Staging the Future
Corn Exchange anniversary creates new opportunities for ARU students
This year the Cambridge Corn Exchange celebrates 150 years as a venue, and our Musical Theatre course has been getting involved too — leading to some exciting, and some unexpected, opportunities for our students.
The partnership began when Corn Exchange Creative Partnerships Manager Ben Hallworth got in touch with our Musical Theatre Course Director Pippa Duffy (O’Brien), asking if we would like to take part in the celebration event. This would feature schools and performing arts groups from all across Cambridge.
Pippa agreed whole-heartedly, devising a programme of material that touched on the history of the venue, with songs that focused on subjects important to its history, such as the suffragettes, corn, and boxing.
She then recruited ARU colleagues Kizzy Green (Musical Director) and Ughetta Pratesi (Choreographer) to work with students from across all three year groups, teaching and staging the numbers, which the three of them then directed to the polished segment performed in the main concert. The performance also featured a piece choreographed by the students themselves, giving them a great opportunity for them to showcase their work on a larger stage.
The project was entirely voluntary for our students, with about a third of the Musical Theatre course choosing to take part. Rehearsals were twice-weekly, giving them four extra hours of training a week, and adding real value to their on-course training.
But the project not only provided extra training, experience and exposure for the students — with impetus from lecturer Kizzy and her Musical Theatre choir, it also led to a new Musical Theatre Society being established and registered with ARU’s Student union.
And the benefits for ARU students have only just begun, as Pippa told us:
“The event was a wonderful celebration of the young arts community in the region, and we were very proud watching our students deliver a really professional and polished performance to a wide audience of performing arts courses and groups.
“We have since built a great relationship with the Corn Exchange and hope to build further links and collaborations with them that will also include our Drama and Acting courses.
“They have already offered some theatre tickets and workshop experiences to our students and I am hoping to take a group to see Rocky Horror Picture Show in April.
“The whole thing has been an extremely positive experience and I hope the beginning of a wonderful partnership for the future!”