New-look Perse Charity Cabaret proves a big hit
Talented Perse musicians, dancers and actors joined together in a celebration of the performing arts at the new-look school Charity Cabaret.
The popular annual event moved from its traditional Main Hall setting to an extravaganza held over three spaces in the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre (PAC), with funds raised in aid of Tom’s Trust, a charity providing mental health support to young people with brain tumours.
Around 150 students got involved, either on stage or behind the scenes, with a sell-out 300-strong audience able to enjoy a wide variety of styles of music and performance.
The first half of the evening saw Perse dancers and Musical Theatre Club provide energetic presentations on the main stage, while Junior Drama Club staged an amusing murder mystery sketch based around Disney characters!
Rock and jazz bands got audience members moving in the Gallery Studio, while soloists and duos provided more intimate sounds in the Pelican Gallery.
Back on the main stage, wonderful comperes Marcus and Millie (both Upper Sixth) launched the second part of the show as the Perse Big Band provided brilliant backing to a range of classic standards.
As ever, a fun finale was supplied by the Senior Prefects as they danced through the decades from the Beatles to Oasis to One Direction.
Perse Director of Music Ben Wingfield said he was keen to offer opportunities to as many pupil performers as possible, having successfully trialled the multiple stage format with last year’s Grieg Project.
He said: “The Charity Cabaret is a Perse institution that’s been going for more than 25 years, so I was aware of the legacy of this brilliant event, but we wanted to see if we could make the most of the PAC in terms of different spaces that could be used to stage different types of entertainment.
“We had so much interest with so many pupils putting themselves forward to take part. We had Junior Drama Club rubbing shoulders with the Sixth Form Big Band, so it made it a really nice and inclusive event for pupils of all year groups to take part.
“With the different stages, there was also the chance for audience members to roam around, enjoy some intimate settings for soloists and rock and jazz bands, and curate their own event.
“There was a lot of buzz and energy, as well as a real sense of pupils supporting each other, and it’s great to have been able to support such an excellent cause as Tom’s Trust.”
Many thanks to Scudamore’s Punting, Cambridge Junction, Cambridge Rowing Experience, MR Cricket Hockey, The Red Lion Hinxton, Heffers, The Healthy Back Bag, Cambridge Fudge Kitchen, Hot Numbers and Aromi for donating raffle prizes for the event.