Clive Grant

I came across these musicals purely by chance at the Education Show, many years later I've performed 4 full blown musicals with children from Years 3,4 & 5.

The music has almost always grabbed the interest of the children, the accompanying backing tracks are generally very good quality. In fact for one piece of music we emailed the company to say we were having problems with one part, by return email came an extra few seconds of music to assist!

This is where Educational Musicals are very good. They have always allowed us to add bits, take bits away - which has allowed us to involve some gifted and talented writers. Where some sections of speech are over rather quick we've been able to add our own bits without fear of breaking any rules. The shows are historically accurate so occasionally a little humour, for example, can lack. Our children, who are not born performers have picked up their lines very well.

With each musical we received a fairly weighty art pack, which had some excellent ideas for props etc. using everyday milk cartons and such - Blue Peter heaven! This proved a useful starting point and our props actually turned out very well! It also saved time searching the internet.

The musicals are historical based, with some diverse topics. We have always been able to intergrate with our curriculum and teach around the show, providing a greater context for the pupils.

The Three Musketeers was everyone's favourite. Catchy music and a chance to wear some groovy wigs! We also performed Dream Catcher, Perfect Pirates and Warrior Queen, all good in their own right each offering different qualities.

Excellent value for money.