French musical club performs Beauty and the Beast!

The French Musical Club at St Mary’s Junior School started seven years ago. It was originally going to be just theatre but then Dr Lea, the French teacher at the Junior School, thought that with songs the girls might enjoy it a lot more. She wanted to show them that learning a language is a key; it opens another world, its culture, books and music. At this point in time where there are fewer pupils in England learning a language and where businesses stress that they need people able to speak another language, staging fun musicals in a foreign language is an ideal way to imbue in the girls a love of languages.

Every year Dr Lea and her husband, Mr Jon Lea, take a French book and turn it into a four act musical with a running time of a little over an hour. Mr Lea composes the songs while Dr Lea writes the lyrics and the dialogues. The girls learn their dialogues and all the songs, with solos for each child that wants one. So far the club has performed Les Malheurs de Sophie, Le Petit Nicolas, Astérix, Tintin, Les Trois Mousquetaires, Le Tour du Monde en 80 jours and, this year, La Bête et la Bête.

Musicals are a great way for the girls to get a better accent. Madame Lea, who also teaches French at the University of Cambridge,  uses a sound correction technique to help learners to hear and produce new sounds and therefore acquire a good accent in the target language. She uses the same method during the club with a greater focus on fun, to better suit younger children.

It is an inclusive club and each pupil brings something special; it is a good way to show students of all abilities and confidence levels that they can achieve a lot more than they might think.

This year the club staged Beauty and the Beast. The girls learned the background to the story, its mixed Anglo-French heritage and that it wasn’t just made up by Disney in the famous 1991 animated version!

Three long-time members of the club who have now moved up to the Senior School - Vanille H., Juliette L. and Beatrice L. - came back to help this year. They are now co-directors and help the members with their lines as well. Juliette is also responsible for creating posters and the scenery.

The club is also fortunate to have the very talented Mr Andrew Severy, Computer Science teacher at the Junior School, for all the lighting and the special effects. The club keeps growing, with twenty participants for Beauty and the Beast, some dressed as teacups, teapots and assorted cutlery, not forgetting a broom and two menus! Well done to the parents too for supporting their daughters.

Madame Lea believes that the French Musical Club at St Mary’s Junior School is a very inspiring way to practise a language and to help the children to love it.