Members of the Curtain Up stage school in Melksham have been enjoying the summer school activities run by the Melksham and Bath groups at Hayesfield School, Bath, at the start of the summer holidays.

This year summer schools were divided into Junior and Senior weeks seeing the younger students produce a mini-musical called Blueprints, written by Curtain Up’s head of drama Tristan Carter.

Blueprints was about a Doctor who has created a time travelling device in his mobile phone, and when the blueprints get stolen it starts him on a wacky journey back in time to discover the culprit. The show allowed the entire cast to get involved with songs, dances and their own characters.

Tristan said: “At this age, making sure that every cast member has a part and some spoken word helps to boost their confidence in performance as well as allow them to learn how to develop character.”

The senior summer school was a professionally staged production of Disney’s High School Musical which saw the 40-strong cast pull out all the stops to be ready for a packed audience in only one week. Musical director Anthony Sanchez said: “I was so impressed that they were able to learn so much material in such a short space of time, numerous songs, some in three part harmony and most with dance routines plus dialogue and staging all in a week is an incredible achievement and one they should all be proud of.”

Many of Curtain Up’s former members, for the stage school has now been running for 10 years, are now drama school graduates and/or taking on lead roles in productions with Bath’s vibrant amateur groups at the Theatre Royal. The next show to feature former members is Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Tristan, at the Theatre Royal Bath in October.

For more information about what else Curtain Up Theatre School offers visit www.curtainup.

org.uk or call Sarah on 07974014490.