Young talent set for summer school success at The Capitol

More than one hundred young dancers, singers and actors applied to audition for this year’s Summer School at The Capitol in Horsham, which took place at the venue on Sunday, May 17.
Young performers audition at The CapitolYoung performers audition at The Capitol
Young performers audition at The Capitol

Due to the success of last year’s Hairspray production, this year drew more than triple the number of applicants, all keen to participate in the exciting summer project, which takes place between July 27 and August 8.

The Capitol put a call out early this year for local people aged 8-18 years to come forward and audition to be a part of the ‘Les Misérables: School Edition Performed Entirely by Students’ production.

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Les Misérables has played in 42 countries, over 319 cities and the London production is the world’s longest running musical so the high level of interest to perform such an epic musical at The Capitol came as no surprise to organisers.

On the day, those auditioned were split into Juniors (8-12 years), who were asked to learn a dance routine and song as part of a group workshop and Seniors (13-18 years), who had the additional element of performing a solo for the panel.

Director of last year’s Summer School production Matt McGoldrick is returning to The Capitol for this year’s production and was keen to ensure the audition process was as professional as possible to provide a realistic experience for the young people and a taste of how things are in the industry.

Matt was so impressed by the standard of talent this year he was insistent on offering everyone a place and will double-cast where necessary in order to accommodate them and ensure opportunities are created for people to take on their dream role.

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The ensemble comprises mainly young people from the Horsham area, with some of the cast from nearby Haywards Heath, Worthing and Lancing.

Phil Bashford, 18, from Horsham, is excited to be cast as Javert and said: “I really enjoyed The Capitol’s summer school last year and can’t wait to be a part of it again this summer. It will be an exciting couple of weeks working on an amazing show!”

The two weeks of Summer School rehearsals will culminate in matinee and evening performances on August 7 and 8 at The Capitol.

The audience can look forward to the well-known, emotional story set in 19th Century France where Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole agrees to care for a factory worker’s daughter.

Tickets are available now.

Call The Capitol Box Office on 01403 750220 or visit www.thecapitolhorsham.com.