Nostalgic fun celebrating school Christmas assemblies

SussexWorld

James B Partridge, primary school music teacher turned nostalgia sensation, is on the road with The Big Christmas Assembly with dates including December 3 at Brighton Komedia and December 15 at The Stage Door, Southampton.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now, particularly

00:06lovely to speak to James B Partridge, who is on the road with the big Christmas assembly,

00:10because James, you're making me rethink assemblies. I was horrified by them, traumatised by them,

00:15hated them, but you are clearly, I don't know, you're showing that assemblies are fun, aren't

00:20they? And you have the fondest memories, and you're going to create the fun.

00:25Exactly, I'm trying to bring back the joy into our memories of school assemblies. So,

00:30whether you were sat cross-legged on the school hall floor with the smell of yesterday's lunch

00:34in the air and absolutely hating it, this will be a way to maybe rework some of those memories

00:40and kind of relive songs that you loved singing at school, but maybe haven't sung so much since

00:46then. So, for those that took them in the right spirit, why were those assemblies

00:50important, do you think? I think the importance of the school

00:55assembly was just that element of community singing and getting everybody into a room. You

01:02might not all know each other, you might not all be friends, but all singing a song together in

01:06unison. And it was a great way to start the day, a very uplifting way to start the day.

01:12And I'm kind of taking that element of joy and community and trying to put it in a slightly

01:18more adult context where you might be in the theatre or a comedy club or even a cocktail bar,

01:24you know. So, getting together in a room with people you might not know and having a good

01:31sing, having a laugh and reflecting on some of the stories that you might have had at school,

01:38all the tales from your childhood. And this all emerged during the pandemic

01:41in your mind as a concept. It's taken off and now this is the Christmas assembly.

01:47Yes. So, I've been touring a version of the show simply called Primary School Assembly Bangers

01:55live. And as I said, it's kind of recreating that school assembly atmosphere. But

02:00this version is the big Christmas assembly. And we are diving into your favourite carols,

02:07nativity classics, Christmas number ones, and telling various stories from

02:12whether you got cast as a wise man or a lobster in the nativity. It's just a celebration of the

02:22joy that you might have at Christmas time. And you want participation, don't you?

02:28100%. Yeah, I'll be expecting, well, I'm hoping that people sing along, but it's not the sort

02:33of show where if you don't sing along, I'll be picking on you and getting you up on stage.

02:38So, I'll be encouraging everyone to sing along, but it's also an inclusive, safe space. If you

02:44want to make up, if you want to add maybe some words that you misremembered from school or

02:49ones that you made up, that's also fine. You won't get detention for doing that, though.

02:55You might not get detention, but I might have to say you need to stand up and face the wall or

03:01say it's your own time you're wasting or fingers on lips or all of those sorts of things.

03:06That'll be when the teacher side of me comes out.

03:08And it's taken off so well that there is an irony, isn't there, that it is actually taking

03:13off so well and so strongly that it's taking me away from teaching to an extent.

03:18It is. Yeah, it is quite ironic in that way because I've been teaching in school, in primary

03:23school, so it's not completely random. And by doing the show, it's almost taking that education

03:30element as well as my musician element to my life and kind of marrying them together in a way that

03:36I can hopefully spread that around the UK and not just in one particular school, for example.

03:43But it's a shame to be leaving some of the teaching behind and going part time, but I think

03:48this is so much fun as well. Leaving the teaching behind,

03:51but you're just getting a bigger class, aren't you really?

03:54Getting a bigger class, exactly. But getting the Assembly Hall, it's expanding. And also,

04:01I can come back to school. I can come back to the schools in a few years,

04:05or however long the class, who knows? I don't know.

04:08Fantastic. Really lovely to speak to you. I shall rethink my Assembly memories

04:12and good luck with the show, which comes to a right in the end. Thanks so much, James.

04:17Thank you. Cheers.

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