Friday 7th December 2007
I have been so looking forward to this after seeing the wonderful performance just after we arrived here!
However, this year there is a change of format. It is to be held at the school's other campus (for years 4 and up) which is about an hour's drive away. We have been told, yes, told, by the school that all children MUST attend and that there is absolutely no parking at the school. Hackles rise...
OK. We assume that the new venue is larger so the show will be even better than before.
Oh dear. How wrong could we be?
It was not a good evening.
Firstly, we caught a cab – after all, no parking, right? And no Metro. Then the cabbie got lost making us fairly late, but still arrived just before the concert started. He refunded us half the fare, so not too bad.
Once in the enormous hall, there were very few seats left. Rhiannon had to go to the front with her classmates, while Tim and I found a place right at the very back. The large centre columns of seats were reserved. Who for, I wondered? It turned out to be completely full of governors and sponsors. The parents had to make do with the smaller side seats. Humph.
Anyway, we looked forward to seeing our girl on stage singing some carols or something.
Again, this did not happen. All that was on stage was the school's large orchestra, various school choirs and that was it. When it came to Rhiannon's year to sing something, all they did was stand up by their seats, turn around to face us and regale us with one of the most dismal and depressing carols ever written – "In the Bleak Midwinter".
Various dreadful readings, some awful musical stuff and that was it. Pitiful – but extraordinarily lengthy.
It was the most boring event I've ever attended and quite obviously only a showcase for the music department. The majority of children weren't included in the service unless they happened to be in a choir or orchestra. It was evident that this was a money-making exercise to raise contributions from the sponsors.
I didn't meet one, single parent who enjoyed the show. Even the ones whose children performed on stage were seriously disappointed.
