Written by Jess Allen and Amy Cockram, Year 12 students
In February, 30 Students and three Drama teachers met at 5am outside school. Passports were checked and we waved goodbye to England, sat back, watched a few movies and tried to get a few hours sleep before arriving at JFK airport in New York! Once we’d safely arrived at Herald Square Hotel, we made our way for dinner at “Au Bon Gout” (our regular favourite with Charlie)!
That evening, we headed up the Empire State Building. The views from the top at night were truly spectacular (as well as chilly!) and simply couldn’t be captured on camera! Fighting the jet lag, the following day we headed to our first workshop which focused on the musical ‘Billy Elliott’. We learnt the song and dance to the finale with Liz Pierce (from the cast) and felt like true professionals! After it was time for some good old sightseeing! We hopped on a windy ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island which were both fabulous to look at and interesting.
In the evening we went to see ‘Billy Elliott’ on Broadway which was fantastic, especially the dancing! The following day, we attended an acting workshop, focusing on the differences between American and British comedy. We considered how we could get the laughs from the different audiences and certainly laughed at ourselves a lot! From here we were keen to hit the shops so headed to the famous 5th Avenue where we attempted to see the clothes in the darkness that was Abercrombie and Hollister! That evening we explored Times Square before watching ‘The Addams Family’ which certainly had us all laughing and we came away singing a the tunes!
On our final day, we visited South Street Seaport and Ground Zero where the Twin Towers once stood. It was a real shock to us all to see such a large empty space and the only point in the trip where we were all completely lost for words.
Overall this trip was fantastic and we would recommend it to anyone who is interested in Drama or Performing Arts!
Imogen Coombes: "The whole trip was absolutely amazing! I will never forget being on the biggest billboard in Times Square!"
Jess Allen: "Brilliant! I had such a good time and the workshops were very interesting and it will help me in my Performing Arts course!"
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