School Reports

Pupils from St. Peters School in South Bank are being trained by BBC Tees’s staff to create content for the radio and for Look North.

One of the groups is looking into the precarious nature of show business and what sort of training for young performers is available on Teesside.

Jessica who attends the school has set her sights on a career in the spotlight. She enjoys acting and singing and has been on televisions “Junior Stars in their Eyes” as Natalie Imbruglia.

She started singing when she was six and the first musical she was in was Annie.

She explained how she feels when she is singing “I get such a buzz from performing live on stage. I go into my own little world when performing and I love to connect to the audience.”

Trudy Hindmarch is the Principal at Stagecoach performing Arts which have centres in Yarm and Darlington she was asked for her advice to anyone wanting a career in show business.
“This may sound strange but I always try and talk people out of it. I explain the long periods of unemployment and the sheer hard work involved. However if after the chat they are still determined that this is the route they want to pursue, then I am happy to guide them.”

Reality TV shows are an immediate way of creating performers however Trudy is critical of the long term effects. “The shows build people up and then drop them without support. The BBC shows nurture talent and performers from the searches for Maria and Joseph now have jobs in the West End. However the programmes searching for future Popstars can be destructive and many of them are has beens with-in six months.”

Jessica is undaunted by the hazards and knows that performing is what she wants to do after leaving school.
“I have had a lot of stage experience at Middlesbrough Theatre and at the Empire in Sunderland with some excellent roles. I know it will be tough but I’m not entering this lightly. After my A levels I want to go to a stage school and then hopefully into a West End musical”