups by Headmistress Sadi Powell
As Headmistress Powell had promised during her post-midterm address, sign-up sheets for the Midsummer concert had finally arrived. The commonroom noticeboards were absent of these sheets, merely holding a note to let the students know that the sign-ups were posted not in the commonrooms, but in the Cascade hall and the library. The reasoning behind this was simple – some students might wish to perform with someone from another House, and in order to sign up together the list would need to be accessible to both. The list in Cascade was the most accessible, just inside the main doors. It could be accessed by anybody, and read by anybody. The sign-up sheet in the library was smaller, and more discreet, being in the possession of the librarian and her assistant. This second sheet enabled sign-up without the rest of the school knowing, in case the act was to be a surprise, or the student performing it simply was shy about signing up in front of the whole school. Despite their differing locations, both sign-up sheets were identical:Do you have a skill you’d like to share with the school? Whether you can sing, dance, vanish furniture, predict the future, or possess any other talents and skills, we would like to see you perform at our Midsummer concert! Please read the rules and sign up below. Don’t want to perform? No problem! We need judges to vote on the performances and choose a winner. Any student who doesn’t perform is automatically on the voting panel. If you have any questions, please contact a member of staff. If you wish to sign-up to perform, please put your name(s) and a short description of your act below.
RULES
1 – All acts must be permitted to perform via the sign-up sheets. Acts considered to be dangerous or unsuitable for a student audience are unlikely to be granted permission to perform.
2 – Students may perform as an individual or as part of a group. There are no limitations on group size.
3 – Each student can perform in a maximum of TWO acts in total. Each student can perform in a maximum of ONE individual act.
4 – There will be three categories for voting: Best individual act, best group act, and best overall House involvement. The winners for individual and group categories will be decided by student votes, judged on talent, showmanship, and originality of performance. The House winner will be decided by staff vote.
Below this introduction followed a space where students could write the necessary details to sign up for the concert. Below this was a further note: Professor McKindy and Coach Pierce will be running a bake sale during the concert to raise funds for DISCUSS. If you wish to help out, please speak to these members of staff. Thank you.
Subthreads: Ladies, we have a problem. by Cecily Smythe with Chelsea Brockert, Cecily
My name is on the list by Jose Hernandez
Open Choir - volunteers required by Dana Smythe with Edmond and Jane Carey, Samantha Hamilton, Kirstenna Melcher, Alison Sinclair
Participating by Juri Dahlgren
A short group play by Daniel Nash II
A Love of Dancing by Charlotte Abbott
A Singing Solo for Me by Holly Greer-Thistle
Acoustics, harmonicas, and my voice by Demelza Eagle
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Headmistress Sadi Powell
Midsummer Variety Concert Sign-ups
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Headmistress Sadi Powell
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Dana Smythe
December 02, 2010 12:52 PM
Open Choir - volunteers required by Dana Smythe
Having been dragged in and out of Sonora (and then back in again), Dana often still felt as though she didn't quite fit in. She liked her roomate Alison well enough, but she wasn't sure they could really be called 'friends'. Dana was a perfectly sociable person, but she wasn't talkative with strangers. As such she supposed she came across as quiet. hat was okay, and she was well-practised at entertaining herself so she never felt lonely. She did however feel like if she disappeared again that nobody would even notice - they probably didn't notice the first time, either. When the concert sign-ups arrived, Dana identified an opportunity to establish herself as part of the Sonora student body, and resolved to perform.In itially she baulked at the idea of being on stage - her shyness would prevent her from being a solo act. Yet that wasn't the only option: she wouldn't mind being on stage as part of a group. She had been trained to sing when she was younger, and thought her voice sounded fairly pleasant to her own ears. With other voices to keep her in tune and other people to make her feel comfortable on stage, she should be able to enjoy herself. Of course, Dana didn't know enough people to form a choir. The fifth year decided to view this as a challenge rather than an obstacle; making friends in the process was simply another benefit to joining in with the concert.
Having read the sign-up sheet, Dana thought it would be easy enough to advertize her idea. She wrote on the sheet 'Dana Smythe - I wish to form an open choir to perform at the concert. If you'd like to join me, add your name to this list or see me. Anyone welcome.' She double-checked the rules to make sure she was within them. Deciding it would be fine, Dana left the list, intending to check it every couple of days or so to see who had signed up.
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Dana Smythe
Open Choir - volunteers required
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Dana Smythe
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Edmond and Jane Carey
December 09, 2010 11:14 PM
Double sign-up by Edmond and Jane Carey
Edmond and Jane had been planning a double act, with him playing and her singing, but when Dana Smythe decided to announce a choir, they came to the conclusion that their participation in that instead could very well be better. Not only would they likely feel less anxiety in going on stage, they would also have a chance to interact with at least a few more of their classmates. And since that was something their family very much approved of....It disturbed Edmond, sometimes, how he could now look at a situation and see how it could benefit himself and another party instead of just determining what was right. It was a bit worse when he saw Jane do it. In this case, he had yet to work out which one of them had thought it all out first or which one had gotten that line of thought started. He'd had an easier time, though, deciding there was nothing the matter with it this time, especially since he had Morgaine urging him to be as involved in the Concert as possible.
Julia was also in favor, though less unreservedly than his sister. She still had a mortal fear that he or Jane would, who knew how, turn out to be like Gwenhwyfar. She disliked him, in particular, interacting with anyone outside of the limits of proper society. The choir leader being a Smythe, though, would help keep her quiet. Quieter than otherwise, anyway.
With that in mind, he paused after lunch one day to sign them both up. Jane had to get to Potions early to ask if she had been right about one of the points in her latest homework before she handed it in, but he was in no hurry whatsoever to get to Transfiguration.
Edmond Carey and Jane Carey
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Edmond and Jane Carey
Double sign-up
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Edmond and Jane Carey
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Samantha Hamilton
December 16, 2010 12:31 PM
Single sign-up by Samantha Hamilton
Ever since she could remember Samantha had joined in with things. She had signed up for Quidditch in her first year (it had terrified her so she hadn't gone back this year, but maybe next year she'd give it another go) and she'd joined in the soccer match, too. At her last schools (there had been three of them) she'd taken part in this and that - you could be sure to see her name on any sign-up sheet. It didn't even occur to her not to sign up for the concert. Luckily, there were some group acts around, because Samantha was a joiner - she took part in things others were already doing, she didn't start her own clubs. She played sports and entered competitions and was on teams - there's no 'I' in 'team'.Having considered the groups on offer, Samantha felt more drawn towards the choir. She'd been in a choir once before and had enjoyed it. Her voice was quite high, and she sometimes struggled with lower notes, but when you were singing with a choir then nobody noticed an individual's performance. It was perfect! Plus Jane from her year had already signed up (Samantha didn't know the other girl, but had seen her in classes) which meant she wouldn't be the only second year. Plus she might make a friend, which wouldn't hurt.
Adding her name in the space Dana Smythe had left, Samantha added her own details. That would do - she didn't need to be in more than one act. She would sing in the choir, and hopefully get to watch the other acts perform without having to vote on them. That sounded fun.
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Samantha Hamilton
Single sign-up
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Samantha Hamilton
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Kirstenna Melcher
December 16, 2010 5:58 PM
Signing up as well by Kirstenna Melcher
Ever since Quentin had told her about the concert last year, Kirstenna had wanted to take part. She wanted to sing the Teppenpaw solo, but would have been happy with singing in the group act. She knew she was only a second year, but Kirstenna wanted to sing so badly and the group act had had a tendency not to involve singing or music of any kind.Then she'd found out this year that the concert had changed to a variety talent show, and not just a show, but a competition . Kirstenna hated competing. It always seemed like the students were being pitted against each other for some unknown reason. The Teppenpaw had a strict no competition policy outside of Quidditch, which Kirstenna more played for fun and because Teppenpaw needed the people anyway then a need to prove she was superior to anyone else.
It bothered her though, she loved to sing more than anything in the world. Kirstenna just enjoyed it so much and it was a shame that this, which should be the best time that she had at Sonora was being taken away from her. Why couldn't they just have a talent show without competing? It wasn't even going to be based on talent really, with the students voting, it would be nothing but a popularity contest.
She perused the sign up sheet. Part of Kirstenna really did want to sign up yet. People seemed to think she was really good but she wasn't sure that as a second year, she stood a chance against older people. Maybe Kirstenna should just go have fun like in Quidditch. If she won, that was great, and if she didn't, then at least she got to sing.
That's when the second year spotted the choir. How fun! Maybe that would be better than singing alone. To be honest, Kirstenna would rather do something with a group. The only reason she'd initially wanted the Teppenpaw solo was that group acts tended to be plays and while Kirstenna could probably act, it just wasn't the same as singing.
She signed her name on the list below Samantha's.
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Kirstenna Melcher
Signing up as well
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Kirstenna Melcher
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Alison Sinclair
December 16, 2010 9:05 PM
Gotta do something, I guess. by Alison Sinclair
Having, somehow, become a prefect, Alison was pretty sure she was expected to be involved somehow in working on this concert thing that was all the talk. The problem, of course, was that she had been counting on loosely supervising the group act she’d heard about last year and letting that be her contribution to things. She couldn’t honestly say she had a lot of talents that translated well onto a stage; her martial arts phase had ended when she was shipped off to her equally magical aunt as a kid, piano lessons had been a total disaster before that, and she preferred not to think about ballet. Plus, she hadn’t done anything that wasn’t common enough in the wizarding world since she was a little kid. Most Muggleborns weren’t taught how to operate in middle-level pureblood society from early childhood, but she got the impression that there were few enough other Muggleborns here for what she knew to be very impressive to anyone.Of course, she could always run a divinations thing, but that didn’t have the right feel. The audience didn’t feel like it was supposed to have much to do with the performers in this one. So there went that skill straight out the window, since all the other things in that vein that she knew were, while she was pretty sure not actually illegal, not things she really wanted the public knowing she really knew all that well. Tessa had been entering a wild stage that last year they were together, and Alison and the others had been dragged along for the ride.
With all that in mind, she had resigned herself to looking like a lazy prefect when she noticed Dana’s attempt to start a choir. All the other members were younger – and dear Merlin’s best purple hat, did she feel bad for the one boy, that Carey guy; she wasn’t sure even Mr. Proper Genius himself could participate in an activity with all women and not get comments for the rest of his school career – and Alison’s formal voice training was approximately none, but that didn’t strike her as too much of an obstacle. She’d been dragged, very much against her will, into her parents’ church’s informal round-the-piano choir a few times over the summer, and could apparently hold a tune in a large bucket, and it would both give her something to do and be fun bonding times with the roommate. So she signed up.
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Alison Sinclair
Gotta do something, I guess.
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Alison Sinclair
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