Along with 16 other senior BHS students in the Creative Arts Department, we travelled to New York City over the mid-term break.

We knew beforehand that we would be staying at a hotel called The Row near W 45 Street, and we were curious about the name of the hotel. We soon discovered why it is so called!

W 45 St also has a sign beneath it saying “Leonard Bernstein Row.” The street is in the middle of the Theater District and is named after one of the world’s most famous composers, Leonard Bernstein, who wrote the music for such Shows as South Pacific and West Side Story.

Our visit incorporated three areas of the Creative Arts — theatre, visual arts and music.

In a hectic four-day schedule, we went to see five Broadway shows: Once; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time; Wicked; Mama Mia; and It’s Only a Play.

Those productions demonstrated to us a wide variety of acting genres; comedy, intense drama, and a huge variety of singing and dancing routines.

In It’s Only a Play, the set and props were absolutely amazing and the play had a cast of well-known actors on stage. We felt very lucky and privileged to be able to watch them performing.

The trip enabled us all to widen our knowledge of all three aspects of our BHS curricula in theatre, music and art.

We were able to have a private tour backstage at Radio City Music Hall where we were introduced to one of the Rockettes who was rehearsing for the Christmas production.

We also did a tour of the Museum of Modern Art, visited a music seminar and participated in a make up workshop at a drama studio in Manhattan.

Finally, we paid a memorable visit to Ellis Island, gateway to the United States for many of the immigrants who brought their musical talents to America and started the Theater District and Broadway.

“I left New York with positive and clear minded thoughts towards career choices” said Kaisha.

Brittney agreed. “This was my first school trip and I could not have asked for a more enjoyable and worthwhile experience.”

Both students paid tribute to the teachers who accompanied the students to New York, namely Mrs Caroline Davis, Mrs Melissa Brough and Mr John White, as well as Mrs Jane Thorpe who organised the trip.

“Our teachers were simply excellent,” agreed both girls.