The Wait Is On For Final Results
Students from all 4 Phoenix Musical Theatre classes presented performances to an external examiner from LAMDA (The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) in the hope of gaining high marks for their group examinations. The 4 performances were those that were recently presented at The Phoenix Musical Theatre and Dance showcase at The Playhouse in March. Year 1 to 4 (pictured left) presented excerpts from Annie whilst the year 5 and 6 students performed excerpts from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. The Intermediate class performed songs from the Madness themed Musical Our House whilst the presentations were rounded off with a cut down version of West Side Story by the Senior Class.
Although we now have to wait for a few weeks for the final results, the examiner from LAMDA said she had witnessed one of the most entertaining mornings for a long while, stating that she would be willing to pay good money to see the Senior class perform the whole of West Side Story! The standard needs to be high if we are to maintain our LAMDA Musial Theatre record as last year every class received a distinction! We’ll let you know the results right here as soon as we get them and in the meantime a great selection of pictures from the day can be found on our Facebook page.
Phoenix Student Connor Fronts Indie Band
Phoenix Theatre School drama and musical theatre students Connor Linden (right in picture) and Calum Landau (left in picture), aka 2 thirds of the indie band Late Night Volleyball, performed a set on stage at Nambucca in London on Saturday 28th April. Nambucca is North London’s premiere live music venue with a growing reputation for showcasing the best new unsigned bands in the UK. Guitarist and vocalist Connor and bass player Calum were joined on stage by drummer Sophie Lynch and, with Arctic Monkeys and Subways influences, their set of mainly original material with a few covers thrown in was well received by the enthusiastic audience.
See Late Night Volleyball’s next gig at The Square, Harlow on 10th May.
School Makes up 5 Acts out of Final 24
The Rhodes Talent Search grand finalists have been announced and Phoenix students make up 5 of the 24 acts that will be appearing. Two of these acts are actual group acts entered by the School, although 3 of the individual acts that will appear at the Grand Final on Saturday May 26th are Phoenix students. Following auditions there were 42 acts still in with a chance and the panel of 4 independent judges had to make the difficult decision of cutting this list down to just 24.
The 2 group acts are the Phoenix Clowns (Pictured top right) and Phoenix KBD (pictured bottom right). The Phoenix clowns, although originally formed several years ago, have been rejuvenated following a Jack Petchey funded Hip Hop workshop during the easter holidays and now consist of approximately 20 Phoenix drama students, mainly boys, who present an act based on physical theatre, mime, hip hop dance and beatboxing. The clowns were a huge hit when they made their first ever performance at the auditions for the Rhodes Talent Search in late April. Phoenix KBD, named after Phoenix dance tutor and group leader Katie Barker-Dale, are 6 Phoenix drama, dance and musical theatre students who have worked for the past few weeks on a version of Christina Perri’s hit song Jar of Hearts.
The 3 soloists to have made the final are Jake Poolman, Melissa Mountney and Sarinna Proudfoot Mathurin (pictured above left). All 3 students are testament to the importance of full commitment to training as they all study all 3 disciplines of drama, dance and musical theatre. Ten year old Jake, shortly to take a break from the national tour of Oliver!, sang Whistle Down The Wind from the musical of the same name whilst Melissa, 9, entertained with Wouldn’t it be Loverly? From My Fair Lady. Sarinna, just 7, stunned the judges and the audience at the auditions with a haunting version of At Last by Eta James.
The Grand Final takes place on Saturday May 26th at The Rhodes in Bishops Stortford and tickets, which are expected to be highly sought after, go on sale from May 1st and can be booked on 01279 651746. Pictures from the auditions can be seen on the Rhodes Facebook page.
Phoenix Students Audition for Top Talent Show!
Phoenix students were recently involved in auditioning for the first ever Rhodes Talent Search, held at the Rhodes Centre in Bishop Stortford. The auditions were held over 3 days where a variety of different acts auditioned in the hope of gaining a place in the Rhodes Talent Search Grand Final which takes place on Saturday 26th May. The winning acts will then get a chance to perform at The Bishop Stortford Carnival on Saturday 16th June at Sworders Field in Bishop Stortford.
Over the course of 3 days, (15th, 21st and 22nd of April) a total of 71 acts auditioned in front of a panel of four judges drawn from the entertainment industry. Following the auditions a total of 42 acts remain in the competition and the judges will now select the 22 finalists from this list. Phoenix Musical Theatre, Drama and Dance students participated in both group and solo performances including; The Phoenix Clowns (Directed by Vice Principle Jeanne Stacey following on from a recent ‘Clown Workshop’ created by Jody Schroeder, an internationally renowned hip-hop artist, and pictured above), a version of Christina Perry’s Jar of Hearts (choreographed by Phoenix Dance teacher Katie Barker-Dale, and pictured below), and a number of soloists including Primary students Jake Poolman, Sarinna Proudfoot-Mathurin, Elena Cotton and Melissa Mountney and Intermediate students Olivia Pritchard and Jessica Wolohan.
It was a very successful event and everyone that took part really enjoyed the experience and had a great day. Many of the above mentioned Phoenix acts are in the final 42 and we wish them the very best of luck in reaching the final and we’ll let you all know the outcome as soon as we do! More pictures taken throughout the auditions can be found on the Rhodes Facebook page.
Nominated by Phoenix Principal Phil Dale
Drew is a triple threat student who studies drama, dance and musical theatre with Phoenix and has shown great improvement in recent months. He also recently completed two weeks work experience with the company. During that time he proved himself to be not only great fun to work with but reliable, adaptable and willing, three qualities that will no doubt serve him well in his future career. Drew’s commitment to Phoenix in recent weeks has been unprecedented and we are delighted to give this Jack Petchey Achievement Award to Drew in recognition of this fact.