Students steal the show in Wonthaggi

The Bass Coast Specialist School have capped off a busy couple of days with their biennial Performing Arts Concert.

This year, the students took to the Wonthaggi Union Theatre stage for a performance based on ‘Grease’ on Wednesday, October 14.

The performance came just a day after their annual swimming carnival, which included students from both Bass Coast Specialist School and the South Gippsland Specialist School.

The concert kicked off at 11am, and featured traditional songs from ‘Grease’ alongside some more modern hits, such as Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’.

And the inspiration originally all came from a student.

Bass Coast Specialist School music therapist Letitia Condron said the idea emerged last year when a senior student arrived at school singing songs from Grease, wearing a leather jacket and styling his hair like a character from the film after having recently watched it.

“So, we thought, 'Oh, why don't we do a concert around that’?” she said.

Students spent the past two terms preparing for the show, with plenty of input into how it would turn out.

For the classic ‘Greased Lightnin’, senior students even made a cardboard car that could be turned around to show an older car transformed into a newer one.

The production also had specially made costumes and pre-recorded vocals, with some students helping backstage.

But there were plenty of individual achievements too.

Ms Condron highlighted one student who’d spent the past year learning how to play the piano with both hands, despite having cerebral palsy affecting one side of his body.

He accompanied a group of students on stage, while another student, Tyler, received a standing ovation for his solo performance of Frank Sinatra's My Way.

Ms Condron said the concert gives students an opportunity to build confidence and experience performing in front of an audience.

“It's an opportunity to feel nervous, feel scared about something, and then succeed at something,” she said.

As a music therapist, she said music was also used to develop communication and social skills, rather than strictly teaching students how to perform music.

The excitement had the school buzzing long after the curtains closed as well.

Ms Condron said students were still talking about their favourite moments when they went back to school.

It was also a special moment for many families.

“For our families, it’s great for them to see their kids up on stage and be able to cheer them on,” said Ms Condron.