Daughter on Stage

Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington…..famous lyrics from a Noel Coward song and they still apply today.

As a child desperate to get on the stage I wrote a letter to a national newspaper and remember being confused when I got an answer back which started with the above words having never heard of the song.

The letter went on to suggest various routes into acting none of which I took as I got the journalism bug instead.

However the letter and the lyrics came back to me  as I stood in a queue for an audition with daughter number two, who older than I was when I wrote my letter, is now keen for a career on stage.

This was her first foray into an open audition and the queue stretched around the block as girls and boys but mainly girls excitedly chatted to friends and parents about what lay ahead. Thankfully the rain stayed away.

I was keen for her to enjoy the experience but not raise her hopes too high; after all so many are chasing the same dream.

For me it was an interesting people watching exercise particularly for spotting pushy mum (and occasionally dad) syndrome.

Apparently Coward wrote the song to Mrs Worthington as a refusal to all ambitious mothers who were bombarding him requesting their daughters were cast in his plays.

At the audition the children and teenagers were taken off for workshops in singing, dancing and acting before being told they’d hear in a few weeks.

Fortunately daughter number two seems to have an ability to do something and forget about it – I think it will be a vital trait if this is her chosen career path.

But her excitement was palpable when the email dropped in the inbox giving her the audition results and her discovery that she will be performing on the stage at the Bristol Hippodrome.

Around 100 youngsters have been selected to appear in Seussical in The Big Act production which will be performed after just 48 hours of rehearsal on June 10 to raise funds for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal.

Not only is it a good cause but it’s also giving youngsters the chance to appear before a paying audience in a professional theatre.

They will probably have lots of fun as well as learning about the hard work involved in making an acting career their goal.

And you can just imagine the dreams it will inspire too.

For more information on the show visit www.thebigact.com/seussical48