12 January 2009

"All Shook Up" - A Performance in the Abbey Theatre

An IPC Student Makes her Debut in a Musical Show

Translated by Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake.

After playing Anita in excerpts from the Broadway musical "West Side Story" for her "English through Performance" paper at IPC, Kanami Muramatsu (a 2007 student) made her debut public performance in a musical show "All Shook Up" in the Abbey Theatre in Palmerston North city. The theatre is in a former church building, easily recognized by its old church style, and the show ran from 27th November till 20th December last year.

"All Shook Up" is a romantic comedy musical show. It is set in the 1950's and showcases the hit songs of The King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. Kanami was one of the 4 member backing group whose singing and dancing brought the scenes to life and spiced them up with their humorous touches. In the span of 2 hours, they had a total of 9 costume changes, which transformed them into - among other things - prisoners, museum statues, devils, and bridesmaids. It was panic stations backstage when it was time to change the costumes, wigs, and accessories. Kanami was the only Asian dancer, and because of her small stature, special costumes and shoes were ordered for her.

All of the cast members who made their debut in 2008

The backing group in their devil costumes

Kanami Muramatsu with one of the other members of the backing group

As she had belonged to a drama club when she was still in high school, Kanami already knew something about stage props although when she heard about the musical show, she didn't know any of its songs or dances. Nevertheless, she applied to audition at the end of August and was very surprised when she was successful and also because she received compliments for her performance at her audition. Kanami said that when she heard the good news she was very happy and at the same time she was crying.

In September the cast began rehearsing 3 times a week, and from morning till night at weekends. Kanami admitted that it was tough at the beginning because she couldn't quite understand what the stage manager wanted her to do. However, with the kind support of everyone involved, she persevered and kept up with rehearsals. Because most of the cast made their debut in the same year, they spent most of their time together and became good friends. Kanami says that everyone involved in the production is unique and she has been excited to get to know more about their lifestyles. Furthermore, by sharing jokes and trying hard to remember the song lyrics, Kanami gained confidence about her English.

However, Kanami will be in Queenstown this year for her tourism study, so sadly won't be able to be in the next musical show at the Abbey Theatre. Nevertheless, she is determined that she will always be looking for the opportunity to be involved in another musical show.

Gillian Claridge, one of the IPC lecturers, commented:

"All Shook Up was an excellent show, one of the best I have seen at the Abbey. It is a wonderful mixture; the story comes from Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, but is also built around the best-known songs of the immortal Elvis. Kanami was one of the chorus, and their performances were top class; their dancing and singing were well-paced, colourful, lively and very professional.

It was a very enjoyable evening, and I would certainly recommend an Abbey Theatre performance to anyone. My visit was made particularly special by the fact that Kanami, an IPC student, delivered such an exciting, high quality performance, dancing like a professional and singing in a language that is not her own."

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