EVENING NEWSSATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2010
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SHOPPINGFOODBOOKSGARDENINGNOSTALGIAPETS WEEKENDTV
FUN:
Mary-BethMcFern,FionaDuncan,JohnNaples-CampbellandBenNesbetenjoytheGleeclub,above.
MAKINGASONGANDDANCEOFIT
“
Westartedwith20members,butsinceGleecameonTV,it’srisentoaround100sonowweneedtheschoolhalltorehearse”
JOHN NAPLES-CAMPBELL
F
INGERSaresnapping,legsare popping, smiles are widening as arms reachimploringly to the stars. Voicessinginunison:“Justasmalltowngirl,livinginalonelyworld...shetook the midnight train goinganywhere...” “Come on’” yells a voice from the front. “One, two,three, four . . . sexy salsa, nowreally cheesy . . .”It’snotanactualscenefromanepisode of the surprise hit TV series
Glee
–dubbed“HighSchoolMusical for adults” – but it could be taken straight from the script.Instead this is a Tuesday lunchhour at Haddington’s Knox Academy where for around 100pupils, packed lunches are aban-doned for an hour of singing,dancing and the chance to forgetschool pressures and teenageangst by getting lost in music.Ties have been loosened,sleevesrolledup,andperspirationisformingonforeheadsasdramateacher John Naples-Campbellexhorts his Glee students to com-mit themselves to the moves.Gleeclubsarepartandparcelof theAmericanhighschoolsystem, but this side of the pond, singingat school has generally beenrestricted to the school choir.But ever since the US series hitour screens, exploding ratingsand taking the Golden Globe for best comedy series, interest insuch clubs has been rising.Mr Naples-Campbell, a QueenMargaret drama graduate whoalsorunstheRandomActTheatreCompanyandstilldirectsmusicaltheatre, thinks his club might bethefirstinScotland.Andwhileheed to sing and dance. We startedthe club before
Glee
came onBritish TV, but I had a box set of the series on DVD and loved it. ItremindedmeofmytimeatQueenMargaret. The drama students werewiththenursing,mediaandsports science students. We werethe weirdos who were singing incorridors.“Westartedasashowchoir,butthat was when we had about 20members. Since
Glee
came on TV the numbers have risen to
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missestheelementofcompetitionthatcouldresultiftherewereoth-ers,hebelievesthatit’smoreabouthaving fun and building young-sters’ confidence.“ThedifferencebetweenaGleeclub and a school choir is that it’sfor every year group, so we havekids aged 13 to 17 here. When Icame here I knew there was atradition of good school choirsand classical music and I wantedto offer something different. Theschool choirs are for junior andsenior girls, but there wasn’tmuchforboysorthosewhowant-
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