This year Stagecoach Performing Arts has been running Industry Experience Days around the UK in collaboration with Audition Ready – an app designed to help children and young people prepare for auditions for theatre and film.

The Experience Days give young people an insight into an audition scenario, and they get to workshop monologues and songs with industry professionals as well as showing their piece to a panel of casting agents and getting professional headshots taken.

Following the success of the Industry Experience Days came the idea of an Industry Experience Week. The week was hosted at Arts Ed in Chiswick, London from the 21-25 August 2023. Over 100 Stagecoach Students worked incredibly hard all week with Choreographers, Musical Directors and performers from the world of theatre, and put on a showcase on the final afternoon in the Andrew Lloyd Webber Theatre for an audience of theatrical agents and casting directors. There was even a mention on the BBC Radio Theatre Hour.

The industry experience initiative was incredibly successful with 56% of the students who have attended an Industry Experience Day being offered representation by talent agents such as Sally King Casting, Happy Feet Management, AKT Management and Lauren Kelly Casting.

The Industry Experience Week Showcase was attended by some big names from the world of casting such as Verity Norton (casting credits; Mrs Doubtfire, School of Rock, Frozen, Eastenders) and David Grindrod who casts shows for Andrew Lloyed Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and other large-scale theatre and television.

David Grindrod said: “What an amazing experience for those students – a week of intensive work with a performance on stage. As ever the cream rose to the top. You are doing such important work for the next generation of story tellers.”

Chase Demmers, Educational Programmes and Partnership Manager added: “Offering this new kind of workshop to the portfolio of what we already offer as has been incredibly positive. It proves that collaborating with other likeminded businesses opens doors of opportunity for Stagecoach students and gives them access to the professional world and reinforces that we are the market leader in part-time Performing Arts activities.

“Ultimately, it all comes back to what we believe in; building confidence in young people. We are also delighted to see the offers of representation and other opportunities that are being offered to our students, some of which are incredibly exciting but we have to keep under wraps for now!”