Filial Piety is a play based on traditional Chinese folklore Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety. The essence of the ancient classic is extracted to create an all new story that brings out the theme of benevolence, love, filial piety and loyalty on earth.

“Filial Piety”, a newly created Cantonese Opera script for children, which is written by Ms Leung Sum-yee will be performed. Stories from the traditional Chinese forklore Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety will form the backbone of the performance, which will be presented in four individual stories, namely Forgetting, Love, Friendship and Gambling? Don’t do it. The different aspects of the human world would be depicted to highlight benevolence and filial piety. The finale will also include a group performance in fight choreography by using of bazi.

Musical Theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. Also known as “musicals”, they are performed all around the world in different venues, from Broadway and West End theatres, on international tours, to local community theatres and schools. This popular art form is both entertaining and artistically challenging.

Musical Greatest Golden Tunes is a comprehensive musical theatre education project for primary and secondary schools. On completion of the yearlong training, You’ve Got a Friend in Me, The Sound of Music meets The King & I, “Colorful and Exotic Animation Musicals” and “Fosse’s World” will be produced and performed by students through the collaboration among schools and theatres professionals.

1. Musical Theatre Programme

You’ve Got a Friend in Me
(for primary schools with some musical theatre production experience)
Newly written by HK3AMI, this is a fun and meaningful musical that will explore through a fun treasure hunt what we really want the primary schools’ students to learn in their daily life at school. This fun treasure hunt will take them to the Sharing Room, Giving Room, Empathy Room, and Caring Room. Teaching them that love comes in so many forms, it is all around them, with their classmates, schoolmates, families and their community at large. This touching treasure hunt will be supported by exciting musical songs from Disney Golden Selection of classics and other not well known Disney musicals by our current primary schools, such as Lady and the Tramp, The Fox and Hound, Aristocats, Dumbo and Bambi.

The Sound of Music meets The King & I
(for secondary schools with some musical theatre production experience)
Based on a new script by HK3AMI about the world of Rogers and Hammerstein (R&H) who created some of the best musicals of the Golden age era, such as The Sound of Music, The King and I, South Pacific, Oklahoma! and Carousel.

A class in a Hong Kong secondary school is preparing for a Musical Theatre Competition organized by the New York Musical Festival. The Wining class will be invited to NYC to perform classic songs from R&H at the opening of the festival. Their teacher Ms Amanda who is leading them through this preparation will help them go through their ups and downs, arguments, doubts and finally understanding that by accepting and understanding one another they might have a chance to be on the top list of this competition. Through the preparation students will embark on a journey of self-discovery by facing their real-self and being more compassionate toward some of their classmates.

This show will be enriched with great classic songs and music from R&H well known musicals, often referred to as the Golden Age of Musicals. Come and enjoy some of the most beautiful and enduring show tunes by R&H and meet our energetic and touching characters of The Sound of Music meets The King and I.

2. Song & Dance Programme

Colorful and Exotic Animation Musicals
(for primary schools with no/less musical theatre production experience)
Colorful and Exotic Animation Musicals is a mini-musical comprised of a series of non-stop song and dance numbers, selected from Disney exotic shows such as Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tarzan. The programme will be educational and entertaining to bring the colors, cultures and exoticism of faraway lands to our primary school students. It will take our performers and audience to the colorful world of exotic Disney through beautiful tunes and vibrant musical dance styles.

Fosse’s World
(for secondary schools with no/less musical theatre production experience)
Fosse’s World is also a mini-musical comprised of a series of non-stop song and dance numbers selected from the Broadway musical Fosse. Fosse was a very powerful and creative choreographer on Broadway. His style is very specific and entertaining and has been a great inspiration to many contemporary choreographers on Broadway. Our secondary school students will enjoy learning to dance with a bowler hat, white gloves, and a stick. Songs and Dance numbers will be selected from some of his most famous Broadway musicals such as The Pajama Game, Sweet Charity, Damn Yankees, Cabaret, Dancin’ and his famous film All That Jazz. In 1999 the musical Fosse has won a Tony award for best musical on Broadway and a Drama Desk Award. Fosse dance style is fun, entertaining, and classy.

After a year-long intensive musical training, 170 students from 7 primary and secondary schools will present two full-length musical and a series of Broadway musical numbers to showcase what they have learnt and corp d’ esprit (team spirit).

This year, the theme of the drama in practice project is named Modern Chinese Literature where the arts group will introduce to students both the representative authors and works of the May Fourth Movement in China, which include Guan Hanqing by Tian Han, The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun and Retreating Figure by Zhu Ziqing. By reading, comprehension of text, and interpretation on stage, students could learn the background of modern Chinese philosophy, famous authors and the meaning of their works.

According to the concept “From Page to Stage” believed by Prospects Theatre, the finale stage production is essential. Students could experience the charisma of the theatre and learn about team spirit, which are beneficial to the development of the youth. Schools that participate in this project will each get three performance opportunities: in-school, for the community and at the final showcase.

Students are guided to learn the classics as the start point for script creation. Participating students will perform their plays on stage and share with the public what they have learned over the year. Through the session, they will share their creative concepts and the fun of being behind the curtain. There are two secondary, three primary and two special schools participating in the finale performance.

After a year-long Hip Hop or Jazz Dance training, participating students will perform on stage and share with the public the fruit of their learning and fun of dance.

Themed around animal fables, the project rides on famous stories crafted by both local and foreign writers, from the past and the present, such as Aesop from Greece, La Fontaine from France, Zhuangzi from China, Ho Tsz from Hong Kong, etc. Students will first read these writings and then the instructor will offer guidance on creating the scripts and the roles. They will work together to reinterpret these animal fables, so that students can understand the contents of and the lessons behind these stories. The project also introduces the main features of creative theatre to students. By animalize their characters, the outcome of students performance will be strengthened. At the same time, students will understand the relationship between literature and the theatre. Theatre arts workshop instructor will also guide students on creating props and costumes so that they can be more familiar with the art of theatre.

After a year-long literature theatre training, students are going to share their learning outcome with the public. A sharing session will be set after each school’s performance where participating students could share with the audience their creation process and performing experience. There will be three primary and two special schools participating in the finale performance.

When you only have one hour per day, what would you spend it on? What plans will you make for this precious time? This year, we will focus on the topic of “time”. The instructor will decide on “___ hour(s) per day” by drawing lots. Bringing the theme to the classroom to discuss with students, the instructor will guide students to consider the importance of time management, how to make good use of time, as well as the relationship between time and people. By reflecting on our lifestyle and our life, students will be more proactive and engaged in the discussion and the creative process. Students are encouraged to draw inspiration from the discussion and to express their feelings through physical movements, which will then be developed into short personal dance pieces. Students will enjoy their exclusive “Show Time!” on a professional stage at the finale performance.

The instructor will teach basic tap dance techniques. Students will learn to train their bodies to achieve coordination, distribution, balance and aesthetic forms. The art of tap dancing will be explained from multiple directions. By taking part in this project, students will understand, be engaged in and share the joy of tap dancing. Their learning outcome will be showcased in a finale tap dance performance staged at a venue outside of their schools.

After a year-long Tap Dance training, students are going to share their learning outcome with the public. Dance theatre will be performed by the students from 3 primary schools and 3 secondary schools.