Today our lovely Isabelle Sykes departs for the south as she takes up her place at the University of Chichester to begin her BA (Hons) degree in Musical Theatre. She received an unconditional offer to study there so the pressure was off for her A Level results, a welcome thought!
To secure her place she had to audition, which consisted of a few stretching exercises then learning a dance to ‘One’ from A Chorus Line. We had to showcase this in smaller groups performing as much and as well as we could.
For the singing they had to wait in a back room for a while and they called the auditionees out one at a time.
I had to sing two songs, one being Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man from Showboat and the other was Maybe This Time from Cabaret.
The final round was acting and improv, so the young hopefuls had to improvise an orchestral scene – quite a difficult challenge with people who have only known each other two hours, but they got there in the end!
I’m most looking forward to being able to do what I enjoy every day and all day, being able to focus more on my singing and improve my range! I’d love to be on stage in a musical and being able to pursue a career in musical theatre. I’d love to be in 42nd Street due to the tap numbers on that show!
Isabelle has played the title role in Annie at Sheffield’s City Hall, performed in numerous pantomimes at Sheffield Lyceum and has carried out voice acting work for BBC Radio 4’s Shed Town and On It, a play which won a Sony award. In 2014 she received the school’s 30/30 Award for her attitude and commitment, which includes her role as a class helper with our youngest pupils.
We wish her all the best, and look forward to finding out how she gets on.
Berry Academy of Dance 