Stagecoach

The STARE concert at Middleton Hall Retirement Village went very well indeed last Monday evening. Plenty of residents turned out to watch and I was proud of all the students and their singing - some of them were singing solo in public for the very first time!

I called into Teesside High School on Wednesday and one of the senior teachers there greeted me with “I hear that you have held a very successful concert at Middleton Hall,” so word was quick to circulate.

The surroundings were lovely. The room we performed in was like a 4 star hotel.  We were warmly welcomed and given drinks and mince pies afterwards and each choir member was given a selection box to go home with. Many residents stayed behind to talk to me and praise the singers. We are already talking about another concert later in the year with some olde tyme songs on the programme.

It really made me feel like Christmas - which normally takes some doing. My grand-daughter Lily put in an appearance being very keen to sit with her great-grandad - my dad - who is a resident there. 

I saw lots of sniffling going on in the audience, particularly when Emma Walton, aged 6 and Nathania Ewruje aged 13 sang “Silent Night”.  I had a lump in my throat too when Francis Walton sang “Too Young” and several in the audience joined in. It reminded me of all the family outings that I had as a child where my aunties and uncles sang all the old songs as we were travelling home.

There was a collection for our “Arms For Angels” fund for Shannon Hart at the end which raised a wonderful £206.50.

I received this card this morning:-

 

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 received this e mail from the mum of  one of our Early Stages children today. It was lovely to receive because I remember how much Madison lacked confidence when she started with us. Comments like these from parents are priceless because particularly in rough weeks, it makes it all worthwhile to myself and all the teachers to know that we are making a difference that will last a lifetime.

We had parents evening at school last week and Madison’s teacher said she makes songs up in the playground, comes into school, stands at the front and sings them to the whole class. She said she is very confident.  This is because of Stagecoach and we are so pleased with what Stagecoach has given Madison. Her teacher didn’t know she went to Stagecoach but she does now.

Helen Parkinson (Madison`s mum)

I received an e mail from the mum of one of my students this evening which is very pleasing because it shows how much a child`s personality and prospects can blossom when their confidence improves.

Trudy, I would  just like to say to you a big THANK YOU to the Stagecoach team for how much Caitlyn has come on since joining in 2009. I originally put her into Stagecoach to build her confidence up as she was not putting her hands up in lessons. Of course now, shen wants to be famous and has something to really focus on. At the end of primary school this year, her primary school put on a show and Caitlyn won a principal part.  I really do wish you could have seen her perform. She really made the character her own and I couldn’t have been any more proud of her - even the teachers were amazed at how good she was. So thank you very much for all that Stagecoach has done. 

Mrs M  (Stockton)

You are entirely welcome. It makes it all worthwhile to hear that we have helped to make a difference. 

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 ……

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.

I came across this interview with Jamie Bell`s mum in the Evening Gazette today on the Gazette`s web site.

Although the article does not mention Jamie`s connection with Stagecoach, I was also invited to the 18th birthday party that his headmaster Mr Youlden talks about. I was sitting at the party with Jamie`s junior school headmaster, George Barber.  That is where I had first been in contact with Jamie, when he was a pupil at Prior`s Mill School in Billingham, where I taught for 13 years, before setting up Stagecoach in Yarm.  Jamie became one of our original students from those early days in 1997.  Jamie left us in the summer of 1998 just as I heard of auditions for a new film that was to be made about a boy who loved to dance. Although he had left us, and I therefore strictly should not have done, I rang his mum and told her to take Jamie up to these auditions. The next I knew was about 5 months  and several high-profile casting trawls across the N.E. later, Jamie`s mum rang to say that after multiple call-backs Jamie had been offered the lead role. Although I was obviously very thrilled for Jamie and his mum, I had no inkling (did anyone?) that the film would be such an iconic one - leading to a BAFTA for best actor at the age of 14 years for Jamie and an assured acting career into adulthood - magical! 

I was very proud when Jamie began his birthday speech, before cutting the cake, by saying, “Before I start I would like to thank someone who is here, without whom I would not have had the success that I have had”. I was looking around expecting his mum or his dance school teacher to be pointed out - but he meant me - which blew me away! The evening continued to be special when the “Billy Elliot” film`s director Stephen Daldry, who has had a star-studded career in film AND theatre direction, came across with his baby to chat.

The first photo in the article of Jamie and his mum also brought back happy memories, because it was taken at the multiplex cinema at Teesside Park where the “Billy Elliot” film got its own first local film premiere and I got an invite.  My abiding memory of watching the film is the wonderful transforming quality of Jamie`s smile on the big screen. I couldn`t watch the film properly for thinking “I know that boy, isn`t he doing a good job”.  Happy Days! 

 http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2010/01/09/jamie-bell-s-mother-speaks-of-pride-84229-25557638/

Sally Messham of Yarm Further Stages stepped in to save a local amateur production. With only a few weeks to go the cast had lost a key member because of job relocation so Sally was auditioned and volunteered to help them out. Sally plays the daughter of a couple who unwittingly live opposite to a couple of Russian spies in the play “Pack of Lies” which is based on a true story. The chairman is very pleased with Sally and sent us a letter to prove it. She says, “the director is absolutely delighted with Sally`s performance and she has been an absolute pleasure to work with.  Here is a poster about the play -  and Sally. Well done Sal - you did us proud and prompted the chairman to say that no doubt in the future they will look to us again when they are needing children in their parts.