West End actor brings a little drama
"It's not an intimidating space, it's a class for anyone in musical theatre, whether or not they want to be in the industry."
Actor Ryan Bennett
The West End is coming to Lower Hutt with a one-of-a-kind musical theatre workshop for aspiring stars.
Actor Ryan Bennett, fresh off performing in an international tour of Jersey Boys, is running the integrated performer workshop next week through the Chilton Saint James Drama Centre.
When he’s not acting, Bennett can be found teaching at a number of acting schools both here and in England, including the Sylvia Young Theatre School, the Guildford School of Acting and Centre City Music Theatre.
Some of his younger students have gone on to perform in West End classics such as Matilda and School of Rock and now he’s bringing his skills to the Hutt.
His old school principal, Kathy Lloyd-Parker, stepped into the role of principal at Chilton Saint James in Lower Hutt. She was still in touch with Bennett’s mother and tracked him down to ask if he was interested in running a workshop at the school. He agreed.
‘‘It’s not an intimidating space, it’s a class for anyone in musical theatre, whether or not they want to be in the industry.’’
Alongside Bennett, dancer and choreographer Taane Mete and singer Kate Lineham will help run the programme.
‘‘I thought [Taane] would be ideal because he does creative dance. I was thinking about the Chilton students – they have a great ballet school, great technical training but Taane is a bit more avant garde,’’ Bennett says.
While it would be hard to change someone’s skill set in five days, he could probably change someone’s mindset.
‘‘The kids can be inspired and pursue beyond the time we have together.’’
The programme, for performers aged 10 to 18, runs for six days starting on Monday. The first five days will be classes and the last day will be an ‘‘open day, of sorts’’.
Integrated classes combine different performing disciplines – students might learn to act a song, or work on singing while dancing. Specialist classes will also be offered, allowing for in-depth study around certain areas such as accents or scene studies.
Bennett has been teaching performing arts since 2012 and has a Masters of Arts from the Guildford School of Acting in the UK.
‘‘I feel quite patient about teaching. It’s nice. You get to just play around and play with different material.’’
❚ The integrated performer workshop runs April 16 - 21 for people aged 10 to 18. Tickets $300pp. To enrol in the programme email csjdrama@chilton.school.nz.