Stagecoach, the world's largest part-time theatre school network for children, this year celebrates its 25th anniversary— a clear indication of its popularity in Ireland with seven successful centres in Dublin, Belfast, Galway, and Clare, training children in professional dance, drama, and singing classes each Saturday. The eighth and latest will open on Saturday September 21 at the Sacred Heart School, Westport.
Eliz Lucey is taking on the leading role as new principal and comes to Stagecoach with a background in theatre management, and was assistant principal at the Galway and Clare centres for the last five years. She is looking forward to running her own Stagecoach school and hopes, with the creative team of teachers behind her, to offer new opportunities for young performers in the area with some exciting plans for the year ahead. She explained: “A good grounding in performance skills does wonders for confidence and character building. It gives young people the edge over competitors, whether auditioning for a part in a show or in any area of life where they’ll need to communicate, to use their voice and work as a team.”
Stagecoach offers quality training in drama, dance, and singing to young performers at weekends and is designed to build confidence and develop communication through performance skills. As well as weekly classwork, Stagecoach students from across the country come together for both regional and large national events. These have included performances at the Bord Gais Theatre, Dublin, the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, and at theatres in London’s West End. There are also opportunities to work professionally and students have found considerable success in film, television, and on stage.
An open meeting for the new school will be held at Sacred Heart School, Westport, at 6pm next Wednesday September 18. Parents and potential students are invited to attend when Eliz and her teaching staff will be on hand to explain what Stagecoach has to offer.
For more information about the meeting and about Stagecoach Mayo, which meets every Saturday during school term time, contact Eliz Lucey on 091 556 274, e-mail [email protected], or visit the new website www.stagecoach.ie/mayo
