Matilda the Musical, starring two of Bridgnorth Endowed’s students, delighted audiences of all ages during a four-day run at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn, which opened on 27th June.
Henry Rhodes and Maisie James-Owen, both from Year 8, joined the Curtain Call Theatre Company cast to deliver stellar performances as the Escapologist and the Acrobat, and also feature in many of the show’s wonderful dances.
After more than two years at the company, the talented duo have now clocked up a long list of big productions to their names, including Legally Blonde, The Little Mermaid and Sing Out.
However, Henry and Maisie’s accomplishments go back even further. Henry’s love of performing started at the tender age of three, when he took up ballet lessons, before moving to the Pauline Quirke Academy as soon as he turned four.
Here, he discovered his passion for musical theatre and even got to perform at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London twice. By the age of ten, he’d been accepted into a theatre academy a year early, and was given all sorts of fantastic opportunities such as the chance to work with West End actress, Carrie Hope Fletcher.
Maisie’s quest to perform initially took her to local company ReachOut Arts, then later to Curtain Call, which she attends alongside Galaxy Dance in Bridgnorth.
Dedicated to their art, Henry and Maisie rehearse in Shrewsbury every Monday and Friday evening and, on Sundays, they go to a musical theatre class to improve their singing and dancing skills.
In school, they recently auditioned for next year’s We Will Rock You production and have both been given leading roles – Maisie will be Scaramouche and Henry is set to play Khashoggi.
On top of all that, Henry will also be rehearsing for the upcoming production of Oliver at Theatre Severn, so he certainly has a busy programme ahead.
Looking to the future, the pair have big ambitions in the world of musical theatre and hope to secure places at the prestigious Birmingham Ormiston Academy.
