YOUGSTERS BR SIDE STORY TO UP IN A MATTE
YOUNG PEOPLE COME TOGETHER AT THEATRE SUMMER SCHOOL TO LEARN ACTING TECHNIQUES AND CREATE A PRODUCTION FOR THE STAGE AT MANCHESTER’S PALACE
SIGN up to appear in a big professional theatre production and an actor can typically expect to get three weeks of rehearsal time.
They’d never be asked to master it in a matter of days – which, says creative director David McNeill, is what makes the achievements of the students at the Palace Theatre’s annual Stage Experience so amazing.
After two days of auditions, call backs and castings, the young performers – aged from eight to 20 – are brought together for a 10-day school in which they must get production ready a huge musical ready for four performances at the iconic Oxford Street theatre.
They’re in residence now and taking over every room in the theatre, laughs David, as they spend their first six days perfecting the script ahead of technical rehearsals.
The pressure hasn’t made David – now in his fifth year on the project – opt for an easy show.
In 2015, he has chosen West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein’s epic story of forbidden love and gang warfare in New York City.
“The main leads are 18, so to tackle a Bernstein score at 18 is so complicated; there’s so much strain on the vocal chords,” says David.
“We make sure we do vocal warm ups, they’re treated as professional actors so they’re expected to dress suitably, we do dance warm ups every day and cool downs.
“They’re being taught by professionals and there’s no messing – they’ve got to do it the way we want it because this is the industry.”
It sounds tougher than the industry, in fact!
But it certainly offers a unique insight for aspiring singers, actors and dancers who want to find out more about their chosen career.
Interest remains incredibly strong; 300 people auditioned for 100 places. And it’s an interest mirrored at the box office, where ticket sales have hit record levels for the four productions on August 13-15.
“A lot of people do summer schools, but most of it is financially based,” says David about the project.
“ATG has a summer where things are quiet, and they are to be commended as a company because they put these two weeks together in various theatres around the country – with Manchester being of the biggest.
“Recruitment is all word of mouth and that is what is so fantastic about it – it’s their choice, and they’re giving up two weeks of their summer to do it.
“They’re sacrificing, many of them, having a summer holiday.
“It means so much to them to say they’ve performed on the Palace stage, to list the director, the musical director, the choreographer and the company you’ve worked for.
“It’s all great for their CVs.”
After years of working on the project, David says it is now possible to pick out the stand out stars of the future.
“Happily, there are several ‘ones to watch’ in West Side Story, but one scene in particular has been bringing the team to their knees.
“West Side Story is about the Jets and the Sharks,” says David, “but the two girls, Maria and Anita, have the most difficult songs to perform.
“We’ve got Isabella Dawson (from Stoke) and Rebecca Bolton (from Bolton), and I would say watch them!
“You see so many girls performing over the years – but it’s rare to see someone that takes your breath away.
“On the first run through of their big duet in act two (A Boy Like That/I Have A Love) it brought me to tears and it brought the chaperone to tears.
“On day one.” Oxfor●PalaceTheatre,d St / atgtickets.com / 0844 871 7615 / August 13-15 / 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm Aug 15 / £18.90 / @palaceandopera
‘YOU SEE SO MANY GIRLS PERFORMING OVER THE YEARS – BUT IT’S RARE TO SEE SOMEONE THAT TAKES YOUR BREATH AWAY’