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‘Wizard of Oz-ish!!’

article by Jonathon Lenaerts, Brockenhurst Gateway Club member.

Brockenhurst Gateway Club’s Singing Project group performed their work on Thursday 24th March 2011 in the musical show ‘The Wizard of Oz-ish!!’  There was a twist to a tale based on the Wizard of Oz, performed with the original songs, as well as songs from the Sound of Music, a nursery rhyme ‘How much is that doggie in the window’, the well known song ‘The saints go marching in’ and the classic ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’.

Jonathon Lenaerts (Scarecrow) did a solo of ‘If I only had a brain’, and Jessica Snell did a solo on the piano.  Many other members of the club performed the characters in the story.

The show was directed by Alexa Phillips, Brock College Drama teacher and Cynthia Wilson, Musical Director.  It was well attended by an audience of over 100 people, who had a very enjoyable evening.

Jenny Knowles, Brockenhurst Gateway Club Leader, and Mike Clarke, Chairman of the club’s management committee, said, ‘We are pleased it was a successful event and that we were able to run the project with the help of a grant from the Councillor Devolved Budget Scheme’.

The cast and everyone who took part in the Singing Project workshops are looking forward to the next chance to perform and hope to see you soon.

A Mencap Local Arts Award provided the funds to buy a digital camera, laptop computer and some printing ink and photo paper.  The Photography Project was led by Assistant Leader Debbie Bodley and Volunteer Ian Parks.  Over a period of six months the group met during Club time to work on the project.  The photographs taken were presented to an audience of Club members and supporters on Tuesday 11th May at Brockenhurst Gateway Club’s first Photography Exhibition.

This is the Photography Project members’ report on the project:-

This project was a success.  All students/members who took part completed the project, with some giving up other activities to complete the project.
The skills that they learnt were not just the computer and camera.  They learnt to look at their own work and make decisions about what photos they liked and why they liked them.

They learnt to speak publicly about their work, to help organise a photography exhibition, and to answer questions about their work.

This project took longer to complete than we first thought.  This was because all of the students/members that started the project also completed the project.

Some students/members had not previously seen any projects through to the end.

The skills learnt on the camera and laptop were taking photos (still life, posed, action shots) and editing the photos (cropping, contrasting, darkening etc.) on the laptop.

In January this year Brockenhurst Gateway Club members planted spring bulbs into small pots and took them home to watch them grow.  Two members from Hill House School were so excited to see the bulbs grow into leaves and flowers that they decided to start their own garden outdoors.

Their garden grew well and they had fresh vegetables for their meals.