by Paul Johnson | Jun 12, 2020
By Alice Clarke
NoteWorthy, youth choir from Wallington High School for Girls, were crowned Jack Petchey’s Perfect Pitch Champions for the second time.
Singing ‘a capella’ style, the troupe, performed at the Grand Final at the world famous Cadogan Hall in March and walked away with part of a £1,000 prize pot. The competition saw young a capella groups from London and Essex perform in front of a packed out theatre as well as an expert judging panel.
Jack Petchey’s Perfect Pitch competition saw twelve groups emerge from regional finals, to take to the stage for the grand final, wowing the audience with their vocals and performance skills. The audience were treated to renditions of The Beatles, Etta James, Dua Lipa, Billie Ellish and more. Performances ranged from a more traditional choir format to incorporating rap, beat boxing, mash-ups and choreography.
NoteWorthy have been together as a complete group of sixteen since July 2019. They were the winners of the first Perfect Pitch competition in 2018 and some of those older members have now left for university so had to be replaced by younger students at Wallington High School for Girls in Sutton. This year they took home a prize of £500.
Noteworthy Director and Head of Music at Wallington High School for Girls, Jennifer Yard said: “The experience at the Jack Petchey Perfect Pitch competition at Cadogan Hall on 1 March was just incredible. The venue was stunning with such great acoustics and great views from all seats. It really was an excellent experience for all of us, working closely as a team and working towards a performance worthy of a grand final. I am extremely proud of NoteWorthy’s professionalism, musicality and ambition and we have all gained an experience that we’ll remember with great fondness for a very long time. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Jack Petchey and all the team that work so hard to make this such a positive experience for all.”
NoteWorthy member Yimika Osilaja, aged 17, said: “Jack Petchey has always been such a fun experience. We’ve been competing as a group since 2018 and each time we perform on stage it’s so exciting and seeing your hard work pay off is one of the best feelings in the world. I really hope to continue performing in the future!”
This year’s Runners-Up prize went to Norbury Manor Celeste from Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College in Croydon. They are an all-girls 11-18 choir and they sing every type of repertoire that choirs can cover. Third prize went to Hapaphonix from Harris Academy Peckham, a Chamber Choir. Second and third place in the competition won £300 and £200 respectively.
Emma Stevens who teaches the choir at Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College said: “Celeste have been so delighted to take part in the Jack Petchey Perfect Pitch Competition this year. The Grand Final day was such a fantastic experience for us all at the prestigious Cadogan Hall. The event ran like clockwork thanks to the team of organisers and so many of the performances in the evening were incredible. After months of hard work the show really did provide a wonderful end to what has been a brilliant experience all round. We are very proud to be runners-up in our first experience of the competition and are looking forward to taking part again in the future. Thank you Jack Petchey Foundation for such a positive experience.”
Hapaphonix member Yeray Pena, aged 15, said: “I really enjoyed performing at the Jack Petchey Perfect Pitch competition! The standard of all the performers was great and to get third place at the Grand final is amazing! I am proud of Team Hapaphonix!”
Associate Assistant Principal at Harris Academy Peckham, Kerry Rogers added: “What a great event! The whole process was excellently planned and the support we received was excellent. Our students loved performing at Cadogan Hall – what a great opportunity for them!”
Sir Jack Petchey CBE, aged 94, said: “It is right that we should support our youth in this way. It is right that we encourage and nurture them to grow their talents – whatever those talents may be and they have as much fun as possible on the way! How I would love to be able to sing like them! With the confidence they gain from Jack Petchey’s Perfect Pitch I hope they will go on to achieve great things.”
by Paul Johnson | Jun 12, 2020
By Paul Johnson
The National Youth Theatre (NYT) has been awarded £2million from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund to undergo a major renovation to its Holloway Road building in North London.
The radical development will enable NYT to double the number of young people they engage in the building through their annual programme which provides, free and affordable drama opportunities that champion diversity, creativity and routes into the creative industries.
The essential upgrade will secure and develop this thriving production hub for young people where creative on-stage, off-stage and digital talent of the future will receive world-class training and development opportunities that offer free and affordable alternative routes into the creative industries.
The building will include a new front pavilion, providing a fully accessible entrance from Holloway Road that is welcoming to all and including a new rehearsal studio and reception. A new 200-seat studio ‘workshop’ theatre, three rehearsal spaces and a co-working space will also be created within the existing building, allowing NYT to double the number of young people coming into the building with future plans for a new Pocket Park to the south entrance in partnership with London Borough of Islington to improve air quality in the immediate location on the Holloway Road.
The studio workshop theatre will stage performances by NYT members from around the UK, NYT’s flagship free talent development companies the NYT REP, Playing Up and Stepping Up, and other new work by NYT Associate Companies and emerging creatives. The NYT will continue to stage work in the West End, and at leading theatres elsewhere in London and around the UK.
The new spaces will be made available to young people from Islington, London and nationwide to create new work together. School groups from around the UK will also be able to participate in regular skills workshops at the venue and see new NYT curriculum productions, which last year included Frankenstein, Great Expectations and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The new creative co-working space will provide opportunities for emerging playwrights, producers and theatre companies and embed NYT’s established Creative Leadership programme. The Creative Leadership programme provides free training and a structured route into paid leadership roles within the NYT and across the creative industries.
These new facilities will enable the expansion of NYT’s award- winning social inclusion programmes, Playing Up & Stepping Up continuing the organisation’s vital work with even more young people not in education, training or employment by providing opportunities to develop creative practice and gain accredited qualifications. Now in its 11th year, Playing Up has proved hugely successful with 85% of participants progressing into employment, further training or education opportunities. Applications for the 2020 Playing Up and Stepping Up cohorts are now open.
Building work will commence in May with the opening of the new building planned for Spring 2021.
Through support from Arts Council England with a £500k grant, NYT is also delighted to have secured the 999-year lease for the Holloway Rd building, which has been home to NYT since 1987. Having previously been faced with a declining lease the NYT has taken this positive step to cement the future of the venue for years to come. The expansion will ensure long-term sustainability for NYT to continue its work nationally at a time where it is more vital than ever due to the sharp and continuing decline of arts provision in schools.
A resolution to grant planning approval for this radical redevelopment was confirmed from Islington Council on 14 January. Fundraising is continuing for the final 4.5% of the costs of the project.
Over its sixty-four years, the world’s first youth theatre has worked with hundreds of thousands of young people, many of whom have passed through its doors in Holloway Road.
From alumni Daniel Craig, who also helped to paint the walls when the organisation first moved into the building, to Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rosamund Pike and Matt Smith rehearsing their London stage debuts at the venue, to Matthew Warchus embarking on his first directorial role.
Originally a 19th Century music hall designed by Scottish architect George Truefitt known as ‘Holloway Hall’, the building also hosted rehearsals for James Graham’s first paid commission Tory Boyz and the NYT Team Welcome Ceremonies at the 2012 Olympics & Paralympics.
Other famous alumni who rehearsed as teenagers at Holloway Road include Zawe Ashton, David Oyelowo, Orlando Bloom, Adeel Akhtar, David Walliams, Matt Lucas, Jessica Hynes, Gareth Pugh and Sope Dirisu, among others.
The NYT hosted its annual fundraising gala in February to the theme Baroque ‘n’ Roll at Spencer House. The event was attended by VIP guests, past alumni and current NYT performers and featured music and theatre performances, auctions and fundraising events to raise a record-breaking £230k.
Hosted by NYT Patron & Alumnus Hugh Bonneville, music came from Beverley Knight, among others, and was attended by NYT’s Royal Patron HRH The Earl of Wessex.
by Paul Johnson | Jun 12, 2020
By Rhian Bennett
The National Theatre Collection is now available free of charge to state schools and state-funded further education colleges across the UK in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing.
The collection provides high-quality recordings of thirty world-class productions, drawing from ten years of NT Live broadcasts and never before released productions from the National Theatre’s Archive.
Schools & further education colleges can register now via Bloomsbury Publishing’s award-winning digital library Drama Online. Celebrating the best of contemporary British theatre, the titles will support learning across the primary and secondary curriculum and include:
> Shakespeare set texts including Macbeth, Othello, Twelfth Night and King Lear (Donmar) in vibrant modern stagings;
> Novels brought to life in exciting literary adaptations such as Frankenstein, Treasure Island, Peter Pan and Jane Eyre;
> A range of theatrical styles and genres from Greek tragedies including Medea and Antigone to 20th Century classics such as The Cherry Orchard, The Deep Blue Sea and Yerma (Young Vic);
> Examples of extraordinary design and theatrecraft in productions ranging from One Man, Two Guvnors to Les Blancs;
> Adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and The Winter’s Tale created specially for younger audiences and suitable for primary schools.
Recordings are accompanied by learning resources to explore the craft behind the best of British theatre including rehearsal insights and short videos. Further resources exploring backstage aspects such as lighting, sound and staging will be added later in the year. The easy-to-use platform includes helpful features such as scene-by-scene selections and synopses, theme and key word searches.
Teachers can sign up now to National Theatre Collection on Bloomsbury’s Drama Online Platform via: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ntcollection
Other academic institutions such as libraries, universities, independent schools can access National Theatre Collection via a one-time payment for the full collection or, via an annual subscription in partnership with ProQuest and Bloomsbury.
Developed in partnership by Bloomsbury Publishing and Faber & Faber, Drama Online was created as a response to the need for a high-quality online research tool for drama and literature students, professors and teachers.
Drama Online is a fast-growing study resource which now features over 2,500 playtexts, 800 playwrights, 400 audio plays, 300 hours of video, and 330 scholarly books from leading theatre publishers and companies, offering a complete multimedia experience of theatre.
It is the only resource to combine exclusively available playtext content and scholarly publications with filmed live performances, film adaptations and audio plays.
More: www.dramaonlinelibrary.com
by Paul Johnson | Jun 12, 2020
By Paul Johnson
The Club Hub UK award finalists for 2020 have been announced. Ninety finalists, across fifteen award categories, have been shortlisted from a total of 1,019 applications, representing 388 businesses (100 more than last year)… including Razzamataz Theatre Schools.
Club Hub UK awards are independently judged by a panel of expert judges, most of whom are children’s activity professionals or specialists in their field.
Judges selected award winners based on their commitment to excellence, innovation and growth of their business through business performance, achievements, brand values and passion for what they do.
Razzamataz has been placed as a finalist under ‘Supplier of the Year’ …“for a company that provides a service for anyone in the kids activities industry whether that is insurance or bookings or marketing or admin or consultancy and so on.”
When: Saturday, 16 May 2020
Where: Macdonald Burlington Hotel, Burlington Arcade, 126 New Street, Birmingham B2 4JQ
Web: clubhubuk.co.uk
by Paul Johnson | Jun 12, 2020
Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust (Masterclass) has appointed Clare Annamalai as its Programme Director. She told Sardines: “I am delighted to be joining Masterclass as their new Programme Director. The charity has made a huge impact on the young people to whom it has given opportunities, and has gained a reputation within the wider industry for its ground-breaking work.”
Masterclass is a charity that has a big impact on young people’s lives with a unique offering of free masterclasses by leading theatre professionals, careers advice sessions, apprenticeships and performance experiences. Masterclass is committed to using theatre and the Theatre Royal Haymarket to inspire and empower young people. To date over 80,000 16-30 year olds have benefited from its programme.
www.masterclass.org.uk
by Paul Johnson | Jun 12, 2020
By Paul Johnson
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), one of the busiest and most celebrated performing arts venues in the UK, has purchased a SIXTY82 Model M Tower System as part of its ongoing drive to give students and schools access to state-of-the-art backstage technologies used in major productions worldwide.
Founded in 1847, RCS in Glasgow is consistently ranked as one of the world’s top-performing arts education institutions.. Each year it welcomes students from more than sixty countries to receive the very best education in music, drama, dance, production and film.
A major performance venue with world-class facilities, and an industry-endorsed provider of courses covering backstage equipment training, RCS invests in the very latest technologies to deliver a learning environment geared towards careers in production backstage as well as on the stage.
When RCS received outreach funding from the William Grant Foundation to run performing arts-based schools engagement activities, it decided to invest a tower lift system to showcase RCS’ production programmes in a more varied and interesting way.
Malcolm Stephen, Stage Supervisor and Tutor of Stage Technology at RCS, told Sardines: “Taking the system out to schools allows us to bring theatre technology to students who may otherwise not be aware of the industry, giving them an insight in to the backstage world of the performing arts.
“It also allows us to take shows to a wider range of venues, as well as creating pop-up venues within the RCS. And of course, having the system means that we can train technical students on its installation and use.”
Easy to use and assemble, the SIXTY82 Model M Tower System can be raised and lowered as appropriate, depending on the requirements of the specific performance or event. This provides users with an elegant solution for raising and supporting a temporary or permanent truss lighting rig.
Malcolm added: “We chose SIXTY82 as the tower system is compatible with truss that we already own. In my opinion, it has many benefits over other systems I’ve used, not least of all, how light the bases are. This certainly makes it easier to lift and transport it from site to site.”
RCS’s Model M Tower System was supplied by SIXTY82 distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd.
Malcolm commented: “I’ve been delighted with all my interactions with AC-ET. Its rigging team stepped in to provide the tower system at the last minute and managed to get the system to us in time for its planned debut at RCS. The team were extremely helpful and professional throughout.”
SIXTY82 is an alliance featuring innovators from three countries with over 100 years of entertainment industry leadership between them. They came together to bring a fresh view into the market, providing innovative, next generation trussing and staging systems.
More information is available at: www.rcs.ac.uk and also by visiting www.ac-et.com
