The Grinch may have stolen Christmas, but on Thursday evening students at École secondaire Sieur-De-Coulonge (ESSC) brought it right back in their own French-language adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Titled Le Retour de Noël (The Return of Christmas) and billed as a musical comedy, the show was the first theatrical production the school has seen in years.

ESSC’s dance and drama teacher Natacha Corriveau and activities coordinator Curtis Mousseau were the creative minds behind the theatrical performance, both writers, directors, and set designers for the production.

“It’s the first time we have a show that includes dance, drama and a bit of singing all in one,” Mousseau said. “For our first ever production of this kind we’re really proud of the kids.”

Mousseau said the sold-out show was a success, considering the cast had their first full rehearsal only hours before the official performance on Thursday evening.

“There were even last minute substitutions on the day of the show, but kids learned their scripts the best they could and had help from classmates feeding them their lines from backstage,” Mousseau laughed.

Mousseau said the school’s director Julie Martin was keen to have a musical because she thought “it might help the kids take out some aggression or energy by performing,” Mousseau recalled.

Corriveau said that at first it took some work on her part to convince the students in her drama and dance classes to audition for the production.

“We had to tell them what drama was. They were not super into it at first,” Corriveau said. “They thought maybe drama was a bird course they could just fool around in, but now they’ve seen that they’ve done it once and they’re hungry for more.”

Corriveau said she has already heard from students who have ideas for the next show and want to be involved in writing the script.

“I told them ‘bring all your ideas and we’ll talk about it in class and we’ll figure it out’,” Corriveau said.

“I think it did have its effect of reinvigorating the arts and performing for the kids,” Mousseau concluded.

ESSC students (from left) Kamylle Soucie, Ève Lebeau, Isabelle Richard, Talira Savard and Philippe Graveline brought an original, French-language adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas to life on stage at the school’s first musical theatre performance in years. This photo was taken by Maria Boucher, a secondary 5 student and yearbook committee member at the high school.

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