There were more reasons than ever for a local performing arts school to celebrate at an awards ceremony after one of their members landed a lead role in a new BBC series.
Amber Appiah, who attends weekly classes with the LCA Academy of Performing Arts in Lichfield, only found out she’d been selected for the part when she went on stage to collect an award at the National Memorial Arboretum.
The ten-year-old was given the surprise news of her successful audition by the academy’s director Eleanor Ham who said she was over the moon for her student who will begin filming soon for a five episode run.
“I knew that when presenting Amber with the LCA Special Recognition Award that that was the time to tell her she’d got the job
“It was a very special moment with lots of support and emotion in the room.”
Eleanor Ham
Amber will appear in the series alongside former LCA student Lauren Beardsmore.
Eleanor added:
“LCA is supporting the next generation of professional talent, we’re so pleased that Lauren learnt all the necessary skills and training to continue her career in our adult division of the agency.
“The competition out there is huge, so having two actors booked in one TV Series is a great achievement.”
Eleanor Ham
The red carpet ceremony also saw the broadcast of nine specially commissioned short films starring the 230 students.
Eleanor said:
“We like to offer our students real life experience of what it would be like on a professional film set.
“Our students range between three and 17 and we actually only had three hours to film each of the nine films.
“It really was a huge challenge, but we are so proud of what we achieved this year – the students smashed it.”
Eleanor Ham
For more details on classes run by the academy visit www.lcaacademyofperformingarts.co.uk.