Lights, Curtains, Action! West End theatres shine spotlight on seven Impington International College alumni
Impington International College is celebrating the success of seven of its Performance School alumni, who are currently starring in and working backstage on West End productions of popular shows including: The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, and Heathers The Musical.
Alumna, Billie Bowman, is currently starring in smash hit Heathers The Musical as Midwestern Surf Punk. The production is running at The Other Palace and is receiving rave reviews from critics and fans alike, with the show rated 4.8 out of 5 by London Theatre Direct.
Elsewhere, following a successful stint in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, Beatrice Penny-Toure is performing in Disney’s onstage adaptation of Mary Poppins as Gwendolyn. Rafe Watts, another former College student, maintains the College’s presence in The Phantom of the Opera, playing the role of Marksman, and joining Rafe is Rhiannon McBean, who has been awarded a full-time traineeship in hair and make-up on the long-running West End musical.
Ryan Hutton joins the ranks of Impington International College alumni performing in the West End with his professional debut as Rodney Trotter in the onstage adaptation of the British institution, Only Fools and Horses, which TimeOut has described as “a strong professional debut.”
In addition to nurturing theatrical talent, the College has a robust programme that helps its dancers to develop their professional skills. Alumni, George Frampton and Evie Hart, have secured places at the companies of renowned choreographers, James Cousins and Jasmin Vardimon, respectively.
Celebrating the students’ successes, Leanne Gibbons, Assistant Principal: Head of Sixth Form, at the College, commented: “I am so pleased to see seven of our former students fulfilling their dreams of working and training in the West End. Our Performance School enables students to combine the rigour of an internationally-recognised qualification with the practical and theoretical knowledge that they need to succeed on-stage and beyond. I am thrilled that our alumni are now able to pursue their passion for the world of Performing Arts and I am proud to see so many of them building successful careers following their time at the College.”
Performance School students at Impington International College combine their academic studies with a robust programme of live performance, workshops and professional coaching through the International Baccalaureate (IB) Career-related Programme (CP). To find out more about Impington International College’s Performing Arts School, visit here.
For those hoping to get an early look at the next stars of the West End, current Performing School students will be taking part in Lets Go Circular at Grand Arcade on 30 October, where they will be performing an exclusive interpretive flash-mob dance routine around the theme of sustainability.
About Impington International College
Impington International College is a sixth form in Cambridgeshire, offering a unique educational experience for its students who choose to study at the College from many schools in the local area, wider parts of the UK and all around the world. Impington International College is proud to have offered a world class education to its students for over 30 years through the International Baccalaureate (IB), and was one of the first state provisions in the UK to do so. As an IB World School, Impington International College endeavours to imbue a strong community ethos in its sixth form and is committed to the IB’s mission statement, developing “inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world”.
