Stagecoach Performing Arts School

My son has been going to Stagecoach for several years now. Growing up I went to Saturday morning drama classes at Birmingham’s Old Rep Theatre, and my son was keen to do something similar. Stagecoach didn’t exist when I was growing up (and for anyone who knows that they have been going for the past 30 years, I am aging myself saying that!), otherwise I am sure I would have loved these classes as much as my son does.

I think my son was 5 when we started taking him to Stagecoach and although his experience with Stagecoach was rather punctuated by the pandemic, he has been going along pretty much every week ever since. He loves it. And although these days he is reporting playing fewer games like Duck Duck Goose, and Musical Statues that he used to play a lot in the first year or so he was at Stagecoach, he always comes out tired and hungry but very happy after his Stagecoach classes each week. As a mum of a child who really loves music and musical theatre, I couldn’t recommend sending your child to Stagecoach more.

The Edgbaston branch of Stagecoach has very recently got a new Principal, Michelle Pendleton, who took over this Franchise for the last term of the last academic year. I recently got the chance to sit down with Michelle to talk to her about Stagecoach in general and about the Edgbaston Branch specifically now she is in charge.

What is Stagecoach and what do you do?

So, Stagecoach is a performing arts school for children aged from 4 all the way through to 18. We offer singing, drama and dance classes in their weekly classes. The youngest students in our Early Stages range from 4 – 6 years old and they have various classes throughout their Stagecoach day. They come here for an hour and a half each week and they have roughly half an hour of each discipline, with some fun games thrown in. Then we move to our Main School where we open for 3 hours on Saturday mornings or afternoons, and they have about 50 minutes of each class – singing, dance and drama. And there is no difference in what happens in the morning and afternoon classes, they are run in exactly the same way and they work on the same shows, if it is show term.

We put on performances at the end of every term, so we always let parents come in then to see what we do. And this term we are doing the musical Madagascar in our Main Stages, which is really exciting. It’s a really good show. And our Stage 1s are doing Icicle The Musical, it’s a really lovely show where all the little penguins take Christmassy items to the ball, and that show has actually been written by a Principal from one of the other Stagecoach branches, Micky Hunt. And then our youngest students are doing a show called Snowmen at Sunset, which is again a lovely show about Snowmen with really cute songs. So we’re really excited about all of our shows this term.

The Main Stages are all working together on Madagascar the Musical, which is not something we do all the time. We generally have the Main Stages working in three separate classes going along to maybe singing first and then moving rooms for acting and then dance, or dance first,. then acting and ending with singing, and so on. They have a different teacher for each hour they are here, and so for each discipline. So they do that all through the term, and then we all come together as the Main Stages to do our sharing of work with each other and the parents. The Early Stages would stay doing their classes and sharing their work at the ends of terms separately to Main Stages.

This term is a bit different because it’s show term, and so they are working across the classes a little bit more in order to distribute the roles more fairly and so that the biggest roles don’t always go to the oldest children. So they are working together more this term, and in fact they have all been together all morning this morning working on blocking (working out how performers will move and where they will stand or sit on stage during a show) a huge number for the opening of the show.

You say that this is show term, so what do you do in the other terms?

So every year we have a show term, a skills term which can sometimes involve external exams. We use Trinity College London as our Examining Board, and they come in on exam day to assess the children. Some of the children work through the Acting exams offered by Trinity and some work through the progression of Musical Theatre exams. So next term is skills term, and it will involve exams for anyone who wants to do one, but this is not compulsory at all. In their classes the children will prepare for their exam, if they are doing one, but they will all also focus on a particular skill. And at the end of term we have a show for parents where we ask the children to showcase the skills they have learned that term, or to perform one of their exam pieces.

Then we will have a demo, or workshop term. That is much more casual, especially for the end of term show to parents. At the end of term in demo/workshop term we will invite parents in and they will go around to the different classrooms, the students will do a mini-class if you like, which parents watch. This one is more teacher led, so parents can get to know the teachers their children are working with a bit better and see them and their children in action. It’s a different way of showcasing what we do for the parents.

Do you find that children tend to come to Stagecoach for a few terms/years? Do many of them stay all the way through from Early Stages to the end of Main Stages?

It’s a really good mix, to be honest. We have students here, and to be honest we regularly have students here who have achieved their Lifetime Award. We have some students with us that last term celebrated being with us for 16 years. I even have some students who joined us all the way back in Early Stages as tiny little ones, who have gone all the way through all of the stages and are now working with me, helping to assist classes. And they will come and do things like lighting for the shows. So we do have students who stick with us for many, many, many years!

How many children do you have in each class?

It is capped at 18, so that is the maximum we have in any class. Our morning school is currently full, but we do have some spaces at the moment in some of our afternoon classes. And of course this can always change at the start of each new term.

How much does it cost to come to Stagecoach?

Main School fees are for a 12 week term and that is £360, and then our Early Stages are half fees so that is £180.

We offer a 2 week trial, and we always say to do the 2 weeks as that gives you a much better understanding of how things work, and that is £25 for Early Stages and £50 for Main Stages. We have already started enrolment for next term.

Obviously I am most interested in the musical side of things, and children can do Musical Theatre, they can sing in a choir at school. Would you say there is a difference between what they learn in a choir, say at school, and what they learn here with Musical Theatre?

So Musical Theatre combines all three elements of what we do – singing, dance and drama. So the children are singing and performing; they are using their acting skills; they will; probably be moving around the stage at the same time, there may be choreography involved. So it’s all singing, all acting, all dancing at the same time.

If you had a parent in front of you now who was considering getting their child to sign up to do Stagecoach but they weren’t sure what their child would get out of it, what would you say to them?

So much! So much! We really work with the children to grown their confidence. The motto for Stagecoach is Creative Courage For Life. And absolutely through the years you can see the progression in a child’s confidence through their experience with the Performing Arts. They have challenges like being put in front of an audience to sing or dance or act, entering an exam room on your own for the very first time, all the other little challenges they face throughout each term, all of this definitely leads to progression in a child’s confidence.

We have a no phone policy. So we get the children away from their technology, away from sitting in front of a screen. It’s also a very physically active thing to do. It’s great for their mental health. They get to interact with other children and make friends, friends outside of school as well, and these are often lifelong friends.

Stagecoach is not about teaching your child to be an actor, or singer or dancer necessarily, it gives them skills for life. It helps them talk to new people, make new friends. They can stand in front of a group of people and talk to them – maybe in the future they will need to make a presentation in work, or school or university, and Stagecoach gives them the skills and confidence to do this.

And it’s fun. All our classes are fun. They are designed to get children up on their feet, being physical and having fun – especially down in Early Stages, where we do loads of games with them, like Wink Wink Murder, Duck Duck Goose and Party Freeze game, loads more.

You have recently taken over as the Principal of Stagecoach in Edgbaston, Birmingham, have your feet touched the ground yet?

No! There have been some challenges, but I love it. Saturdays here are fantastic! It’s an amazing team to work for, and they have been a fantastic support.

What’s been your biggest challenge taking over as Principal, and what has been the best thing about it?

I’d say the biggest challenge is probably trying to make sure that from a staffing point of view that everyone is happy. I want the kids to be happy, but in order for the kids to be happy the staff have to be happy in what they do as well and so I spend a lot of time working to achieve that.

And then the best thing – well, the best thing are the children. The children absolutely make this place. And although I only took over as Principal in April, I have been here coming up for 18 years so I have seen our long standing students grow from little ones into lovely young women and young men, with some of them coming to work for me. And just seeing them grown and shine on stage is amazing. For me, it’s about the little things – it’s not just about the stars of the show, it’s about seeing that back row dancer deciding to push themselves forward into dancing in the middle row that week – all of those sorts of little things I love.

Is there anything else you would want to say to parents reading this?

I think I would say to give the 2 week trial a go; 2 weeks is a good indication of whether Stagecoach is right for your child. And base your decision whether to carry on or not on how your child comes out of a session rather than how they come in because often there are many distractions at home which they may not want to leave. But once they get here they have a great time. So if you’re unsure, always gauge reactions on the way out of Stagecoach rather than the way in. But give the trial a go if you’re at all tempted and see how your child gets on.

I have spoken here to Michelle Pendleton, Principal of Stagecoach Performing Arts in Edgbaston, but it is worth saying that if you live elsewhere in the country, have read this and think that Stagecoach sounds like something your child would like doing, head to the Stagecoach website and you will be able to find your closest branch. I think each branch is a little different, in that they do different shows, or concentrate on different skills for example. But the main things that Michelle has talked about here about giving your child skills for life and helping them grow in confidence and find their voice are the same for every branch.

Contact details for Edgbaston Stagecoach Performing Arts are:

Website: Stagecoach Performing Arts

Email: edgbaston@stagecoach.co.uk

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