Stagecoach Solihull students sing with the Queen of the West End, Kerry Ellis!
A chance of a lifetime and full circle moment for two local Stagecoach students
Arushi, a 15-year-old Stagecoach student from Solihull got to meet and sing with one of her idols, Kerry Ellis at The Palace Theatre. This budding young performer, who has been studying with the Solihull group for seven years responded to the casting call “Search for a Solo Star” where Kerry sought to find young stars in the making across the country for each of her latest UK Tour dates.
Having previously performed with Stagecoach at the O2 and Regents Park Open Air Theatre, Arushi already had the creative confidence to shine in her audition. She was selected from hundreds of applicants to perform in “Kerry Ellis - Queen of the West End!”
Kerry, who was the original UK Elphaba in Wicked, has long been a source of huge inspiration for Arushi who dreams of gracing the West End stage herself one day.
In addition, Sophie Grogan an ex-Stagecoach Solihull student who attended in 1997, was also chosen to be part of the show. Sophie has previous experience playing the role of Mrs. T in Les Mis in Birmingham, which led to her securing a featured performance at The Royal Variety Show with the Les Mis 40th anniversary cast.
A further serendipitous coincidence was that both Arushi and Sophie share the same Stagecoach Principal – albeit years apart. Jennifer Pando, Principal at Stagecoach Solihull, was over the moon when she found out she’d helped bring these two young people together creatively: "I’m so proud to witness past and present students working together on projects. Sophie is an inspiration to our students, and it was a lovely twist of fate that both her and Arushi were chosen for this performance.”
Sophie Grogan adds: “Performing on stage as Kerry, one of my musical theatre idols is a dream come true! She is nurturing the next generation of performers by sharing her platform and expertise. Thanks to Stagecoach for the training, it was a great experience.”
Arushi and Sophie gave outstanding performances and were met with rapturous applause with Kerry even commenting that she didn't know how to follow that!
With a network of over 60,000 students and more than 3,000 extra-curricular Performing Arts Schools worldwide, Stagecoach aims to make a difference in its students’ lives by teaching Creative Courage for Life and many children have gone on to study and work in Performing Arts from blockbuster films to countless roles in local theatre productions.
For more information about Stagecoach Solihull email [email protected], visit www.stagecoach.co.uk/solihull or call Principal Jennifer Pando on 0121 745 4007.