Why did I just buy tickets to… a primary musical?  

Why would I want to be at school… on a Saturday Night?  

Why is there a secondary cast… in a primary musical? 

Why do I even write for We Are when I’m the one asking questions? 

Kids. Little, innocent and adventurous. So, it makes sense that they are always asking questions. Are we there yet? Why does the tooth fairy want my teeth? Do I have to go to school? It’s nonstop questioning. And yes, to the older people reading this article, I’m still a kid. Asking questions just like the ones at the very start of the article.  

Armed with my questions I was ready to discover The Reasons Why. Literally. Something about the WCC drama department just love to levitate toward musicals with weird names, like Urinetown of course. However, The Reasons Why had a little surprise, it was in fact written within the very gates of William Clarke by the talented Mr Tredinnick himself. 

You are immediately transported into the living room of the Hills family with some adorable kids’ names such as Terry Hills and Elizabeth Hills (they’re Sydney suburb names if you haven’t caught on) however that’s the only adorable thing about this whole scene. The mum and dad acted by Secondary students Amelia C and Thurston L are HEARTLESS. Gathering the five kids into the room, the parents plainly inform them that the children are going to be going on a train to live with their cousins for an unspecified amount of time. But get this, with only one night’s notice! Ok I slightly take it back, Amelia C’s solo of the song You’re not Alone made the whole situation a little better. 

After an eventful train ride filled with misplaced bags and dancing and singing, the five Hills children arrive in Marksville, a fictional town where their cousin’s, the Villes family live. And yes, the Villes family also have interesting names, Kelly Ville, Forest Ville, Gran Ville, Rose Ville. You get the idea. However, the Hills and Villes soon discover that from the swapped bag, they were in possession of a Greek vase and a lot of cash; they had a robber’s bag.  

School was no different. Many of us can relate to the challenges and fear of moving to a new school just like the Hills children. Welcomed by the unwelcoming children, the Hills family and the audience is placed into your all too familiar primary school assembly, the awkward presentation of awards, sport announcements and a very targeted police announcement for the missing Greek Vase.  

Then came lunchtime, perhaps the worst part of the day being a new student. The rumours were spreading through the song What did you hear? but my favourite song of the entire musical would have the be the song after: No One Understands What It’s Like to be a Teacher. An upbeat yet emotional score featuring a large percentage of the cast singing and dancing.  

Act 2 featured the same high movement and storytelling with a few songs, although I would have liked to have heard more songs in this act. The Banquet was the annual Marksville gathering and involved everyone dressing up as the letter R. Also revealed were The Secret 12, comprised of the Year 9/10 Musical Theatre Explore Course, finally ending with the happy ending in which the robber is arrested the parents finally return, revealing the reality of why they had to leave.  

I’m going to be honest; I was a little sceptical of the quality that a primary musical will be given the age of the entire cast, and the fact that a group of secondary school students were given lead roles in a primary musical just did not sit right with me. However, I was wrong. The tireless work of the teachers, staff as well as help from the Secondary Students brought cohesion and storytelling onto the PA Hall stage, bringing excitement to almost 150 Primary School students as they experienced the joys of musical theatre. Mr Tredinnick’s world premiere of The Reasons Why was a steppingstone in the musical production journey. Urinetown 2.0 is looking good.