Stagecoach

I first knew Jamie Bell, as a pupil of the school where I worked for 13 years as a primary school teacher - Prior`s Mill Primary School in Billingham. He was never in my class but he was known, throughout the school, for his talent in dance, and the fact that, at the age of 10, he gained a place with The National Youth Music Theatre.  

Jamie became one of the original Stagecoach Yarm students. He was with us for a year. I rang his mum when I learned of the “Billy Elliot” auditions and he went along.

All the audition process and recalls went on for so long that about six months passed before she rang me one day, to say that he had won the part. Whilst I was very pleased for him at that time, none of us had any idea how big a film it would be.

It spawned a BAFTA for “Best Actor” for Jamie, the year after the film`s release, and later came the very successful West End stage musical of “Billy Elliot” with music written by Sir Elton John. 

Jamie has continued to work as an actor in high profile films such as “Nicholas Nickelby” and “King Kong”.

His latest film, to be released over here, is “The Chumscrubber” with Ralph Fiennes and Glen Close. It was filmed quite a long time ago, because Jamie kindly invited myself and his old primary school Headmaster to his 18^th Birthday party. He arrived at the party, having just flown in from the States, after completing the filming on “The Chumscrubber” . That was three years ago. 

Whilst Jamie was with us, along with other boys, he auditioned on our premises for a remake of “Goodbye Mr Chips”. The project was overtaken with tragedy when the producer was injured in a car accident and was on a life support machine. We never heard anything more about the project. Somehow I don`t think that if that film had been made that it would have had such a launching effect on Jamie`s career as “Billy Elliot” !!

 Additional Video Clips

A Fan Video

Billy Elliot Dance

Hi Trudy & Everyone

I have been at Stagecoach for 5 years now and have loved every bit of it.  I started Early Stages just before my fourth birthday and I was very quiet and shy then!!!!

Trudy put me forward for an audition when I was five for the part of Emy in Ibsens ‘A Dolls House’ at the Civic Theatre and I got the part along with Jonathon Harrison & Callum Batkin.  I had a famous parents in the show Tara Fitzgerald (Brassed off) and Tom Goodman Hill (The Office).

Since that first part, I got the acting bug and wanted to do more & more & more and decided that an hour and a half of Early Stages was not long enough.  My big brother had just moved up to main school and was having a great time.  I decided to pester Trudy to let me move up ( I was nearly 6)  in the end she gave in and let me have a 2 week trial in Main School.  I never went back to Early Stages!

I played the youngest child in the Stockton Stage Society Production of The King & I.  Callum Batkin & Sarah Bell were in the same team as me.

Last year I was in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ at the Civic Theatre with Ryan Stainsby, Emily Collins & Emma White.  We all had a fab time doing the show.

All the mums took it in turns to Stage Left for Act 1 because Ben Hull ( Lewis from Hollyoaks) only wore a towel they got 2 turns each.

At the moment I am the voice of Emily Elephant in the Cartoon ‘Peppa Pig’ which is shown on Channel 5 Milkshake every week day morning and on Nick Jnr.  I went to the end of series party a couple of weeks ago and I met all the other charters and I also met Nioami the presenter of Milkshake.

Thank you for all the fun I have had a Stagecoach.

Lots of love

Lucy xxxxxx

I have been a member of Stagecoach (Yarm)from the age of 4 and I am 14 now. Within this time i have performed in 3 short films. One was when I was six and it was set in Seaham & Durham. The film was called “Bait”. My next short film was called “The Lambeth Marsh” which was not long after and was set in the South. Then this year “Perfect to Begin” in Redcar. I have performed in Macbeth and Midsummer Night`s Dream” for “Shakespeare 4 Kids”, which was at Sunderland ,Middlesbrough and Bridlington. On Saturdays I go to a group called school of Rock & Pop where I am the Singer, i enjoy this very much.

This year I was lucky to be one of five people from my school that won a place to be an Ambassadar of the Arc. We all meet up throughout this year to watch different shows. We then write reviews about what we have seen, also we get to meet the actors afterwards and ask them questions.

I would love to do something in the future to do with Acting or Singing.

Check out more in Adrian’s Slideshow

Golly! Ten years of Stagecoach! Who’d have thunk it!? Seven years worth of Sunday mornings for me! And what glorious Sunday mornings they were! In hindsight 10am was an early start on a weekend, especially taking into account the thirty minute drive - as a university student ‘lie-ins’ have since become an all too important feature of, well, every day! But, of course, it was absolutely worth missing errrr.. Sunday School!?

So much did I relish the Stagecoach experience, that I immersed myself in it at every opportunity - the fun-filled Derbyshire trips, and of course the spectacularly impromptu Summer workshops, whereat the performance preparation was squeezed into just five days - phew! It was these ‘workshops’ I think, that I enjoyed most of all, though that is not to belittle the impact of the main school. To see a performance grow from Trudy’s (known as Mrs. Hindmarsh for the first few years) spark of inspiration, to an actual performance in so short a time was little short of miraculous. Even now, just the names of the shows conjour a feeling of anticipation, and a certain mourning for the end of such happy times. ‘There’ll be Bluebirds’ I think was the first, in which I was thrilled to play a ‘posh’, somewhat ‘nerdy’ kid with a liking for sociology, if memory serve - alas, the first instance of many in which I was patently type-cast! (By mutual agreement, I hasten to add!). Spattered throughout were innumerable acts with my contemporary Daniel, who I believe, is still embroiled in the throws of Stagecoach, and I daresay, preparation for the much anticipated 10th anniversary performance! Examples include the all time favourite - ‘The Galloping Major’, ‘Don’t bring LuLu’, our infamous ‘March of the Toreador’ and many more to boot!

Arguably somewhat removed from the theatrical world, I currently study History and Classics in Durham. But my acting days are far from behind me, and my RSC ambitions by no means diminished. I’ll be playing Buckingham and Richmond in ‘Richard III’ at Arc in Stockton from the 17th-21st of July and Raleigh in ‘Journey’s End’ in September, with the local Arden Theatre Company (Not that I’m using this contribution as a plug - heaven forbid! - just though somebody might be interested!?)

I must congratulate Trudy on an extraordinary achievement in bringing such pleasure to thousands of people over the past decade, one of whom I am thrilled to be! My thanks and congratulations go also to those who have aided her in this feat - all of the teachers - Rob, Sue, Deborah, Phil, Kate, Miriam - to name but a few (specifically those who at one time or another taught me), and of course Jeff who we all liked a great deal!

With love, thanks and all the best for another ten years,

Josh Mason

p.s. I enclose a picture of yours truly, on the unlikely off-chance that you may have forgotten who I am, and for those who never had the pleasure of meeting me! (Yes, I’m still the same modest chap I always was!)

Zoe was a student at Stagecoach Darlington for 5 years, mainly in Darlington Saturday Afternoon school but latterly in the Friday Darlington school. She danced and sang with STARE all around the region.

Zoe was still with us the week before she left, to go into the finals of the first series of “Pop Idol”. It is hard to imagine now how that first series dominated the whole country. It was the first really big reality talent contest and it captured the nation`s imagination. I needed a mortgage to pay my phone bill, after all the voting, week by week. Zoe was fantastic and was the last female singer left in the competition.

Since then, she has released a pop single “Treat Me Like a Lady” - see the Youtube clip below and can count as highlights - singing in Canterbury Cathedral, The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, at The Royal Albert Hall, London Palladium, Buckingham Palace and Houses of Parliament and even for Tony Blair`s son`s christening. See the links below for other news about her.

Nothing has changed Zoe. She is still the lovely girl she always was. She was always a team player and supportive of others but when she was performing in any kind of group, you could not help your eye being drawn to her. She was a born natural.

My abiding last memory of her, is of her sitting on the floor on her last Friday with us, encouraging and supporting all the Stage One students. Zoe returns to pantomime at the Civic this Christmas when she appears in “Snow White”. Pay her a visit. She`ll be great!

Zoe has recorded a film clip for our big anniversary show and sent us a message below.

Hi Trudy,

Wow ten years how time fly’s, well of the 4 years i spent there i had a lot of fun times learning about myself, the art of acting, singing dancing etc theatrics and what takes really to get into showbiz. Well since i left i continued to do Drama at GCSE but i have since given up acting in favour for working behind the scenes into directing and film editing etc. I have recently completed a BTEC national diploma in Media at Cleveland College Of Art And Design. Here i learned the art of film directing, camerawork, editing writing scripts etc. I produced and number of short films. One being a feature length horror film, a doumentary on the recent London Bombings on July the 7th, a promotional go karting video  for teesside karting in middlesbrough and a live television show as part of a group in which formed part of my Final major project which i was part of a team of 15. I was a studio camera man and the second unit director filming and directing all of the VTs for the show.

Also at college i took part in the studio’s radio station and featured as a DJ for the 2 years  on the college radio station Radio CCAD. I webcasted my shows on my own website http://www.djash.tk/Radio is currently one of my biggest interests as i have become a huge music lover listening to new bands, going to see gigs and music festivals etc. I am aiming to get a career in either TV, Film or Radio. Radio in particular.

Currently i have left home and now live in Newcastle and am a student at Northumbria University studying a media production degree.

Also on the side i have continued to sing, I sing in a rock band called Behind Your Smile www.myspace.com/behindyoursmile We are performing a gig at the Arc in stockton on the 7th of July at a young bands night for charity. On our site we have posted a number of cover songs you can listen to but we are also working on our own material.

This year i have been involved with a number of things two including i was an extra in a reality tv show called Gene Simmons Family Jewels featuring Gene Simmons the bass player from the Rock band KISS (http://www.aetv.com/genesimmonsfamilyjewels/) America the band that where all that crazy makeup and outfits. He was filming at Abbey Road Studios and my friends and i travelled down to be extras in the show. We have posted a video that we took whilst the program was being filmed on you tube at:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1w0W7APsSU (opens in new window)

The actual full episode has been aired recently but only in the states. I was also on television recently auditioning for Big Brother ha ha. My friend posted a clip on YouTube.

Well thats me!

I hope everyone is ok, i would love to come along to a reunion or party if you are having one at all or a show. I would gladly take part if i have the time.

Hope you are well Trudy.

Tlk to u soon.

Ash (ex yarm morning student)

Hello all

It seems a long time since I was at Stagecoach, but time I will never forget.  I spent six years at stagecoach and those six years have given me the opportunities I never thought possible.

I remember the very first audition I ever went to with Stagecoach, it was my first week ever at stagecoach.  I auditioned for the Demon Headmaster with Terrance Hardiman and Dave Benson Philips.  Zoe Birkett sang at the end of the show to them both and Dave Benson Philips had tears in his eyes.  I loved being in that show, it has always stayed with me and more importantly what Dave Benson philips said to me.  You look so small and quiet then this character appears from no where, its like magic. I told him I wanted to be an actor for real, he said it is one hellish journey, hard work, but if you want it you will find out.  I did want just that and more than anytying else I still do.

Whilst at Stagecoach I auditioned for Redroofs Theatre School in London.  My audition was very short notice, in fact I was only told the day before.  My mum rang Trudy and she spent six hours with me until 11pm at night going over my shakespeare piece and listening to my song choice.  The audition came at a bad time as my grandmother was dying in hospital and hours to live so only my mum could take me on the train.  We arrived at Redroofs to a line of very posh cars. It was bouncing down with rain, we were soaked through by the time we arrived.  My audtion was in stages, my mum felt as if we were wasting our time due to the people at the audition.  She told me at one point ‘ Look son even if you swim you will still sink so go in and sing your socks off.  I sang that loud that my mum was so embarrassed she hid in the toilets until I had finished.  It was an all day audition, a lot of waiting round.

At the end of it all, names were called out and asked to go to the right, then my name came out and I was told to go the the left near the exit and toilet. We were then taken into this very old large dark mysterious room, the decor was ancient.  It turned out to be Ivor Novellos front room where I was told that I had won a full scholarhsip worth £27,000.  On the way back home my mum was larking about singing shakespeare  To be or not to be, everyone kept looking at her.  By the time we arrived home my grandmother had died that day. 

I started Redroofs at 16, and spent my time in college and also working in Theatres in many lead roles at the Novello Theatre, Doody in Grease,  Geek In the Spotlight,  James in james and the Giant Peach and lots of auditions for film, television, commercials and corporate work.  It was a very hard time, I was young and London is a frightening experience at 16 to be totally on your own.  I was having to wake myself up at 5am to set off for auditions, walking about 11/4 miles to the train station on my own, through the underground, It made me grow up.  I was attacked during broad daylight on my way to an audition, and could have easily given up at times.  It went from desperate to okay to brilliant.  I am glad I stuck it out.

Now I have graduated from Redroofs, with their Agency, travelling too and from London at a seconds notice.  One tip,  once you have an Agency, never ever say no for an audition especially if a casting director has selected you, you have to go to build up a rapore not only with the Agency but with the casting director who asked for you.  There have been many times when I have just come home from London, my phone has rang it was the Agency with another audition.  Three hours there and three hours back for a five minute audition, then if recalled the same the next day.  Buts that what I do,   I am 100% reliable, can be called on at any time of day or night and never ever let them down.  I am starting to be called for auditions with some very famous people.  I was recalled down to the last two last week, when I went back I was a bit star stuck as the the other person was from Hollyoaks, its a wierd feeling to think that you are considered as good as them and to have been selected from loads of other people.

What am I doing now.  Still acting of course,  Some paid, some unpaid, thats what you have to do, it is no easy life,  I work also in a gym as a gym instructor in between.  One of the most beneficial things to come out of Redroofs withe being selected by Lizzie Webb (mad Lizzie from GMTV) to be a character she created called Joggy the Bear.  I spent two years with Lizzie promoting the Olympic Games for 2012, also making DVDs for children, travelling the country.  I even stayed at her house. She is a really kind person, and we have built a good friendship.  She is now my referee for acting referals should it be need.  I have worked on the Sugarbabes and Girlsaloud Music Video for Comic Relief, a lead role in a music video waiting release by Demolition records, all sorts of things, including voice over work for radio pilots and corporate videos. Offered scholarhships to further my acting career but turned them down on Redroofs advice who told me to make the most of my youth, and for now they are right because one at Degree level you are not allowed to audition for three years, that would be a prison sentence to me.

Currently, unpaid I am supporting the Arc and Riverside College with their producition of Westide Story.  I play Jino I am on Tuesday 10th July  Thursday 11th and Friday 12th evenings also Saturday Matinee. Then come September I have 6 months work with the new Harry Potter film.

Did Stagecoach prove worthwhile and beneficial to me ……….. you decide, to me it has been the best time of my life that has set me off on this journey - my life is hectic and often drained.  I am not rich (YET) but I do not believe that people become actors for the money, I know for me there is something inside me that comes to life on stage and for now thats all I want to do even if it takes time,  all of my wages go to GNER on train fares.  PS If anyone a private train or jet  …… or your best friend is Richard Branson get in touch.

Elliott Francis  Stagecoach 1998-2004

Clips from Grease Novello Theatre Elliott singing changes and Rocknroll Party Queen…

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The Early Stages Workshops happened this week and myself and the staff were very pleased with the children`s work and behaviour all week. We had the most children that we have ever had take part this year with 60 in total - some doing the whole week, some mixing and matching their days.

The children got to show their imaginations in devising much of their drama and they made costumes and props too. The weather was kind so we got to use the lovely playground and that is where I captured many of these smiling faces. Families may right click over the photo and save it to their computer. Any distortion in dimension will not be saved so don`t worry about that.

Firstly is a card that Darcey Garbutt gave us on the last day. We were very touched Darcey.

Then I have taken photographs (I hope) of all the children who were in the workshops on Thursday and Friday (I`m afraid that I had lost my camera in the early part of the week.

 The Portrait Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we have:-

Playtime

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun With the Helpers

Each group had its own helper who was with them all the time. I missed getting photos of Hayley McKay who had to leave us on Thursday and I did not capture her replacement Alex either - sorry!

Here is Charlotte

 

And Hayley Moohan

And poor long-suffering James Lavelle, who was chased nearly to extinction at playtime as these pictures show

 

 

And also

In Lessons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 ……