Weyburn Comprehensive recently finished their performances of Matilda JR, their first live performance at the school in two years. 

The show ran from November 23rd to the 25th. 

Tanya Cameron, a band teacher at Weyburn Comprehensive who directed the musical, says it was exciting to be back on the Cugnet Centre stage. 

“To see the kids up there again, I think the biggest thing was that they were able to rehearse together, perform together, you know, be together before the shows, and get ready together and all of those things that take place when you do a live show that didn't take place last year.” 

The role of Matilda was played by twin sisters Meisha and Mataya Bowerin. 

“The role of Matilda is quite large. There's quite a bit of solo singing. There is a ton of lines, and we thought here's a way to involve more than one kid. They’re sisters, they can practice things together and work on lines together, but they would each learn half the amount of songs and half the amount of dialogue so it worked out really good.”   

Cameron says the cast and crew didn’t experience many issues during the rehearsals and performances. 

“Rehearsing every once in a while, there would be a student who maybe wasn't fully vaccinated yet that would have to social have to self-isolate and would miss rehearsals. We didn't have too many hiccups. During our dress rehearsal, we had a scene that we needed a projector for, and backstage the projector accidentally was unplugged, so that was good that it happened during a dress rehearsal performance, because we were able to fix it.”   

She adds that there was also an issue with one of their soundboards going to sleep during a performance.  

“The cast, handled it extremely well. They just kept singing, performing, and the teachers up in the sound booth were able to get it going and they the music came back on and they didn't miss a beat.”   

Cameron appreciates having nice audiences and good crowds every night.