The Garden Cabaret dinner took place in heavy snow and freezing temperatures, but it would take more than snowdrifts and icy roads to stop Garden parents! They were quickly warmed up with Pina Coladas and Pimms in the lobby to set the International tone of the evening.
The first prize for the best outfit had to go to Chris Perkins for his fabulous attire! Garden girls performed an array of exciting entertainment throughout the evening and the International dishes varying from Tapas to Thai curry to Tiramisu were heavenly, thanks to our super talented chef Simon. I know one guest who had the Jamaican sticky chicken and then the Salmon en Croute straight afterwards!
The L6 did a tremendous job decorating the dining room with the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa and even the Great Wall of China. The whole house helped prepare the room so that it was transformed into a glorious setting for the evening.
The standard of entertainment was, as is expected at Repton, exceptionally high. Simon Cowell would be embarrassed by his show, if he could see the real talent we have here. Ellie Hickson sang with soul and the voice of an angel, whilst Alex Rotheroe was uniquely comical whilst singing brilliantly to Katie Tyson's talented accompaniment on guitar. Katie also showed her versatility singing with Ellie Hickson and then Josh Benn, who once again graced us with his presence and went down a storm. The B, A and O Block all did dances from all over the world under the expert tutelage of the L6. Sophie Watson's duet with Josh Benn was "awesome" (quote a parent), whilst the Howdown Showdown routine showed how well all the age groups could choreograph and perform such a tight routine together with Helen Raynor, Emma Casha, Eleanor O'Connell, Jess Hobday, Rosie Davis, Sophie Charlesworth and Caitlin Chadwick. The youngest performer was Zoe Mitchell who sang a duet with her father, which brought tears to a few parents eyes before the evening descended into memory lane music for those of us who remember the 80s, but the ORs seemed to fill the dance floor first! It was so good to see so many ORs at the dinner. Thank you to all of you for coming back and supporting the house. It was great to see you all having such a good time in the house again! The evening ended with the Cabaret band made up of Mr Mitchell, Mr Bournon (hot stuff on the drums!), Tom Hume and Teddy Roberts (both amazing guitarists)who got everybody dancing with Mustang Sally, which has to be the signature tune of Garden cabaret now. Many thanks to the boys for playing!
Best moments were Martin Casha singing Bat out Of Hell at full voice word perfect, Mike Leigh dancing all evening to everything, Hockey Staff (welcome back Dex!) version of Old Macdonald (much later in the evening!), our former Head of House telling us how much she missed the Garden, being so proud of all our girls and their immense array of talents that enabled us to put on such a successful evening, seeing the dance floor brimming with girls, parents and staff having fun together...and knowing we raised over £3000 for Help for Heroes.
A special big thank you to the Perkins, Angelina Dolan, the Hobdays and the Horns for their generous donations which raised £700 in the silent auction and to the Isbells for the Itouch and to all parents who donated all the other wonderful prizes, which made the raffle so lucrative!
We are proud to be able to donate all the money raised to Help for Heroes, which is our Lent Charity especially as it is so personal to so many of you.
Thank you once again to all of you for all your support and for making the evening one to remember!
A few quotes from guests ......so if you could not make it this time it's only 9 months before the next one!
"You are raising the bar very high"
"Fantastic night - so much talent!"
"Excellent cause - excellent evening"
"Congratulations on a succsessful Cabaret evening"
PLEASE SEE THE PHOTOS IN THE HOUSE GALLERY!
Posted on
Mon, January 11, 2010
by Garden JPM