Stagecoach

Received this week from the parent of children enrolled into Yarm Stagecoach 

………I also wanted to say what a great performance the early stages put on, you do wonders with them. Alex has come on so
much since starting Stagecoach, he’s a different boy! I think Stagecoach is the best thing that I have ever done for both of my children.

Thanks again

Katherine Jamieson

Thank you Mrs Jamieson. I did think that all the Early Stages groups did well in their shows right across the weekend. Having been an infant teacher, I know that in mainstream schools, when Christmas shows are prepared with infants, it involves rehearsals every afternoon in the run up to the show. AND there is no dancing involved then! 

I think that what Sue, Janie, Claire, Jane, Cat, Kate and Phil - plus the great helpers - Hayley, James and Theo have done with them in only 1.5 hours a week is excellent. AND well done to mums and dads too for rehearsing their children at home to help out. It all paid off.

I found this Youtube clip about the search for the Broadway Billies. I thought people would like to see it. What cracking dancers some of those kids are. And for those of us who went down to the West End a chance to see some of the creative team again that we saw at our event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8U1SnU3bRE&feature=related

Thank you to all the cast members and their families who have left their comments about these shows already. Others may still do so in the comment boxes below - particularly James Dowson and Andrew Ashton who left comments, which I accidentally deleted and asked them to replace - but you both must have forgotten.

This `Billy Elliot` project has been a joy to me from start to finish - except when I was running whole cast rehearsals with big group numbers, when the chattering was very wearing - but that was a small price to pay I think for the universal aclaim that our students and staff have earned, in all phases of this wonderful project.

There were haunting individual performances from some of our lead actors, both in the main and understudy cast.  I am so glad that I decided to give the understudies a real chance to perform their parts on the Wednesday night, in their own right, because the audience response for them was terrific.  Besides individuals captivating the audience, there was a terrific response for the massed numbers. I was moved every night by the “Once We Were Kings” finale song and I know that the Easington contingent were too because I heard, and felt, their intake of breath when the returning miners appeared through the curtains at the start of the song.

I saw the shows from many angles throughout the week - crawling about in the wings, bustling about backstage, or perched in the sound control box and I was impressed by the sense of “team” that I always felt. Because of the many and varied inputs from staff from across the seven schools, these shows were different from all the internal shows that had gone before and showed what we could do when everyone pulled together. On a practical and organisational level, thanks must go to staff who volunteered to run the shows for no pay, so that Shannon`s fund could grow. Janie, Claire and Jodie organised back stage all week between them and Jane helped out with the chaperoning on several nights. Lucy also helped on one of the nights and Cat and Sue also volunteered but fell ill during the week - Cat ending up in hospital, so thatnks for the offer any way. Thank you also to Phil for the day and evenings that he spent on the technical side of things. I could not have anaged all of that without you Phil so thank you very much.

I was proud of the moments where cast members confidently `winged it` in true Stagecoach fashion, when things did not go quite to plan and I really felt that the cast communicated with the audience in a very adult way and the audience communicated honestly back to them so that it felt special to both sides.

What a joy! What a success for our first attempt at public performances.

I was too busy to take photos during the rehearsals and we weren`t allowed by our license, to take film footage, or photos, during the performances but I can post below all the group photos of the cast that appeared in the programme, so that cast members can download any for their own collections. Ignore any distortion appearing on the web site. When you rightclick over the photo and save to your computer it will save without the distortion.

Great work kids. I was immensely proud of you all. And thank you for your lovely gifts. I did appreciate them.

Words can`t describe the sense of occasion and achievement that was tangibly in the air during the finale of the West End Billy Youth Theatre Showcase, where 400 voices plus the four boys who play `Billy Elliot` in the West End production had sung “Electricity”.

I had seen at least three grown men cry and they were all on the `Billy Elliot` creative team. A packed house had risen, as one, in a standing ovation and a confetti bomb showered everyone as a parting shot. Even then it was not over because the `Billy Elliot` people had commisioned some crystal glass awards to be presented to each group, whose names were read out by Stephen Daldry, who is the director of `Billy Elliot the Musical` and `Billy Elliot` the film and has been Oscar-nominated for several films since. At the end of the list he said, “Whilst I shouldn`t single out individuals, I have to say that Trudy Hindmarsh from Stagecoach Yarm and Darlington is here. She was Jamie Bell`s teacher and without her we would not all be here tonight.” I can`t think of a more generous remark that he could have made, totally not warranted, but typical of the man`s kindness. I lost it then. Good job I was hidden behind a row of tall cast members from another school.  

Rehearsals had been long, organisation good but inevitably there was a lot of waiting around across the weekend. Our students behaviour had been exemplary. In fact I never saw anything adverse from any of the cast members. I think everyone felt so privileged to be there. Our youngest student Emma Walton, aged 6, in our party of 12 students, stayed alert and focussed throughout a very long day and everyone was incredibly sad when it was all over.  We had made it through, as one of the best 14 groups out of an original 115 groups that had signed up to the project and we felt proud of being there at all. The resident choreographer told us that we were the favourites of many on the creative team but I`m sure he said that to all of the groups to make them feel special.

I am here adding the e mail of thanks that I sent to the director when we returned because it encloses much of what I felt about the magic of the project. I thought that the e mails that they sent out to us were so touching and sincere and I have added them as comments below:-

Dear David,

First of all I am so sorry that I haven`t managed to write to you immediately that I got home, as I very much wanted to, but I came home to go straight into a dress rehearsal this evening for our own run of `Billy` which goes up tomorrow for four nights and so I have just got in and read your email which filled me up all over again.

As with all wonderful events, you can leave in body but not mind and I`ve still been there all day in my head. Often landmark events in your life come upon you without your having a chance to anticipate them but we had the joy of looking forward to the weekend and then it surpassing every hope we could have had.

I loved the wonderful atmosphere between the groups - all wishing one another well. I loved the incredible forethought and care that had gone into the organisation for the day, particularly given that there was no precedent to work by. I loved your lovely staff who were patient and supportive and smiling all day (much different to many other theatre companies that we have worked with, in the past, when some of our students have been in touring theatre productions). I loved seeing the different creativity that each group brought to scenes that we had all worked ourselves and therefore knew well - or thought we did. And I loved the fact that our amateur efforts brought such pleasure to those of you who live with `Billy Elliot` daily.

I was touched by the welcome back that Annabelle received and how staff went out of their way to come to speak to her. I can see why she misses you so much. I was touched by my 87 year old dad making it out down to London to see my kids perform in the theatre that he remembered fondly from his time during the war when he was stationed at Victoria Station, in the Scots Guards. I was touched beyond words to hear 400 sing `Electricity` and for then a whole audience to rise spontaneously for an ovation. I was touched to see that each group was given a beautiful crystal award to take home with them and I was emotionally reduced to tears by Stephen Daldry`s incredibly generous but misplaced tribute to my part in the `Billy Elliot` story as Jamie Bell`s teacher.

I `stole` a piece of the confetti from the stage as a keepsake. It DID feel like `family` and we will treasure the memory always. Thank you all so very much for this tremendous opportunity. I can`t imagine anything that could surpass it. Please send my e mail to everyone involved in the project`s organisation. They all deserve our thanks.

Best Regards,

Trudy Hindmarsh (Stagecoach Darlington and Yarm)

PS We have a coach load of retired Easington miners and their families coming to see the show on Opening night - just to keep the emotions wrung out.

I have just been sent three photos taken by the professional photographer that the Billy people hired to record the rehearsals together with some other photos from the weekend. Ignore any distortion appearing on the web site. When you rightclick over the photo and save to your computer it will save without the distortion

Other photos taken across the weekend follow below:-

PACKING…….

TO GO……….

IN REHEARSALS WITH RESIDENT CHOREOGRAPHER

THE THEATRE….

STAGE DOOR

OUR DRESSING ROOM - THE BAR!!!

THE  NIGHT ……

PRESENTED ……

WITH THE AWARD ……

A huge thank you on behalf of Shannon for raising £538 from collections that we held after the `Billy Elliot` shows in five of our schools. We will add to this total when parents return to presentations, at the end of term, in the two schools where I forgot to instigate one.  This adds to £150 I raised and rounded up from the cards I sold in the entrances to the schools across several weeks so that means that we are on the right side of raising the firsat £1000 of the £5000 that we need in total to buy Shannon her arm.

Although I was so tired at the end of our run of 7 internal “Billy Elliot” shows, that I literally crawled upstairs to bed on Sunday Night, it was with a great deal of satisfaction that all the shows had been successful in stretching our students` skills and pleasing their audiences.

All the versions were different in their strengths and it was one of the joys to see differing parts of the show “shining” at different times. Some moments were truly remarkable and I never remember parents crying before at emotional scenes in our shows.  It shows a depth of performance that is a credit to the understanding of the students and the skills of their teachers.

Great credit must go to our smallest school - Darlington Wednesday night school, who had half a dozen eager students volunteer to cover, at the last minute, for several withdrawals of key main characters in their show. They pulled together in a magnificent way and their spirit brought results.

Other schools had similar difficulties but on a smaller scale and I must thank the children who there stepped into the shoes of missing people so willingly and so well.

I think that these shows have given me a boost  about how good I think we can make the public performances of “Billy” in July. I Hope we will see you all there on one of the nights.

Well done to you all again. You were a credit to your teachers and your families.

I have received some e mails already from parents and staff about the shows. I have added them as comments below. Please leave us your reactions about your own show, if you are a student, or that of the show that your child was in, if you are a parent.

Aaron Chilton from the Saturday AM Stagecoach school has been experiencing some exciting times lately as his dad Sgt Major Gary Chilton has been the lead singer in “The Soldiers” singing group whose album went platinum before Christmas. Gary has played in some fantastic venues like The Royal Albert Hall and was seen recently as a guest on the National Lottery programme releasing the balls for the numbers of the winning lottery ticket to be selected. And then I spotted him again leading the national anthem at The Royal Variety Show in Blackpool. Within days of that being shown, Gary turned up at our fundraising concert at Teesside High to support us and brought another member of the group with him - Lance Corporal Ryan Idzi, pictured on the left of the photo. If he looks familiar it is because Ryan got to the boot camp phase of “The X Factor” the year before this one. He caught Danii Minogue`s eye on the programme. Unfortunately I did not manage to get a photo of the boys at our concert on the night,  so have “borrowed” this from their web site.

I`m sure that you would join with me in applauding what “The Soldiers” have done to promote appreciation for the job that the armed forces are doing out in Afghanistan and for raising cash to help those who are casualties of the war.

Their presence was the icing on the cake for us in what was  a very special night indeed for Stagecoach Darlington and Yarm. I believe that some of the very best work we have ever produced was on display there, in a show of co-operation and selflessness that was quite simply heart-warming.

Every school presented themselves in their best light, some coping with last minute changes because of absentees but still singing out and performing confidently. Getting seven schools staged for the whole school songs was a challenge but all the students behaved impeccably and my - what a spectacle it was to see everyone sing all at the same time - and what a beautiful sound they made. Those songs must have been a highlight of the show for many.

The idea for the concert was to honour Singing Sue`s successful battle with cancer this last year. It is to Sue`s credit that she chose her music carefully and well and had a vision of what could be created by them. It is also to the credit of all the music staff of all the schools that they brought the students up to a uniform high standard and worked together as a team -  not only on the day but throughout the term to bring about such successful performances.

I thought that the audience was never going to stop clapping at the end and the students` faces shone as they won a standing ovation.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the chaperones who were tireless in their care of the children back stage and in their various fund-raising roles as helpers on stalls and raffles etc at the interval. Without their selfless donation of their time we would not have had a show at all. Adults and children co-operated together so that the whole event went like clockwork.

My thanks also go to Stagecoach staff who turned out in their own time to support us in any way they could. They just got stuck in - no complaints and worked so hard - Troopers to a man!

We had able technical help from The Forum Music Centre who provided Ethan as sound man to run the concert. He always does a grand job. Dave Cooil brought his family Lesley and Daisy in support to film the concert and sell the dvds (giving a donation of £1 for every dvd sold to Cancer Research). It is not too late to order a dvd. Most of the students have not seen the concert they were in apart from the parts that they performed in so I think that they would enjoy doing so. You should contact Dave, via his web site, www.rightclickstudios.com , if you have lost your order form.

Special mention should go to Nathan Fooks from Friday school`s Stage 3 who passionately wanted to work on the technical side in support of our concert. He brought his friend along and they looked after the lighting side of things. Well done and thank you lads.

Yarm Further Stages took a leading role in proceedings because the concert was in their venue. They organised and manned all the refreshments in the interval, with very little help, and more importantly fell into learning extra work so that they could provide the comedy interludes that linked all the songs in the concert together.  I always say that our students are good at “winging it” because we have to achieve so much with them in so little time. This was a supreme example of “winging it”. The last sections of script arrived with them off my fevered pen on the morning of the concert and they learnt everything at the drop of a hat, rehearsed with their Drama teacher Jodie beyond the initial short amount of stage time that they were allocated and pulled off a performance that was funny, charming, sometimes poignant but always professional. Brilliant!  Thank you to the people who gave me stories of infant assemblies that they had experienced as inspiration for some of the story lines.

Thank you to the advertisers who paid to appear on the back of the concert programme. Their page appears at the end of this piece.

 Thank you also to the people who either manned their own stalls to sell craft items in aid of Cancer Research or who sent goods  or baking in. Where any items were left unsold, I have donated them to a Cancer Research charity shop.

And now as to what money was raised for Cancer Research? After all the bills have been paid - and thank you to Teesside High for reducing the venue cost and Dave Cox from the Forum for reducing the sound costs - I will be able to round it up to *£2200* to send as a cheque to Cancer Research UK, once the last dribbles of money come in at the start of term. That is such a very worthwhile amount that you have all helped us to be able to donate. Well done!

It was a strangely moving experience when it came to removing the tags that people had sent in for our Christmas tree in the entrance hall - in support of, or in remembrance of, family and friends who had suffered from Cancer. I have to say that I was moved to tears. It does not seem right to just throw those cards away so I am going to burn them and then spread the ashes in the lovely and tranquil grounds of Teesside High School. That seems somehow more fitting and respectful. I hope that you agree. If you do not and would like to reclaim your tag then please let me know before 15th  January and I will gladly return it.

In conclusion, the concert gave so much to many people on many levels and that made it very special. It raised a significant amount of money for a charity which benefits mankind. It celebrated the work and life of our Singing teacher Sue, who is gratefully looking forward to 2010, with her young family, because of the charity and what it has been able to achieve in its research so far in a cure for breast cancer. The concert also brought us all together - students, staff, parents and other organisations as one community, celebrating our talents and supporting one another.  AND it gave me one of those precious and rare memories that warm your heart when you look back on them - priceless!

I recently received this e mail from Olivia and Matthew Barrass` mum after the Friday Main School Demonstration. When I asked her could I add it to the web site, she replied

“I could write more if you like.  There are so many great things I could say on the subject of Stage Coach.”

My husband and I were so impressed with the presentation by the children on Friday night. Olivia and Matthew love coming to Stage Coach, and you have a great team of staff.  It’s great news about the Billy Elliott opportunity

Apart from very positive verbal feedback from parents after the Early stages Summer Workshop we also had record numbers of workshop students wanting to join us on a regular basis and some written feedback sent in. Thank you to all those who bothered to take the time. It is very much appreciated.

Thank you Hal and Wyl. We are glad that you had good fun

You were great fun boys. I will remember Jake`s giggles in the beach impro for a long time - you were Soooo excited!

Sue`s twins came along for a couple of the days and Sue sent this kind note to us

Dear Trudy

I am writing to thank you and your fantastic staff for giving George and Oliver a wonderful time at the Stagecoach Summer Workshop. They came home full of excitement and stated it as ‘The best day ever, Mummy’…….. Their end of the day performance was so entertaining and I was so proud of what they had achieved in such a short space of time. I also want to thank Janie for picking up the boys each morning (due to my operation I cannot drive at the moment) it is these acts of kindness that have given the boys some ‘normality’ at such a difficult and confusing time.

Trudy, you truly inspire all young children as I could see it in their eyes and I’m proud that they are part of the Stagecoach network.

Much Love Singing Sue (Parent)

We also had an e mail from a little girl`s parents that I have accidentally deleted, where mum was saying how much her daughter had enjoyed her workshops and how impressed her grandparents had been by our mini-show at the end of the day.