The soirée season continued this week, with Forest, Holman and White Houses showcasing their talents to appreciative audiences of families and friends.
These delightful events provide parents and guests with an opportunity to see their children take to the stage whilst socialising with Matrons, House tutors and other members of the Common Room
The week got off to a flying start on Monday with boys from Forest House entertaining a packed Big School with a record breaking number of 19 acts.
The show was hosted by Head of House, Will Murdock, and U6th formers, Tom Masters, Ewan Plenderleith and Alfie Aukett.
The evening started with the House tutor band playing Sweet Home Alabama and was followed by acts from each of the year groups. The M4s performed an entertaining Day In The Life Of An M4, the U4s gave a live performance of In the Jungle with backing dancers and video, the 5th form put on their own take on Strictly Come Dancing, while the L6th did remakes of three classic adverts, including Cilit Bang, the 1973 Hovis ad and Herbal Essences Shampoo.
The U6th performed a “mockumentary” of the BBC’s The Hunt, depicting life as a Forestian, and showed a hilarious video of tutor interviews, which put the tutors in an altogether different light.
House tutor, Steve Hibbitt, gave one of his legendary performances of an amended Rolling Stones Classic, Goodbye, Two for Tuesday, while 5th former, Henry Sadana, played Slash’s iconic guitar riffs in a Velvet Revolver number with Housemaster, Jim Stephens, Resident House tutor, Paul Gillespie, and pupils Will Bulmer and Alfie Aukett making up the rock band.
U6th former, Max Wong, delivered the individual performance of the night, playing guitar and singing Neon by John Mayer.
One of the highlights of the evening was the Forest House Big Band, made up of Jim Stephens, Paul Gillespie and eight pupils playing drums, bass, saxophone, flute and trumpet, performing Mustang Sally with vocals from L6th former, Alastair Major, and backing singers in the shape of Matron, Yvette Tolson and four of her team.
The evening ended with a reprise of Forest’s winning Choral Competition part song, Wonderwall, and the House unison, Bohemian Rhapsody.
On Tuesday evening, it was the turn of the Holman boys to entertain guests and staff at their annual soirée, which included a U4 band, a song written and performed by 5th former, Max Cave, and an entertaining video produced by the U6th giving a snapshot of life in the House.
There were some outstanding solo performances from Bobby Aka and Edafe Sowole-James on the saxophone, Edmund Cheung (violin) and Tom Byers (vocals). The evening was confidently hosted by U6th formers, Ralph Skan and Babu Ocan, who also sang an impressive duet.
Sixth form girls in White House followed on Wednesday with their soirée, which had a Valentine’s Day theme. The evening’s entertainment was hosted by Head of House, Danielle Bensadon, and Mia Bradford, with lighting and sound by Chloe Yip and Sasha Galkina.
Love was certainly in the air with a number of acts, including Love Yourself (Justin Bieber), performed by Ilyana Ahmed-Fizal, Liyana Fad’l and Felix Kok, Let Me Go (Avril Lavigne) by Fumie Shi and Charlotte Marquand and Landslide (Dixie Chicks) performed by Imogen Russell.
There were also some delightful solos by Sophia Khan playing Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No 1 on the piano, Vicky Wong with La Plus Que Lente (Debussy) and Sharen Chiu with Danza Delamosa Donosa (Alberto Ginastera)
Throughout the evening, House tutor, Abi Wickham, and a team of assistants ran a photo booth to raise money for the House charity, Shooting Star Chase, which cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions. Prints of the girls were sold at £2.00 each.
An inspired collection of Valentine’s Day cards, in which children from Shooting Star Chase hospices share their hilarious and heart-warming views on love, were also sold during the evening to raise vital funds.
The show came to a close with a wonderful rendition of Mika’s Lollipop by all the girls in the House.