Waipawa M&D presents When You Wish Upon a Star

Director Alanna Barkle (left) going over a tricky moment in When You Wish Upon a Star with cast members Madeleine Howard, Tami Marie Manihera-Breach, Naomi Oram and Gabrielle Rodrigues.

We’re used to taking our seats at the CHB Municipal Theatre, waiting for the curtain to rise, then being treated to a well-polished and shiny show from Waipawa M&D.

For the audience, it happens like magic.

For the cast and crew it’s the product of weeks, if not months, of hard work, late nights and forfeited weekends, going over and over every step, every note and every word.

Last week, for the first time, director Alanna Cutbush sneaked the media into the M&D’s sacrosanct rehearsal space to see what goes on behind the scenes.

Rehearsals take place in the M&D clubrooms alongside the CHB Municipal Theatre.

Entry is from an inconspicuous side door, past a workshop and then through the wardrobe department between rows of racks groaning with costumes.

The cast of Waipawa M&D's latest show, all attention at a pre-rehearsal briefing.

The rehearsal room is at the end of the building, through another inconspicuous door and — voila! There they all are, the cast and crew of Waipawa M&D’s latest show, When You Wish Upon a Star.

Opening on October 4, it is a musical revue featuring well-known songs from musical films that span the generations — from the 1930s to the present.

The cast of 24 spans the generations as well (not from 1930 though), and has familiar faces and voices as well as quite a few who are new to the stage. Some of them were backstage crew for Little Shop of Horrors and, having caught the Waipawa M&D bug, are stepping out from the wings and into the bright lights.

Three well-known and popular CHB performers, Brendon Leeuw (left), David Berry and Michael Charlton-Jones in rehearsal for When You Wish Upon a Star.

There are singers and there are dancers — some showing the influence of CHB dance schools.

They’re all here in the cosy rehearsal room flanked by stacks of chairs bedecked with water bottles and cast-off hoodies, tables of props and posters and laptops, and backed with a half-constructed and one-third-painted set.

These are all the nuts and bolts that go together to make an M&D performance.

For Alanna Barkle, it’s her first time in the director’s chair. Not literally a chair; Alanna doesn’t sit still for a moment, she’s taking notes, giving stage direction, encouraging what works, changing what doesn’t, repeating what’s nearly right until her performers nail it. And she’s also singing in the show.

“It’s hard to disconnect the two,” she says. “But it’s fun.”

There’s a lot of fun. The smiles you see on stage are real — the cast are serious about what they’re doing, but they’re laughing a lot too.

They’ve been rehearsing since July 21, first separately as dancers and singers, now together, up to three times a week and it will get more frequent, more intense over the dwindling days until October 4 — opening night.

There is something for everyone in this show. As a grandma, I knew the older songs. My co-reviewer, Jhasper, now 13, knew the newer songs.

Michael Charlton-Jones and Jemma Lee-Young (front) with the cast of When You Wish Upon a Star at the Waipawa M&D rehearsal rooms.

As an extra treat, the show is going to be on in the CHB Municipal Theatre Concert Chambers, an intimate venue that will make the audience feel they are right there — up close and feeling all the joy and hearing every note of these much-loved songs.

I’ll give you all a sneak preview, shall I, of what Jhasper and I saw and heard?

This show is shaping up to be another star-studded stunner. And the power of the ensemble, voices raised, will stand your hair on end.

Opening night is Friday, October 4, at 7 o’clock, at the CHB Municipal Theatre Concert Chambers, Kenilworth St, Waipawa. Matinees are 3.30pm on October 5, 7 and 12, with an evening show at 7pm on Friday, October 11.