Roding Valley High School staging Hairspray (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Roding Valley High School staging Hairspray

6:29pm Wednesday 10th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

COSTUMES have been created, and wigs donned as a school prepared for its most ambitious production ever.

Around 100 pupils at Roding Valley High School, in Alderton Hill, Loughton, have been putting in major rehearsal time for a performance of Hairspray.

The camp musical, based on a John Waters film, has been wowing audiences in the West End recently and Roding Valley hopes it will have the same effect on its parents and pupils.

For the first time, the school will even have a live band for the show under the direction of its new head of music, Rhiannon Rhys-Jones.

Head of drama Dan Thorn, who is directing the show, said: “We began in October of last year with over 400 students auditioning to be in the show. After a tough audition process we whittled it down to a final cast of 100.

“We have been working hard ever since, with an incredible level of dedication being given by the students. Staff from across the school and students have really entered into the spirit of 1960s Baltimore, with bright and colourful costumes, crazy characters and wonderful tunes.”