Ellesmere College 2006 Senior School Play Cast Return from Successful USA Tour

A group of pupils spent part of their Easter holidays in the USA, being hosted by a high school in Massachusetts and visiting New York

After hosting a group from the Tabor Academy in Boston, Massachusetts who visited Shropshire last term, the cast of the Ellesmere College 2006 Senior School Play travelled to Boston, performing 'Featherboy - The Musical' there and in New York.

The 10 day trip included performing Featherboy three times at the Tabor Academy to school children in the area. A trip to Cape Cod followed, as well as a day spent in class with their Tabor peers.

The cast then flew to New York, staying at the Manhatten Inn by Madison Square Gardens. Activities during their time in New York included a visit to the Metropolitan Musum of Art, a production of the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, a boat trip around Staten Island Park and a meal in China Town.

One of the more unusual highlights of the trip was to perform in costume a selection of songs from Featherboy on the roof-top of the hotel where the cast stayed. During the performance local residents saw the group on the roof-top and notified the police and a few minutes later the audience was joined by two young members of the New York Police Department and were happy to pose for photographs, much to the delight of the cast!

This is the fifth time that the cast of a Senior School Play have travelled to the USA, following a visit by group from the Tabor Academy to Ellesmere College. Commenting on this year's trip, Richard Boswell, Head of Performing Arts at Ellesmere College and Director of Featherboy said, 'It was again a wonderful experience for the pupils who were all most professional in their approach to the performances. The American audiences responded enthusiastically to both the comic and tragic aspect of the show.'

The cast performed Featherboy again in the Ellesmere College Arts Centre last night before traveling to The Lowry Theatre in Manchester next Tuesday where they have been chosen to perform the play as part of 'Shell Connections', the National Drama in Schools Project sponsored by Shell UK.

28th April 2006

28th April 2006  Back to News