Screen Drama

A former Bahrain school girl has been spotted on a controversial UK television series which aims to lift the lid onthe cut-throat world of stage schools.

The lives of the students and teachers at the prestigious D&B Academy of Performing Arts near London have been highlighted in Stage School, which has been taking viewers behind the scenes on an all-singing, all-dancing roller coaster journey of auditions, love affairs and jazz.

Despite being advertised as a show depicting ‘real people’, the E4 programme’s main star was TV talent show XFactor contestant Betsy-Blue English, formerly of Only The Young, and pop act Union J member Casey Johnson, who she’s currently dating.

Thousands of angry viewers signed apetition claiming it was ‘shameful’ in its ‘misrepresentation’ of what goes on at performing arts colleges although others described the programme as‘addictive viewing’ and as soon as the first series closed #STAGESCHOOL series2began to trend on social media.

Imogen Szecowka, 17, however, is one of the‘real people’ and in the second-year of a three-year D&B Diploma in Musical Theatre course after securing one of only 25 coveted places on the performing arts college course, endorsed by the UK Council for Dance Education and Training.

The former St Christopher’s School pupil said: “It’s hard work but I love every minute of it and it’s a great opportunity to learn about all aspects of the entertainment industry.”

Students are training with industry professionals in state-of-the-art facilities, with the aim of becoming well-balanced, all-round performers in TV, film and musical theatre. Extensive industry links mean there are professional opportunities throughout the training and beyond.

The college where the series has been setis run by the ‘no nonsense’ Sullivan sisters, Donna and Bonnie, who opened itup in 2000.

Donna said it had ‘certainly been an experience’ having the cameras and a national TV station focused on the institution, as the 30-episode series has been broadcast ‘prime time’ every weekday evening. The trailer alone was watched more than 450,000 times.

“Whilst filming was going on we managed to keep it quite separate from the day-to-day running of the college but we did get very used to having the production crew around. We got used to checking before barging into a room!” she added.

“The production company was absolutely lovely and made the experience such a pleasure - we couldn’t have asked for anicer team to work with.

“The attention on social media has been areal eye-opener and we have trended quite a few times on Twitter. Although it’s been tough to read some of the comments that are inevitable from internet trolls, the overwhelming response has been so positive and applications are wayup.

“The ratings have been great and Channel 4 has been so pleased with its performance, particularly in its intended demographic of 12 to 16-year-olds.”

Bonnie is confident students like Imogen,who last year at the age of 16 was one of the youngest to be offered a place,will have benefitted from the experience. “The performing arts industry is notoriously difficult to break into and we are so passionate about trying togive our students every opportunity that we possibly can,” she explained. “We saw this as an extra string to their bows as well as a potential platform into more professional work.

“There is also such a trend in the performing arts to cast ‘known’ artists. We can be absolutely sure that all of our graduates have been excellently trained and now some of them have been given an additional step up into the industry.

“It is well known that often musicals castwell-known people from reality TV - with no relation to performing arts - to get ‘bums on seats’- why not ensure that some of these well-known people are professionally trained and seriously talented?”

Executive producer and managing director of Knickerbockerglory, Jonathan Stadlen, said the stage school seemed an obvious setting for a reality TV show. He said: “Young people don’t want to be doctors or lawyers anymore, they want to be superstars - and there’s no better place totrain for superstardom than D&B. We wanted to capture the drama, hard work and exuberance of the pupils.”

The first series concluded recently with a cliff-hanger involving a leading member of the cast being threatened with expulsion for his dastardly deeds at the school prom. Talks are ongoing over a possible series two and the official Stage School Twitter teased: “That’s your lot folks, thank you so much for watching! See you next term?”

Imogen, whose dad, GulfWeekly editor Stan, mum Kathryn and brother, Stan Jnr, 13, live in Janabiya, is also in demand as an international model. She recently featured in a promotional video for MODAMall and another shortly-to-be-released recording highlighting DestinationBahrain to be shown on all Gulf Air flights. Her face is also currently being displayed on screen at Seef Mall highlighting the Annada scarf collection.

One of her earliest stage roles in Bahrainwas as Jane in a Year 5 & 6 production of Mary Poppins at the St.Christopher’s Junior School in Saar. She went on to perform as Nala in TheCircle of Life production by Music and Stage for Kids (MASK) in 2012 and thelead role of Annie, as well as pantomime roles with the Manama Players.