Hi Debbie, I'm an orange dancer from Rainbow Spectacular.  I'm Anuki, 11 yrs old & a yr 6. The characters you made up r amazing, u've got great imagination for an adult.

WHAT CHILDREN, PARENTS & TEACHERS ARE SAYING ........

 

Dear Debbie,

On behalf of the children, parents, staff and myself at St Luke's School Cambridge, I would like to express our sincere thanks and praise to you for Blooming Gorgeous. The show was a great success and was loved by everyone. You should be very proud of your work ....  indeed, it was the 4th production I have seen or been involved with, so my praise is not without good reason.   At a previous school we put on The Emerald Crown and at this school we put on Dick Whittington, The Owl and the Pussy Cat and now Blooming Gorgeous! Once again, thank you and let's hope we can work together again, in the near future!

Yours sincerely, Sean Kinsella

 

Dear Debbie,

This will seem a very 'out of the blue' e-mail – but I really feel moved to write to you to thank you for the most wonderful musicals I have been involved with in the last 15 years. I am writing now as I reach the end of 15 years music teaching and go into music therapy as I look at the titles of 20 musicals at the back of Robin Hood and Friends .  I have been musical director of many of these titles – and Robin Hood is my 2nd time and the last musical before I leave teaching.   What is so special about your musicals?

- great lyrics that, although often 'wordy', have an instant appeal to children

- humour - Pepy's Show comes to mind here

- moving - many songs in Big Momma and Ocean Commotion made me  cry .... and children and parents

- strong message - Bumblesnouts , Emerald Crown , Ocean Commotion , Big Momma

- history and fun - Pepy's Show , Robin Hood

- Boy appeal - First Kids in Space , Robin Hood

I recently had an e-mail from a GCSE pupil who said her year group was planning a reunion - their Year 6 play was Robin Hood and they wanted to re-enact this for their reunion - could I give them the score? Essentially this meant that the highlight and pivotal point of their primary school experience was the Robin Hood play - I felt very proud to have been instrumental in this - I hope you feel thrilled that this was your work. Sometimes I have revisited a musical and have seen reception to year-two children perform a musical that was last performed by year 6. When year 6 comes along to see it I have often asked them to join in some of the songs - songs they last sang when they were 4, 5 or 6 years old. The instant recall is quite amazing - and I know other members of staff are astonished by this. Your gift for captivating and varied music and lyrics is truly inspirational. So, Debbie - thank you so much for providing me, and so many of the children I have taught in the last 15 years for the most amazing and memorable highlights.

Best wishes, Helen Mackinnon

 

Hi Debbie,

I forgot to say in my first email, the children absolutely love your music. The whole of the school I'm working with from P1-7 (ages 5-12) are taking part and are, appropriately, buzzing with excitement!!

Best wishes, Lesley Mair

 

Dear Debbie,

I just wanted to drop you a line to say how much our FCMG Intermediate Choir Workshop Kids are enjoying your show "The First Kids in Space". We are at the end of day 2 of a 3 day course and the 17 children - aged 6 to 10 - are having a wonderful time. This is the 5th spring workshop we have run for this age group, and 2009 is our 50th anniversary so this year is extra special. We are putting on two performances tomorrow (Tuesday) so in the incredibly unlikely event that you are at a loose end and fancy seeing what 17 children and a bunch of very enthusiastic helpers have done with your show then we would be delighted and thrilled to see you.

Many thanks and very best wishes, Simon Weir

 

Dear Ms. Campbell,

Thank you so much for producing and publishing such relevant and thought provoking musicals for children. I am Deputy Head and key stage 2 teacher at a small village Primary school in Norfolk and saw an early performance of One Planet Future at the WWF conference for teachers last year in London and fell in love with the songs (especially 'A Big World of Difference') and characters. My school has just achieved a Bronze Eco School Award and I have started to think about how we will meet the requirements for the silver award . . . and I thought of you!

One of the things we have to do is create an Eco Code within our school which pupils, families, staff and governors all follow, and I thought how great it would be to use 'A Big world of Difference' to promote our Eco Code to our school community. I was wondering whether there would be any way that we could negotiate a licence fee which would enable us to perform this song within our school up to 6 times over the course of next year. Is that something you would consider? I would love to hear your thoughts on this as I would really like to use your song with my Eco Action Team. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Many thanks and kind regards, Michelle Ireson

 

I just had to write and say how impressed I was with the school concert yesterday. I try to come to all the shows and assemblies that my own children are involved in, so I know there's a high standard, but this one blew me away. I'm not biased - my son Robbie (Cherry class) had a relatively small part!

I often reflect that schoolchildren are not exposed to the same variety of music as I was at their age - not so much in terms of genres or styles, but actual musical sounds and harmonies; I worry that so much of the music they hear on TV is unimaginative harmonically and rythmically, that their ears are starved of chords other than ordinary major and minor, of any other time signature than 4/4. And here it all was: challenging, 'difficult' music in what sounded like 6/8, blues in minor keys. (And someone playing the piano!)

Kids love a good singalong - and there were numbers anyone could sing - but there were also songs that really stretched them, with rests to observe and notes off the beaten harmonic track. I sat, part entranced and part worrying that they'd bitten off more than they could chew. I shouldn't have worried. The children surrounded us in a huge arc, glittering, shimmering, singing. They won't all end up on the stage - but those with a musical appetite will have been well fed rehearsing this show, and music needs awakened listeners as well as performers.

I'm well aware that the show is based on a commercially available school musical by Debbie Campbell and I congratulate you on the choice; she's a brilliant composer who knows exactly who she's writing for. But a concert has to lift off the page, and I'm very pleased Bowes has teachers who have faith in the ability of children to pull off material of this quality - and put on a show.

Hurray! John Machin

 

 

COMMENTS ABOUT A NEW PRODUCTION OF RAINBOW SPECTACULAR AT COLUMBA COLLEGE, DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND - JULY 2010

 

Perfect for a large number of children (we had 7 classes of years 1-6 students) as each class could be a different colour. The children loved the catchy rhythms of the songs, they were easy to learn and the words delivered a good message as well! – Judith Borick, Music Director of Columba College production, June 2010.

We so enjoyed Rainbow Spectacular we are planning to do another Debbie Campbell show in 2011 – Alison Bowcott, Junior Orchestra conductor.

The children genuinely enjoyed taking part in this production - I hear the songs being sung 6 weeks after!  Cheryl Pearson, Year 2 teacher

Splendid entertainment, imaginative work - colourful. Held your interest - good story. Great to see lots of students featured – Jill Walker, Speech teacher

Absolutely spectacular show! – Marion Hogg, Dean of the Junior School

Catchy tunes, colourful presentation – Vivienne Eason, Year 1 teacher

Fantastic show, the way it was written enabled it to be spectacularly colourful – Marilyn Evans, Year 4 teacher

I enjoyed being 'the Sun', and the songs were great – Ezra, 10years old

My favourite song was 'Green' because we got to do a graceful dance – Emily 6yrs old

I like singing the 'Yellow' song because it makes me feel happy – Ben, 7yrs old

I liked being in the show because it was colourful and spectacular – Sophia, 7 yrs old

My parents were very proud of my performance as a 'green' person – Emma, 7yrs old

I liked the songs, they were fun to sing – Peyton 8 yrs old

The music was really fun and jumpy. I liked the story and the songs, especially the 'orange' dance – Koei 11yrs old