Saturday 30th June - two performances in Grahamstown today

This was a busy day for the Choir with three scheduled performances at 10am and 8pm in the Thomas Pringle Hall and at 4pm on the Village Green on the Victoria Primary School campus.

After an early breakfast the bus picked us up to transport us to the Thomas Pringle Theatre on the third floor of the monument overlooking the area which constitutes Grahamstown. The boys did a warm up and sound check, changed into their Scenic Pop uniforms and then eagerly anticipated the arrival of an /any audience. About 50 plus people attended the first concert where the boys practiced their repertoire for the first time to a new audience, who gave them a standing ovation. Buoyed by the response the boys left the hall for lunch and then later in the afternoon, dressed in their folklore kit, the boys went to perform on the “Village Green” situated on the fields of the school. They attracted a sizeable audience as they performed their folklore repertoire and received an enthusiastic response.  

The young lady who organises the acts for the venue said she thought ‘a choir might be nice’ but she never expected “THIS!  She also said “I am a music teacher, but I think I am failing in my job”. She was in the audience at our 8pm concert and wholeheartedly supported the boys’ efforts on stage. The Grade 10 music boys performed their Greatest Showman piece – From now on - on the “open mike” stage and had people singing and clapping along to their performance. I overheard one man say “They are bloody good!” During the course of the day a few more boys fell ill with diarrhoea and vomiting and as well the usual cold and flu accompanied by a sore throat – not good for a choir when over 20 boys are feeling not up to scratch and some feeling pretty awful. At this point the pharmacists at Grahamstown Pharmacy were recognising me when I went in for more medical supplies following the advice of two doctors.

Supper first, and then on to the Thomas Pringle Hall, for the third performance of the day. The audience was about 100 strong in the evening, including the members of the KZN Youth Orchestra, and the boys did well after a tiring day to produce an exciting show. Audience members gave them their second standing ovation of the day. We made it back to the hostel to medicate boys who had succumbed to the V&D and also a ‘little’ clean-up of the bus and the unfortunate bus driver!