1ST OCTOBER 2005, OCTOBURST FESTIVAL, ESPLANADE OUTDOOR THEATER

Three sets of wonderfully talented children performing under the stars!!
It was an amazing evening of entertainment by 55 KIDS PERFORMING.  The first 45 min set showcased the JazzKids trainees and BabyJazzKids. This is the first time they are holding the fort with a full set of their own. BRAVO! we introduced the debutants of JKIII Rachel Mathews, Nadya Ow; Natahsa Scott and Erica Tan  as well as the fresh new babies of BabyJKII.

UrbanKids gave their sneak preview introducing  Jennifer Abdi singing " So Yesterday" and the cast giving a funky close to the set with " GETTHE PARTY STARTED" .

BroadwayKids came on in the next set showcasing the new talents. Chelsea Mansfield in "Tomorrow"; Leslie Bonorden in " Maybe" and Emily Dwyer in " The Girl I used to be" are our newbies that performed faboulously. Paloma, Verena and Sarah showed their professionalism and experience in their solos as they sang with much finesse and showmanship. Jane was a scene stealer in " SING!". She was hilarious! Chantal finally made her debut as Broadwaykid as she missed the last concert. The direction for this set was provided by Sinclair Ang.

The 3rd set was almost cancelled due to lightning but the show went on at 930pm. JazzKids I came on , fully loaded with costume changes. Nothing can stop these kids from giving your their  best and they sang with their hearts. The show "Fascinating Rhythm" work just as well outdoors as it did indoors.

To all the children who performed, " YOU ALL ARE THE SHINIEST STARS IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!!" 
To the mothers who helped out in the event: "Without you, there will not be any stars !!"

12TH JUNE 2005, 3pm; 7.30pm The Chamber, Arts House

The debut concert of BROADWAY KIDS IS A great success featuring a revue of broadway hits by the refreshing new cast of Singapore's first Broadway Kids. The kids came out to mingle with the audience at start,and jumped onto stage in their school uniforms at the opening number " BroadwayKids". Sarah got lost looking for the reservoire and sang " My Favourite Things" to soothe herself. It was hilarious when Sarah got into a drill sergeant outfit and marched the other kids through " DO-RE-MI". Kimberly, Paloma and Mitchell played "catch" in " I Won't Grow Up". BroadwayKids came out as orphans next singing "Food Glorious Food" in rags and dirt on the face. The Oliver Medley also featured Kimberly in " Who Will Buy?" and Mitchell in " Where is Love?" ,with "Consider Yourself" as the final medley piece with the entire ensemble. Jerone Abueva, sang the sweet " The Girl I Meant To Be" from Secret Garden. Glam and feather boas showcased in the next " Lullaby of Broadway" featuring Paloma with JazzKids Babes Jacqueline, Michaela, Joanna and Narisha. A Street fight sets the scene with " Anything YOu can do, I cna Do Better" pitting Verena and Jerone against Isabella and Sarah.
Paloma tugged at the audience's heartstrings with her solo rendition fo " What I Did for Love?" The finale piece was Annie Medley with the Broadwaykids and the ensemble in dirty aprons. scrubbing floors and cleaning mantel pieces. Encore piece "CORNER OF THE SKY" has great inspirational lyrics and eleven o'clock melody for the audience to leave with. This song also marked the start of a another great Kids Performing group, " BroadwayKids' which we all hope we will be seeing more often coming shows. The concert showed much camaderie amonsgt the performing kids.
BroadwayKids Debut concert was directed by Wendy Ng

22ND AND 23RD JUNE 2005, 3pm 7.30pm THE CHAMBER, ARTS HOUSE

JazzKids turned "one" with a glitzy concert at their birthplace, The Arts House. This concert features an entire new repertoire from standards to Broadway. The opening was all sequined and feather boas in FASCINATING RHYTHM MEDLEY. They danced the "Charleston", and showed the audience that they "got rhythm" with a new set of new jazz steps. The Train series took them through " Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "Take the A Train" . Scatting skills were challenged in " It don't mean a thing" and "Hit that Jive Jack!" Michael brought the house down with his rendition of "Spiderman" teasing the audience with his little "spiderman" costume secret. JazzKids took a break from Jazz, going Latin with Gloria Estefan's 1234 and salsa-ed to Mambo Madness Medley. Michaela and Natasha gave the audience a breather from the excitement with " Let there be Love" . BOY-GIRL tension arose with the boys(Caleb and Michael) pitting against the girls ( Vanessa; JAcqueline, Natasha) in " Let's CAll the Whole Thing Off" . The finale kicked off with JULIA'S outstanding NEW YORK NEW YORK. Jazzkids then came out to perform "Putiing on the ritz" with their silver top hats and canes. Razzle Dazzle with Caleb leading the troupe of ladies, was all dazzling and the finale " ONE" was the icing on cake showing that the JAZZKIDS have come of age with their professionalism and quality in their performance. "One" was a superb finale showing JazzKids in Unison dancing through complicated choreography.

This concert had a prelude, showcasing the new trainees " BABYJAZZKIDS" AND JazzKids Cast II. The BabyJazzKids were adorable performing "Cute" and " Let's Get Away from it All" featuring 5-year old Dominick in a 16 bar scat. The trainee JazzKids Cast II showed their potential with great hopes of joining CAst I in future concerts. Three Cast II were selected to join Cast I in the Anniversary concert: Paloma Brooks, Verena Hugger, and Elizabeth Heah.

FASCINTING RHYTHM CONCERT is choreographed by Sinclair Ang, and Directed by Kuo Po.

JazzKids Facinating Rhythm Part 1

JazzKids Facinating Rhythm Part 2

Jazzkids in "One"

JAZZKIDS CAST II and BabyJazzKids

 Arts House, PlayDen
11/12 Dec 2004    3pm, 6pm

Singapore's JazzKids flaunt their acting skills for the first time in a little musical written by their trainer, Kuo Po, the Creative Director of Kids Performing. They played characters named after famous nams like Ritchie Rich, Little Orphan Annie, Nemo, Ariel, Mulan, Poca Hontas, and Kim Possible. There are also three shallow and Clueless sidekicks named Cherry, Chocolate and Candy, which insiders said were spoofs of three infamous ditsy personalities from the local scene! The Cluessless three were played by Joanna Francois, Natasha Kendall and Jacqueline Geday. Unfortunately, Natasha was unable to perform because she became ill on the days of the concerts. The cast improvised with Joanna and Jacqueline sharing Natasha's lines.
The story tells of cynical Ritchie Rich who does not believe in Christmas. He thinks that he has friends only because he is rich. Clueless 3 make him feel this way by flattering him and agreeing with him no matter what he says. Along comes Little Orphan Annie with her best mates, Nemo,Ariel and Mulan, Together with Kim Possible and Poca Hontas, they sang, danced and convinced Ritchie Rich that the Christmas is more just "presents"it is the spirit  of friendship, sharing and caring that makes Christmas such a special time of the year.
weaving through the story line are everyone's favourite Christmas songs. Julia's Jingle Bells featured a Natalie Cole's scat that Julia sang effortlessly. Santa Claus is Coming to Town has a Manhattan transfer styled scat interlude sang by Michael. There was special effects in "Let It snow" as "snow" fell during the end of the song. The audience was moved by " The First Noel" in an ambience of low lightings and candles. The JazzKids became Santa's 9 reindeers in  Rudolph and everyone's favourite production number was Sleigh Ride. In "It Must have been santa/ I Saw mummy Kissing Medley", the JazzKids jived the handjive, and ago- goed !  The JazzKids showed their pop-side by performing Mariah Carey's All I Want for Chirstmas and the finale " This Christmas". Other songs featured were, Jingle Bell Rock/ winterwonderland medley; Diamonds are a Girls' best friend; Have yourself a Merry Christmas/ Chestnuts roasting Medley. The crowd loved and cheered for their favourite energetic number, " In the mood".
The production set consist of a Christmas tree surrounded by TY beanies and presents. There is a hosanna line of Christmas stockingsstringed across the stage. The mothers of the Jazzkids helped to put up the Chirstmas decor. Each stocking is personalised with a JazzKids name and design. After the concert, the JazzKids gave away TY Beanies to every child in teh audience. This is a very special musical Christmas full of heart and love for the JazzKids and those who  came to the concert.

11th and 12th September
Malay Heritage Village

Five- day old trainee JazzKids performed for the first time with the original JazzKids in a two-day show at the Malay Heritage Village auditorium. The opening number, ABC Scat, had all 19 of the cast members on stage performing. Cast 2 trainees, Joanna, Jacqueline, Natasha,Shanice, and Narisha showed off their scatting skills alongside with the original JazzKids.

 The Esplanade, Recital Studio
1st October 2004

After an intense three weeks of rehearsals, the new JazzKids finally joined the original JazzKids in their debut sold -out concert at The Esplanade. This concert opened with three Baby JazzKids Tricia, Shanice and Kimberly singing ABC and jumping the hopscotch. Trainer, Kuo Po started the music playing with her saxophone and one after another the JazzKids made their appearance in ABC Scat. Everyone had their turn to scat!!
The program highlighted the different individuality and the teamwork of the JazzKids. The concert also introduced a few new items.  A new duet, New York New York, by the JazzKids boys, Michael and Caleb was performed to the amusement of the audience. There was thunderous applause with Lady and The Tramp that featured Natasha, Jacqueline and Joanne. Not to be outdone, Narisha, joined the original JazzKids in the very entertaining, Lullaby Of Broadway. The finale was the big swing Glenn Miller number " In the Mood" which saw the JazzKids jiving and swinging with their caps.
The young performers were brought back for a grand encore item, " SING SING SING" .
The JazzKids looked fabulously cute in their outfits which were sponsored by GuessKids.
The audience definitely had a great time as they left the studio with a positive high and  humming the tunes that were sung in the concert.   

 

JazzKids, together with the Budding Artiste Fund Ambassador kids were training really hard for their debut in HongKong. Everyone was so excited as for some, this was the first time that they are travelling outside of Singapore, not to mention to represent the country and perform at a hip venue. we took the unearthly 6am flight as this would give us a whole day ahead in Hong Kong before the gruelling rehearsals commence the next day. The moment we landed, JazzKids and some of their parents in tow, headed straight for Disneyland and I didn't see them till much later in teh evening for dinner. Needless to say, they had a blast, and contributed much of their pocket money to Disneyland's revenue.

The weather was superb, a comfortable 19 deg , but we had to spend the next two days indoors to rehearse and prepare ourselves for the concert.

The stage was much smaller than we envisioned. (to be continued...)