Fantastic news from Senior Pupil Ellie who has successfully auditioned for the Leeds Conservatoires BA (Hons) Musical Theatre Degree course.

“Ellie has been a most-loved pupil for many years so her success brings me great joy”, says Mrs Lamont. ” I know she will thoroughly enjoy the next three years and get so much out of it.”

The course is designed to prepare performers for a sustainable career in the fast-paced Musical Theatre industry through high level acting, dance and singing training. It runs for three years and helps hone skill and potential to work across various forms of theatre and screen work.

What a wonderful opportunity, Ellie. Enjoy!

Congratulations to Lamont Drama Pupils 17-year-old Orlando and 18-year-old Harry who successfully auditioned for the prestigious National Youth Theatre.

Orlando, who has been with Lamont since aged 8 and Harry, who joined the Drama School to assist him with his audition pieces for professional drama schools, both auditioned for the NYT at the start of the year.

They were both recently informed that they are now NYT members and will be attending their famous summer school.

Says Mrs Lamont: “I am very proud of both Orlando and Harry. They are both very talented and work hard for their success. It’s a really exciting next step for them and I know from past pupils’ experiences that they will thoroughly enjoy the NYT Summer School. Well done to both!”

Orlando is also busy this summer appearing with fellow Lamont Drama pupil Joseph in their production of ‘I Did Something I Shouldn’t Have’.

The two have already performed the play at Southport Little Theatre and will be appearing in Ormskirk on June 21^st and 22^nd. After that, the production goes to the Edinburgh Fringe at the end of August.

Lamont Drama pupil 10-year-old Esme was recently invited to take part in the prizewinners’ concert at the Reigate and Redhill Festival.

She performed her solo acting piece (Years 5 -6 ) in the finale concert – and was delighted to be awarded the trophy for the Best Speech and Drama Performance in the Festival.

There were more than 300 speech and drama entries – so this was a fantastic achievement. Well done Esme!

Lamont Drama pupil Lois Cringle returns in the hit BBC1 drama series The Responder.

13-year-old Lois reprises her role as Lexie, daughter of Jodie Sweeney played by Faye McKeever (Time, A Confession, Trollied, Little Boy Blue). Lois featured in the first series which nabbed six BAFTA nominations and racked up over 9.5 million viewers.

The Responder stars Martin Freeman (Sherlock) as troubled Liverpool police night officer Chris Carson, who found himself struggling to hold his life (and mental health) together after getting tangled up with the city’s criminal underworld. The first season saw him make several dark, unethical decisions.

Series 2 picks up six months after the events of the series’ first instalment, as Chris attempts to rebuild his life and relationships.

As a regular member of the cast, Lois was excited to be invited to the cast screening of the new series.

Says mum Helen: “We had a great time. It was lovely for Lois to catch up with all the cast and crew. She loved it!”

The second series has received rave reviews, especially for Martin Freeman’s performance. Lucy Mangan in The Guardian, says : “ Martin Freeman returns in the exquisitely painful study of a police officer’s breakdown – and it’s a rare second run that’s just as riveting and vital as the first”.

Congratulations to 10-year-old Lamont pupil Esme for her excellent performances at the recent Reigate and Redhill Speech and Drama Festival in Surrey.

Esme entered two sections in solo acting and prose reading – and was awarded first place for both!

Following her performances she was invited to take part in the Prizewinners’ concert and received the following email: “Esme really impressed our adjudicator and she will be one of around twenty-four performers in two concerts. They were chosen from well over nine hundred entries.”

What an achievement Esme!

Mrs Lamont teaches Esme remotely and praised her hard-working ethic. She said: “Esme is a delight to teach. She works extremely hard in her classes and deserves this accolade. Well done!”

The Lamont Competition team achieved great results at the Alderley Edge Festival at the weekend.

Eight pupils, aged 6 – 16, took part in 17 classes. They achieved a fantastic twelve 1^stplaces, seven 2^nd places and two 3^rd places.

All of the pupils gained at least one 1^st place.  Siblings Zaynab and Maryam and Vidusshi and Sharuhi placed in all of their solo classes and 1^st and 2^nd in the Year 4 and under Duologue sections.

Full results are :

Duologues

(Year 4 and under) 1^st Vidusshi and Sharuhi

2^nd  Maryam and Zaynab

Maryam and Zaynab with very proud drama teacher Diane Lamont. Lovely performances from these talented sisters!

(Year 7-9) 2^nd Emilia and Freddie

Set Verse

(Year 1) 1^st Zaynab

(Year 2) 1^st Sharuhi

(Year 3) 1^st Maryam

(Year 4) 2^nd Vidusshi

Own Choice Verse

(Year 1) 1^st Zaynab

(Year 2) 1^st Sharuhi

(Year 3) 1^st Maryam

(Year 4) 2^nd Vidusshi

(Year 7-9) 1^st Emilia  2^nd Freddie

Prose Reading

(Year 3 and under) 1^st Maryam  2^nd Sharuhi

(Year 4)  1^st Vidusshi  3^rd Fin

(Year 7-9)  2^nd Freddie

Solo Acting

(Year 4 and under) 1^st Fin

(Year 7-9) 1^st Freddie 3^rd Emilia

OLIVIA won ALDERLEY YOUNG THESPIAN OF THE YEAR 2024 with a fantastic 92 marks! CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

LAMDA RESULTS – SPRING 2024

All pupils gained the top mark of Distinction!  25 pupils took the exams and 17 gained 90 and over.

Speaking of Verse and Prose

Introductory 1

Sia, Annabelle, Zaynab

Introductory 2

Maryam, Iris

Introductory 3

Timmy, Kiki, Sharuhi

Entry

Jaylun

Grade 1

Beracha,

Grade 2

Harry, Ben, Vidusshi, Felicity

Grade 3

Hallela, Thanushka

Grade 4

Gadowl, Erin

Grade 5

Taron, Clara

Grade 7

Sujaani

Grade 8

Kisaan, Josh, April, Jesikka

LATEST FESTIVAL RESULTS!

Pupils from the  Lamont Competition Team have been participating in festivals all over the UK over the past few weeks and have had great success.

Eight-year-old Kiki took part in the Tunbridge Wells Festival in Kent and won a 2^nd and 4^th in her verse and prose classes.

Siblings Esme (9) and Ethan (11) competed in the Coulsdon Festival in London and Esme won two 1sts for her verse selections and a 3^rd for her solo acting.  Ethan won 1^st for his verse and two 2nds and a 3^rd for his other classes.

At Lytham Festival in Lancashire, 6-year-old Zaynab won her verse class and 8-year-old Maryam won both her classes in verse and prose.

It was the first time Zaynab and Maryam had competed in a festival but they both held their nerve and gave confident performances.

Joseph (10) gained two 1sts for his verse classes and a 2^nd for his solo acting.

Joseph at Lytham Festival

Emilia (11) won 1^st in solo acting and a 2^nd and 3^rd for her verse classes.

A happy Emilia after her performances

Sixteen-year-old Olivia won a 1^st for her verse and three 2nds for her other classes.

Fantastic results for Olivia

Well done to you all! 

Onwards and upwards now for the Alderley Edge Festival in May and exams in July.

No time to put your feet up – well maybe for a few days over Easter holiday!!!

When one of Lamont Drama School’s most talented former pupils got back in touch….. the delight was fourfold!

Not only did Mrs. Lamont have the great enjoyment of meeting up with former pupil Sara – she got the news that Sara’s children would like to enrol as Lamont pupils.

Says Mrs. Lamont : “It was lovely to meet up for lunch with Sara for a catch-up. I taught Sara for many years when she lived on the Wirral. She remains one of my dearest pupils as she was so hard-working and extremely talented. Sara won many prizes at speech and drama competitions as well as gaining high distinctions for all of her LAMDA exams.

“Sara now lives in Manchester and has 3 lovely girls! I am so excited to be able to teach them and have already had my first lessons with Maryam and Zaynab via videolink. I am so looking forward to taking them on their festival/LAMDA journeys. Our meet up was a really perfect day and brought back so many wonderful memories!”

Lamont pupil seven-year-old Kiki was awarded 1^st place for her verse speaking (7 years) at Maidstone Festival.

Kiki is a Lamont Drama remote learner so has all her lessons via skype from her home in Tunbridge Wells.

Well done Kiki!