MUSICAL THEATRE AT NORTH HASTINGS HIGH SCHOOL

Linda Neary and Dianne Winmill met in the 1995-1996 school year when Dianne began her teaching career at NHHS and Linda had just returned to the school after a leave of absence. They first worked together as Choreographer and Music Director on Grease, with Barry Lambeck as Director, and decided to take the relationship further; Linda and Dianne proposed to the NHHS administration the implementation of a 2-credit Musical Theatre Course to begin in the Spring of 1998, and have never looked back.

Linda decided to take up directing, and with Dianne, produced The Wiz in 1998. Soon after, other schools in the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board followed suit, and used the NHHS Musical Theatre Program as a model for their own. Since The Wiz, Dianne and Linda have had the privilege of working with over 500 extremely talented and dedicated cast members, crew and orchestra on Jo in 1999, Crazy For You in 2000, Into the Woods in 2002, Copacabana in 2004 and Les Misérables in 2006.

Students must audition to be accepted into the NHHS Musical Theatre Program, and spend 2 classes each day during second semester, perfecting their performance skills through singing, dancing, and acting. The curriculum includes written assignments such as script content and analysis, literary or persuasive essay, writing theatre reviews, history of musical theatre, weekly journal entries, practical tests, and a follow-up journal which provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their experience in the program. Their final exam is the actual performance, worth 30% of the final mark.

Some Alumni of the program are working in related theatre fields and experiencing success in the following: actors and models in Toronto, set and prop builders in Ontario film industry, Faculty of Music graduates, actors with Theatrics Summer Theatre and The Bancroft Theatre Guild. These students have become exceptionally well-rounded citizens and ardent supporters of the Performing Arts.

contact info:

North Hastings High School
attn: Mary Burbidge
Bancroft, ON
K0L 1C0

613.332.1220
email