Gareth Thompson, Secondary Teacher
Did they sing?
Did they dance?
Sing and dance, and prance by chance.
Was there colour?
Was there sound?
Colour, sound and lights – profound!
With clothes and hair and make-up too
So much talent – WOW – who knew?
The wonderful thing about school musicals is the hidden talent they reveal. The recent Kuyper production of Seussical was no exception. From my backstage vantage point, I saw first-hand the talent of our students as they lifted their performance each day to a crescendo, culminating in Saturday’s two spectacular shows. No matter the challenges faced each day, students stepped up and dealt with them. As confidence grew, so did their energy and enthusiasm.
But, not everything ran as smoothly as the audience may have imagined! From disappearing props to a system problem with lights, failing microphone packs to cast and crew being felled last minute by COVID. Behind-the-scenes could have been a comedy of errors, however the audience remained unaware. All these things were handled without missing a beat. How could this be? None of these issues could be ignored. They had to be dealt with immediately for the show to go on. Someone had to step up and take responsibility for finding a solution, and someone did. Cast and crew cooperated, improvised and helped each other when things didn’t go to plan. The situations took students and staff by surprise, so managing them took courage and commitment to the team over self. As wonderful as the ‘performance’ was…
The set, the costumes,
The singing, the dancingThe colour, the sound
And even the prancing
… the real talent was in the teamwork and other-centredness of everyone involved; from the front-stage performers to the backstage volunteers, from the ushers who didn’t see the show to the patient volunteers doing hours of hair and make-up. Performances tempt us to put the limelight on individuals, or particular talents. While striving to do something well is honourable, the Bible tells us that our striving should not just be for our own good, but for the good of one another as well.
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Romans 12:4-5