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A West End and Broadway star has helped youngsters at a new initiative at the Belfast School of Performing Arts.

The school’s The Sunday Sessions, which launched at the weekend, is a new initiative designed to inspire young people in the acting world.

And Irish theatre star Killian Donnelly was there at the launch, taking to the stage to help 30 young people bring theatre to life. 

Killian, famed for roles in shows such as Les Miserables, Kinky Boots and most recently as The Phantom in the European tour of The Phantom of the Opera, was in Belfast to share his in-depth knowledge and passion with talented young people from all across the province.

Speaking about his experiences in Belfast, where he was teaching young people songs from Les Mis, Killian said: “The talent is absolutely incredible. You never know what you are going to expect. We’ve been working on building confidence and I’ve been less concerned about their ability. These guys are unbelievable and each of them has really brought their own version of the character. They are passionate and they are singing, acting and pouring emotion into everything they do. I can honestly say that they have fuelled me and inspired me.”

The Sunday Sessions is a new initiative from what is Northern Ireland’s leading theatre school.

Speaking about the sessions, Artistic Director: Peter Corry  said: “The Sunday Sessions are designed to inspire and encourage young people aged 14-25, not just our own students but anyone with an interest in theatre, to really get into the very essence of what it means to bring all aspects of theatre to life. 

( Belfast Live 8th October 2020)

BSPA is proud of BSPA Belfast South pupils Isabella D’arco who has been starring in the new children’ s programme Nova Jones which is featuring on CBBC and RTE2
We are also thrilled that our Dance Teacher Kat Reagan had the privilege of Choreographing on the series.

During a summer when Covid regulations stopped most Performing Arts Companies from doing shows BSPA led the way to present the Irish Premiere of ” Matilda Jr’

Demand for places from young people who were missing the chance to perform was such that we had two casts, Team Trunchbull and Team Wormwood each performing three shows. With Theatres still closed to the general public BSPA though outside the box and decided to convert “The Lid” at Crawfordsburn Scout Centre into a socially distanced Theatre.

The BSPA team created a stage, brought in lighting, sound and applied for necessary Entertainment licences and risk assessments to transform this space into an outdoor theatre. With safetly to the fore all seats were socially distanced but this provided our children and our sold out audiences with an incredible experience. An achievement to be proud of during days when the Arts Industry were suffering. Theatre is back ( at least at BSPA)

The two casts of Matilda Jr were delighted to join the BSPA Artistic Director: Peter Corry at the ‘Back in Bangor” event on Saturday 21st August.

Both casts performed a few excerpts from the show to passers by before heading back up the road to Crawfordsburn for their final performance. What a busy but exciting end to a fantastic summer project.

What an exciting morning “Team Trunchbull” had at the start of rehearsals for Matilda Jr when they had a visit from Rita from UTV who dropped in to film for UTV Life.

This also gave our talented pupils Holly Mountstephens (Matilda), Keris Dodds (Miss Honey) and Michael Nevin (Miss Trunchbull) a chance to try on costumes for their interviews.

The cast who were in early rehearsals enjoyed showing Rita a sneak preview of the chorus ” Naughty “

The Irish Premiere of Matilda Jr will be performed with two casts at Crawfordsburn Scout Centre from 18th – 21st August.

https://www.itv.com/utvprogr…/articles/utv-life-episode-28

UTV Life Episode, please scroll to 7minutes 50

BSPA would like to thank presenter Pamela Ballantine for the opportunity to tell her audience about our production

What a fantastic way to end the BSPA year but with three Hamilton workshops taken by our BSPA Patron Kelly Downing and held over a sunny weekend at Crawfordsburn Scout Camp.

Kelly was delighted to work with our pupils teaching them the Choreography from the Iconic show before returning to rehearsals for the re opening of Hamilton in the West End.

Kelly told them all about her experiences and ensured that when they decide to audition for the musical they will know whats required and will know some of the routines. Such a fun weekend and the sun came out to celebrate with our pupils.