As we wrap the Frozen Jr. show week and head into Shabbat, I want to take a moment to thank each of you for playing such an important part of and supporter of the musical here at Davis.
Frozen Jr, marked the Davis Academy’s 18th musical production. It was our “chai” school musical! Two years ago, our Frozen Jr. was “frozen” one week before the show's opening due to the Pandemic.
The ice thawed and “for the first time in forever”, we welcomed our entire Kehillah to play a part on stage, on the crew, behind the scenes, and in the audience in this beloved Davis tradition and perform once again in front of a live audience. L’chaim!
What an incredible experience it has been working with each of your children.
What an incredible experience it has been working with each of your children.
From the smallest of the small to the tallest of the tall, from our students on-stage to those behind the stage, each child "played" her or his part with great passion, inclusivity, enthusiasm, teamwork, and joy.
Every day, hour, and minute spent with them was a pleasure and truly the most kind, supportive, loving, joyous environment for which we could ever wish.
Watching our Mechinas, Kindergartners, first graders, and the majority of our second graders take to the stage for the first time ever and learn how to bow and wow a crowd was inspiring and precious; hearing the M-2 cast sing out loud for all to hear, perform their dances moves with great conviction, and make friendships with our middle school mentors filled our hearts "with light and love" and was inspirational as it was empowering; seeing the third through fifth graders and Prince Hans' Army take on extra stage responsibilities with fervor, vim and vigor, and incredible enthusiasm makes us terrifically excited for the Performing Arts programs and productions for years to come. How amazingly awesome were ALL of our LS cast members?!
The Middle school cast and crew role modeled beautifully for our lower school cast members and for each other. Their work ethic, maturity, kindness towards each other, and support of each other were exemplary, as were their confident, assured, larger-than-life performances. They created a team atmosphere that shone throughout the entire production process from auditions in November through to the strike of the musical on Tuesday.
Our cast and crew put into action our Davis L.O.V.E!
Working with your children is a blessing, honor, privilege, and joy.
Thank you for allowing your children to take on the musical adventure this year, for your support, and for your time in helping to make our kids and production shine!
Our deepest gratitude to our alumni mentors and parent volunteers- it takes a village to produce a show with 130 students and "Broadway" production values. Click here to access our Frozen Digital Playbill to see our village in full!
A special thank you to Mrs. Tam for her above and beyond work on our show. Please read her beautiful and heartfelt thank you letter to our volunteers and our children here.
It is such a unique Davis experience to participate in the all-school musical, where ages do not matter, there are no grade levels, where we are one large communal playground, and our classroom is open to every student in the school; every child has a spot on stage in the spotlight.
Theatre is such a unique discipline in which we strive to create strong readers, confident and assured voices, collaborators, and problem solvers all coming together in pursuit of one communal goal to entertain and move our audiences.
I often tell my students that everything we need to learn, succeed, and be career-ready, we learn on and from the stage. Even more so on an educational theatre M-8 grade stage where curiosity, freedom of expression, freedom to fail, freedom to sing and dance, creative play, open-mindedness, courage, risk-taking, making friends of all ages, and joy of learning are the foundations of rehearsal and putting on a play.
A show is the very essence of project management where collaborative learning, teamwork, leadership, responsibility, self-identity, creativity, communication, and creative differences/problem-solving reign supreme.
An actor is a scientist of human behavior and must speak articulately with an empowered voice to convey the story’s meaning to an audience with the dual objective of entertaining an audience and providing an emotional transformation, educational journey, and perspective-changing of an audience. There is no greater power than using one’s own voice to move another human being to laughter, tears, or understanding.
To prepare for a show, problem-solving is key: how to work with others, dealing with creative differences, what if an actor forgets her lines, what if the crew needs to troubleshoot a technical issue, what if the lights go out, what if a prop is missing, how to deal with stage fright, where do all of these actors stand, how do we design abstractly a set-costume-light design that heightens the tone, mood, feeling, sentiment of the play, etc... It is an exercise in joy, imagination, creative play, grit, collaboration, growth mindset, business, resilience, and empowerment.
The process of putting together a play requires creativity, empathy for others, compassion, perspective-taking, the ability to create worlds never seen or to re-examine history, cultures, civilizations, to take note our of past, explore our present, and define our future.
Empowering children’s voices is the key to making sure all children continue to speak out and up; to be given platforms for presenting and performing.
We are all players on a stage, and "performing" is the one universal skill used in every career: an attorney, a doctor, a salesperson, a hedge fund manager, a teacher, a politician, a CEO. This is a skill that is most vital to teach at the onset of formal education. The ability to speak well publicly and articulate one’s ideas in a clear, persuasive manner in which another person will “buy” your idea is a core foundational block of career readiness and life. Theatre prepares all of us for life beautifully!
Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
What a flurry of Frozen fun we had melting hearts with our heartwarming take of acceptance, magic, adventure family, and true love.
We shared love and laughter throughout our entire journey and we cannot wait to share our universal, all-school classroom, playground, and enrichment experience with each other again next year!
Bravo and "Let the Sun Shine On"!
Kendrick and The Frozen Production Team
