Four nights of glee
Megan Kanerahtenha:wi Whyte (left) was left impressed with the St. George’s High School glee club’s performances earlier this month - her daughter Kahnawiiostha Whyte-Turner (right) and fellow Kahnawa’kehró:non Scout Marquis were part of the group. Courtesy Megan Kanerahtenha:wi Whyte
When Scout Marquis made the decision to transfer to St. George’s High School last year it was for one reason: to join the school’s award-winning glee club, the G Majors.
That decision has paid off, with the group travelling to competitions and most recently performing a run of four jam-packed shows at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal.
“Their performances were amazing, the sets were amazing, the costumes were great, it was all so impressive, and you can just see how much work went into it,” said Marquis’ mother, Kaylia Marquis. “It’s always a good night at the theatre when you leave tired, because you know you’ve been so engaged.”
Scout wasn’t the only Kahnawa’kehró:non to take the stage by storm at the theatre earlier this month - she was also joined by Kahnawiiostha Whyte-Turner, who is in grade seven at the school.
When she joined St. George’s last year, she stumbled across the glee club, and decided to try it out, having always been passionate about performing.
“I just really fell in love with it,” Whyte-Turner said. “There’s all kind of music that we sing, and we just get to tell a story with dancing and singing.”
The group performed a program of more than 25 songs, blended together in a night of music titled “Jet Set.” The group was at the theatre for four straight nights, an opportunity that Whyte-Turner said gave the students a great taste of what it’s like to perform professionally.
“I felt that I got more and more confident with it, and I was able to experiment more with my facial expressions, and my energy,” she said. “During the final performance I was so sad, because it was my life for a couple of months, so I was both happy and sad, and I just can’t wait to do it next year.”
Whyte-Turner’s mother, Megan Kanerahtenha:wi Whyte was in the audience to support her daughter, and said it was heartwarming to see her pursuing her dreams.
“I did musical theatre with the Turtle Island Theatre for 16 years, and it’s a remarkable feeling seeing her as the next generation fall in love with the performing arts as much as I did,” she said.
“As a parent, it’s all you want for your child. To discover what makes them authentically themselves and see her try something new and give her whole heart to it is a really warm feeling, and I’m so proud of her.”
Whyte-Turner plans to continue giving her all to the club as she continues through high school, with the hopes that one day, she’ll be able to pursue performing professionally.
“I’ve always wanted to be on Broadway and sing and make people feel as good as Broadway shows make me feel, and it made me feel like I was on Broadway,” she said.
“I think this is a really, really good experience for me to have on my theatre resume, I’ve never been on a real professional stage before with a big group of people that I’ve spent hundreds of hours with, so it was a really wonderful experience.”
Scout will be heading to John Abbott College in the fall to take her love of theatre to the next level, pursuing a program in professional performance.
Sign up for email updates from The Eastern Door
“It’s just a great experience to get a chance to see her work come to fruition, she’s really driven, and to see all the sharp choreography and synchronization, it was really, really impressive,” Kaylia said.
