This is a big week for Maha Bodhi School's Tessa Tan Zhi Jun, 11.
On Thursday, she will receive her Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results in the morning and then head over to the Esplanade to put on the performance of her life for President Halimah Yacob.
She and her crew from Acadamie of Stars will be performing a Disney song-and-dance medley. They are among the 132 performers who have been rehearsing tirelessly since September for the charity concert ChildAid 2019.
"While I was preparing for the PSLE, my classes overlapped with my rehearsals. I had to juggle different things, but it was worthwhile. I am really nervous yet excited as both of my biggest events fall on the same day."
This Wednesday and Thursday, youth aged six to 19 will be performing a variety show of classical pieces, hip-hop dance, martial arts, and even an opera solo.
Creative director Dick Lee will, for the first time, take to the stage and join his young charges in a rendition of Fried Rice Paradise, from his well-known musical of the same name.
Over their nearly three intensive months of training together, the children who started off as strangers ended up having a ball of a time with their new friends. Between rehearsals, they played card games, gathered in small groups to practise their dance steps and shared with one another about their lives outside of the theatre.
Nicole Tan Jia Mei, 14, who has performed in ChildAid for the past three years, will be taking the stage alongside the younger children for the first time. So she had the added responsibility of guiding them in their singing and movements.
She said: "I got to know them better and can't wait to perform with them during the concert."
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TICKETING DETAILS
COST: Tickets are priced at $18 and $28
HOW TO BUY: From Sistic at www.sistic.com.sg/events/childaid1119 or call 6348-5555
In its 15th year, ChildAid 2019, themed Sing! Play! Dance!, is co-organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times.
Funds raised by the concerts will go to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, which gives needy children money for recess and transport, and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund (BTBAF), which gives children and youth from low-income families access to arts programmes.
In fact, some of the beneficiaries, such as 12-year-old Rey Phua, one of the show's four emcees and a beneficiary of the BTBAF, will be part of the cast.
Tickets, which are priced at $18 and $28, are still available from Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg/events/childaid1119) or by calling 6348-5555.
Kiss92 FM is the official radio station, and the main sponsors are UOB and Citibank Singapore.
The main venue partners are Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre and The Pavilion.
