Amor Vincit Omnia (AVO)

AVO is the latest in an increasingly long line of musicals staged by LTPSS. There were six performances: two per day for three consecutive days with the final evening performance on Saturday 12th July being the VIP Gala Performance.

AVO was very challenging and we managed to record a number of firsts.

The Script

Basically, the story was told in two languages – English and Putonghua; one scene was one conversation with dialogue alternating between the two. Although AVO is at heart a love story, it also deals with cultural, social, political and historical issues. Also, there was a high number of scenes requiring a lot of co-ordinated work from the backstage crew.

The Cast and Crew

In previous musicals, most of the main cast was from senior forms e.g. Form 5. For AVO, the majority of the cast and crew are from the lower school i.e. Forms 1 – 3.

Timing

Previous musicals have been staged in October / November meaning that rehearsals took place over the summer holiday. AVO was staged in July – the end of the school year; auditioning started in September and allowances had to be made for exams and other commitments. A very concentrated rehearsal period was organised in the two weeks before the first performance date.

Technically

The large screen on stage was used and images were ‘back projected’. This reduced the size of the stage so a large extension to the stage had to be designed and constructed. Temporary tiered seating accommodating just over 200 people was hired and this added another special feel to the event.

Musically

We used a wide range of resources to produce the music: playing live on stage, the band playing live with special arrangements for piano and gu zheng and specially created ‘playback’ tracks.

A lot of challenges and a lot of firsts; it was hard work and the results were spectacular. Well done and thank you to all those involved no matter the size of your contribution.

Participating in the AVO musical has been a long, tough, and memorable experience for me. I have learnt much during this journey and I shall have long lasting memories of all the things I have experienced, especially working with all my schoolmates, teachers and other people who were involved.

I feel that our school has really set out to produce a musical with all the aspects of professional theatre work. When I received and read the script, I felt like I was working and participating in a professional production of a musical with very detailed divisions of duties and meticulous planning. Through this process, I have learnt about the inner workings of professional theatre work.

As one of the main characters in the musical, it is difficult to forget the work and effort everyone has put in producing this musical, especial the people who were by my side, helping, supporting and participating with me from the beginning to the end. It is the feeling of camaraderie among all as we strove towards a common goal which kept us going, even when we all felt tired, hungry, and occasionally beaten during the tedious and repetitive rehearsal period. However, it was a true bonding experience and in the end, I think, we all enjoyed the overall process.

Towards the end of the AVO musical, we even started talking about the next musical and how wonderful and exciting it would be if we could perhaps be able to participate in it and experience all that we have had during this one.  

I think we are all really looking forward to the next musical and firmly believe we can put on another good show.

Eddy Fung  4S

As I said, this is my favorite musical ever. I was delighted that I was given an opportunity to be an actor and participate in the musical. When we were given the scripts, we studied our characters and tried to immerse ourselves into the characters. We could not just recite and read out the lines. Instead, we had to study thoroughly the background of the play and personalities of our roles so as to fully understand the characters in a three-dimensional way.  During the rehearsals , we acquired different acting and singing skills.  Our theatrical knowledge and performance technics were enhanced by the advice of our teachers.   
The last time, I participated in a musical I was one of the backing chorus. This time, it was more challenging for me because it was my first performance as one of the main casts in a school production. We were quite lost at the beginning. However, all the challenges made us stronger. We learnt by trail and error, and then improved with the help of our teachers and student helpers. We were able to develop our skills and conquer our fears, especially during the final rehearsals. We dared to act with confidence. We were not professionals, but we were all determined to aim high.
In the six shows, we succeeded and did our best. We are thankful to all the support from the school and those who helped us through everything. The applause from the audience and the learning experience will live in us for the rest of out lives. 

 Kenny Cheung 3S

The Charity Concert 2014 was a valuable experience for me as being the MC and a performer in the Concert, and I’ve learnt a lot. Being the MC, I had to do researches so that I could prepare well for writing my own script. I found that it’s not an easy task at all. For example, I had to look for quotes of famous people to support the ideas that we shared in holding this charitable event. Also, due to the tight rehearsal schedule and limited practice time, we only had a couple of practices as the MC before the show. It’s a bit rush for us and luckily we were taught how to react or to make changes for any possible situation.

As a performer, I think the Charity Concert was a meaningful experience for me in giving help to people in need with not only donation, but also our musical talents. Through this experience, I have made a lot of new friends who are from different schools and we all share one common thing, that is we all have a heart which is willing to love and share, especially to those who are less fortunate than we are. Other than this, I’ve also learnt how to work together as a team and from one another, we can see our own weakness and how to outdone ourselves. It was amazing that the Concert ended with such beautiful music and it’s hard to believe that we only had a few rehearsals before the show. Everybody has worked so hard for it. It was definitely a precious moment for every participant and I hope that you could feel the ‘joy, love and care’ that we share in the Concert.

Moon Tang 3S

On 10th May 2014, we had the annual LTPSS Charity Concert 2014 in the School Hall. The Charity Concert is a fund-raising event and this year, the ‘Community Chest of Hong Kong’ has been elected by the SA as the beneficiary organization. The Concert was a successful event which was full of ‘Joy, Hope and Care’ and we were very lucky to have three schools in joining us in this meaningful night, they were Chinese YMCA College, St. Teresa Secondary School and TWGHs Lee Ching Dea Memorial College. The Concert was filled with wonderful music, first by the Joint School Band leaded by the famous conductor, Mr. Carl Choi. Then the Joint School Chorus, taking the audience to a magical journey of famous musical excerpts. At last, the Concert ended with the wonderful Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘ Concert Celebration’, with all the singers singing and acting and dancing as the grand finale. The annual Charity Concert is one of the most important and meaningful event in LTPSS that one should not miss

Mrs Vian Tong

 
Experiential Learning Week 2013-2014– Teacher’s Reflection

I took part in organizing some of the activities in the Experiential Learning Week, e.g. S.1 Macau Study Trip, S.4 Cheung Chau Field Trip etc. Although I did not join the Macau Study Trip with my S.1 students, I had a lot of fun in preparing the Trip. The students had to come up with their own research topic, draft their own proposal before the Trip. They felt excited and very curious about the Trip. It was probably the first time for many of them to travel without their parents! Most of the students were able to cooperate with each other very well. Though sometimes they faced difficulties which hindered their performance on the research, their subject teachers acted as facilitators to guide them the appropriate way to deal with the problems.

In addition, I went to Cheung Chau for a field study with S.4 students. Students went to different checkpoints, e.g. St. Paul’s Hospital, the Rock Carvings of Cheung Chau etc. to investigate whether conservation is taking place in these cultural heritages. This was a valuable opportunity for them to understand more about the history of Cheung Chau.

In conclusion, our school provides a great variety of activities to our students in the Experiential Learning Week. These serve as another way to learn outside classroom, or even in the world since we also organized study trips to Guangzhou and Taipei for S.2 and S.3 students respectively.

Miss Lai Ka Yan, Vanessa
OLE Committee

 

 

Experiential Learning Week 2013 – 2014 – Student’s Reflection

Last week was the Experiential Learning Week, it was a lot of fun. The school arranged many activities for us. I think the most interesting thing was going to Macau to conduct a research project. We did many things in Macau, they will forever be part of my memory.

1T Ho Ching Man, Yoyo (3)

We English teachers would like to express our appreciation to the students at LTPSS for showing your respect to the English works and working really hard and seriously on them. We have been really impressed by the originality of the students’ work. In order to show our respect for these pieces of creative and thoughtful work, the English teachers decided to put them up for display on 4/F – the English subject floor. Every English teacher is fully committed to establishing a nice and positive English learning environment here in which students’ every piece of hard work is recognised and valued.

The English subject floor has been decorated with the concept of ‘LEARNING HARVEST’. We regard the receiving of students’ successful work as reaping the harvest of quality teaching. The floor is decorated with doors painted in brown as the brunches and the corridors and pipes filled with green and strong leaves clinging to the walls and Students’ work hanging among the leaves. We would like to thank our VA teachers Mr. SKK and Mr. YYT for their kind help with the onerous purchase of materials, Ming Suk for putting up everything for us and Sai Suk for painting the doors. We would also like to say a big thank you to our lovely senior form students for helping to put up the students’ work. Thank you for your support to the department!

It’s the school’s CR soon but I think it’s just the time for the celebration of success and looking into how to bring the quality teaching and learning to another stage of development.

Kathy Cheung
English department

This is my new art work 'Heart Beating'. This is an abstract painting, I tried to paint it after I saw the work by John Beckly. I experimented different technique, such as dripping colour, scratching out the outlines and shading with cold colours. I am very much satisfied with this work and I hope you like it also.

5A Ticko Liu

This is my first time joining the full marathon. I joined the marathon because I wanted to know my standard. I wanted to take this challenge. So, I set a target and practiced regularly to prepare for the race. Unluckily, I got hurt in January, but I didn't give up. Finally I finished the full marathon within 5 hours. Sometimes, I think running for the marathon is not all about fitness, persistence and volition is also important. Hey guys, hold on your belief and never give up! Keep on exercising and lead a healthy life.

Mr. Cheng Siu Wing

Eddy and I heard about this event, 'Super Language Competition' two weeks before the competition and we had so few days to practice. The competition was very tough. We were competing against other international schools, but we finally won the championship. Thanks to Mr. Arriaga and Mr. Javier's encouragements and also our intensive last minute practices. We performed a song by a 70s Argentinian dual, named 'Pimpinela' , the song is called ' Olvídame y pega la vuelta'. Pretending to be in love with Eddy added to the toughness of the competition, but it was remarkable.

4S Kelvin Ho

In the Chinese New Year, apart from celebrations and visiting my relatives, I also went to school for the choir practice. We are preparing for the Tai Po Festival Competition in 21/2. Last year, we were very happy that we won the championship. I hope all our effort in these few months could pay off this time to win the competition again.

2R Mimi Lui

馬年伊始，先祝大家龍馬精神、馬到功成。 大家有沒有留意今年的元宵節和西方的情人節在同一天？這個巧合是每19年才會出現一次。大家也說元宵節是「中國情人節」，但大家知道元宵節的起源嗎？ 關於元宵節的起源有很多，其中一個關於元宵節起源的故事是這樣的：相傳漢武帝時，有位宮女名叫元宵，她因思親而欲投井自盡。這事被東方朔知道後，便想辦法幫元宵。東方朔言談玄妙，並打扮成算命先生，大家也求他指點迷津，但每人求得的籤文都是：「正月十五火焚身。」這令長安城陷入一片恐慌。 漢武帝得知後，請東方朔討教平息之方。東方朔指出，火神君最愛吃湯圓，十五晚上可命宮女元宵做湯圓焚香上供。再傳諭臣民一起外出避禍，滿城街巷、庭院屋門都掛上紅燈，好像滿城大火，就可騙過在天上觀望的火神君了。漢武帝於是照辦，結果正月十五那天，長安城熱熱鬧鬧，最後平安無事，而元宵也終於與家人團聚了。自此以後，每逢正月十五日，大家也會掛彩燈、吃湯圓，這樣的傳統便流傳下來了。 近年，受西方文化影響，「元宵」與「七夕」一樣，也被當作「中國情人節」。碰巧今年中西情人節均在同一日，大家不妨於14/2星期五午膳時間，到有蓋操場參加中文科舉辦的摺花燈及猜燈謎活動，又或到BUDDY SCHEME的攤位買一份朱古力慶祝吧。

Ms Fu Ho Yi

 

Sports Day – My happiest moment in the year.

Working with the student helpers;
Participating in the events;
Watching the competitions on the track and field;
Hearing the cheers from houses;
Enjoying the cheering team performances; Presenting the prizes to the winners;
All of these made us feel young and energetic!

At last, singing the school song together was the greatest moment ever. We showed high team spirit and strong sense of belongings!

I hope Sports Day would be one of the most memorable moments in your life, and students can keep up the passion in Sports Day as well as daily life.

Ms Chan Wing Han

Hearing the hubbub from each house, we knew that it was time for LTPSS Sports Day… This year, Yip Chun Mo and I had the honour to take the oath at the Opening Ceremony on behalf of all athletes. It was my pleasure to take this role. Not only is Sports Day a competition amongst houses, it is also a great event that bonds us all together. Members of the houses cheered for one another in the good-natured competitions, and the two days were filled with harmonious atmosphere. Apart from getting medals, friendships and the sense of belonging to house and school are also developed. These are the extra rewards that are far more valuable than the medals. Taking part in Sports Day is a lot of fun. This is really the most wonderful Sports Day ever.

6A Wong Hoi Lam