First Stages was 5 years old on 15 January and look
how far we have come. Now 2013 promises to be our most
exciting year ever!
We had a lot of fun working hard for this year’s major
production - SMIKE The Musical - with adult guest members
of the cast and input from our patron, Peter Polycarpou
and the composer Simon May. Both Peter and Simon kept
a close watch on us and rehearsed with us in the run-up
to the show ( see Gazette
& Herald ).
And First Stages helped raise more than £2,000
for local charities at The Devizes Lions annual Spring
Serenade concert ( see Gazette
& Herald and here
); just one of the many events for the local community
that First Stages performs in throughout the year.
Later this year one of our senior members Bella Bryan
is planning a special Disney Spectacular.
Recently we had a surprise visit from ex First Stages
member Ellan Mangham who moved on from First Stages
to Sylvia
Young Theatre School in London.
Another ex First Stages member Joe Salazar who also
moved on Sylvia Young has kept in touch; his
first feature film 'Jack
the Giant Slayer' has just been released. We
are looking forward to Joe visiting us to share his
experiences.
There is a natural turnover of young talent at First
Stages but the flow of applications means that we are
continually running at full-capacity. We are surprised
and flattered at how many come to us from other local
groups and Theatre Schools such as Stagecoach.
We have received many enquiries and applications for
membership since the huge success of SMIKE, our last
show. We take talented and enthusiastic young people
from the age of 8 if we have spaces. We have a waiting
list and when a place is available we will offer it
to the next person on the list.
Applicants need to complete an application
form (which can be found on the website) and email
it back or send it in. We invite people to come along
to a session to see what we do first. If they decide
they would like to stay, we will ask them to do a simple
vocal (singing) test and a short reading to assess their
drama potential.
'What really made a big difference was the youngsters'
professionalism and sheer pride in their work - they
were extremely well supported by their director Carole
Berry and seemed quite unphased that they'd have to
repeat the song and dance sequences several times
over in order for us to have the choice of cuts needed
for the final edit.' - MLCM
