After kicking off October with the fall musical, Honk!, Heritage Hall Performing Arts kept the music going with the Fall Revue: Showdown, fourth-grade music program, and Middle School choral concert.

Taking the production in an entirely new direction, this year’s Revue pitted legend against legend. Whitney or Mariah? Beatles or Stones? Backstreet or ‘Nsync? In picking their favorites, audience members were actually programming music for the show in real-time.

"Showdown was unlike anything we had ever done before. The interactive audience element required a lot of us; not only did we have to employ all kinds of new technology to allow the audience to vote on their phones and watch the results in real-time, but each performer also had to prepare double the amount of material so that there was a choice to make. The show was less than two hours long, but we had about three-and-a-half hours worth of music ready to go,” explained Director Jay Ferguson ’96. “I'm so proud of our Chargers – it took a lot of courage to get on stage not knowing exactly what they would perform, and they came through with flying colors,” Ferguson concluded.

On Wednesday, October 20, fourth-graders brought the magic of Hawaii to the School’s McClendon Athletic Center during a fun performance of Hawaiian Beach Party. Audience members learned about the land’s traditions, beliefs, and language through entertaining song and dance numbers. 

Following the first Lower School music program of the year, music teacher Katsumi Hagiwara commented, “The sounds of the kids singing and acting combined with the laughter and applause of the audience were both refreshing and rewarding. This program was the perfect way to kick off the Lower School performing arts season.”

The busy month concluded with a Middle School concert featuring a variety of tunes sung by our sixth- through eighth-grade vocalists.

"It felt wonderful to be performing again with a choir on a stage. I was so proud of the singers for their preparation in making this happen and felt the support of the parents. It was another reminder of why it’s great to be a Charger,” recalled music teacher Cristi Miller.

With many more productions to come this school year from our talented Lower, Middle, and Upper School Chargers, theatre-goers will want to get ready for an eventful winter and spring.

View upcoming events at heritagehall.com/arts/performing-arts.