Student Success

From Pantos to TV, Musical Theatre to Film The Academy students are working hard to achieve their Dreams and we are here to support them in whatever way we can

West End Debut

Peggy Cohen

We are super proud of Peggy who is currently making her debut performing in one of the West Ends longest running musicals.

We cannot wait to watch you in action Peggy and are so proud you little superstar

The National Theatre

Ella Critchell

A Huge WELL DONE to our lovely Ella Critchell who has had the best summer treading the boards of The National Theatre in the play of the season - Inter Alia.

Such a powerful and provocative piece of theatre, we are so proud of you.

We hope you enjoyed every second.

Feature Documentary

Jayden Smith

Jayden played the role of Young Munroe in the important Feature Documentary Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf.

The film had its World Premiere in Central London in June and Jayden and his mum were luckily enough to see it on the big screen along with the rest of the cast and crew

West End

Marnie Rae Warren Baker

Our wonderful Marnie is currently performing the role of Nala in The Lion King on The West End.

We were the proudest teachers last week when we all went to support her and watch her shine. She really was fabulous.

Enjoy every second of this exciting journey Marnie!

College Success

Ava Bedford

We are so proud of our lovely ex student Ava Bedford who is continuing her professional training at Platinum Academy of Performing Arts.

We are so proud of you and look forward to seeing your journey continue.

UK Tour

Elias Agbodan George

Our talented Elias shone bright on the UK Tour of Winne the Pooh playing the role of Christopher Robin. We saw him on home turf at The Cliffs Pavillion in Southend and he was brilliant.

Well Done Elias, we are so proud of you.

Feature Film

Vienna Ward

We are so pleased to announce that our lovely Vienna Ward is one of the animated characters in the new NETFLIX Christmas hit This Christmas.

Available now, go and stream it, you will not be disappointed.

Well Done Vienna you have worked so hard

UK TOUR

Chloe Boyle

We are so excited to announce that Chloe is currently on tour in the amazing musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

We are so proud of you Chloe and cannot wait to come and watch.

Television

Frankie Day

Frankie continues his role as Ricky Mitchell in Eastenders with some fantastic storylines (2018-present)

Always doing The Academy family proud Frankie.

Stage

Kai Parillon

Kai spent the summer playing the role of khai in the brand new verbatim musical The Childrens Inquiry. This was such an important piece of theatre we really hope it gets another life.

Well Done Kai you were absolutely fantastic.

National Youth Theatre

Angela Dunkwu

A massive congratulations are in order for Angela who was accepted into The National Youth theatre and spent the summer on one of their acting courses.

Well Done Angela, we hope you had the time of your life.

REYNOLDS

Aimee Dudman

We are super proud of Aimee who is about to start her training at Reynolds Performing Arts School.

Good Luck Aimee we are so proud and cannot wait to see where your journey goes from here.

BRIT School

Macee Taite Smith

Macee is about to embark on a new journey at the prestigeous BRIT School and we are so proud and cannot wait to see what is next for her.

Well Done Macee and Good Luck

West End

Ava Critchell

Ava starred as Young Clare/ Alba in the breand new Musical The Time Travellers Wife at The Apollo Theatre, West End.

The National Theatre

Iesa Miller

Iesa finished starring in the brand new musical 'The Witches' at The National Theatre.

West End

Chloe Boyle

Chloe has just finished performing in Matilda the Musical on Londons West End playing the exciting role of Amanda Thripp.

Well Done Chloe we are so proud.

West End

Marnie Rae Warren Baker

We can finally announce that Marnie will continue in Matilda the Musical on Londons West End playing the fun role of Lavender for another 6 months.

Well Done Marnie we are so proud. Enjoy every second.

Brit School

Tamara Ikeji

Tamara has just finished her training at The Brit School and has now moved on to study Music and Song Writing at Berklee in America.

We are so proud of you Tamara

Self tape submitted by these lovely siblings, Ella and Ava, for a commercial, for one of the largest and most innovative power tool manufacturers in the world. Amazing work girls, we have everything crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #siblings #sisters #childactor #teenactor #commercial #powertoolmanufacturer #worldwide #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

A joint self tape submitted for this amazing duo, Darmani and Kai, for a commercial, for a well known and popular British, multinational telecommunications company. Great work you two, we have everything crossed for you both!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #childactors #teenactors #commercial #telecommunicationscompany #multinational #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for one of our youngest clients, handsome Jagger, for a commercial, for one of the UK’s largest bakery brands! Amazing work Jagger, we have our fingers crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #commercial #youngestclient #toddler #bakerybrand #UKlargestbakerybrand #childactor #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Well done to all of our students, pictured below, who took their singing exams back in July! It was lots of our students first time taking a singing exam and they all did amazingly well! The results have all been received and they are nothing short of outstanding! You all smashed it and done yourselves proud and we are just as proud of each and every one of you! Your hard work, preparation and determination has paid off, but the hard work doesn’t stop there as we are already working towards the next exam, taking place early next year. Well done to you all!xx

Massive shoutout to all of our singing teachers for all of their training and preparation and also for accompanying the students at the exams.
Thank you @traceyocsymon @lori.e.s @vikki_lyons ! ⭐

#academyessex #talent #LCME #singingexams #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekids #pass #merit #distinction #singingresults #welldone #soproud #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for our lovely Kiki, for a commercial, for a popular construction toy production company! Great work Kiki, we have our fingers crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #childactor #commercial #constructiontoy #toyproductioncompany #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Good luck to this lovely duo, Brooke and Vienna, who are off to London today, for an in person audition, for a multi-award winning musical in the West End! Have the best time girls, we have absolutely everything crossed for you both!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #audition #inpersonaudition #WestEndmusical #WestEnd #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekids #triplethreat #awardwinning #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tapes submitted for this amazing trio, Daisy, Marnie and Chloe, for a spectacular, magical and electrifying West End musical. Amazing work girls, we have everything crossed for you all!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftapes #WestEndmusical #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekid #triplethreat #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

We just want to give a huge shoutout to our lovely Peggy Cohen and say how proud we are of her, not only for doing us proud every week as Young Eponine, but on Wednesday night she got to take part in Les Miserable’s 40th Anniversary Gala, which was such an amazing thing to be involved in. We couldn’t be prouder of you Peggy and we are so glad you got to be a part of this memorable occasion! Well done Peggy, keep up the fantastic work! Happy 40th Anniversary @lesmizofficial xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #WestEnd #LesMiserables #YoungEponine #40thAnniversary #GalaPerformance #LesMis #proud #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekid #triplethreat #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Good luck and fingers crossed to our wonderful Kiki, who has a recall in person, this afternoon, for a new short film! Well done for getting this far Kiki, we have everything crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #recall #inperson #childactor #shortfilm #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for the lovely Arthur, for a commercial, for one of the world’s largest and most recognised fast-food chains. Great work Arthur, we have our fingers crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #childactor #commercial #fastfood #fastfoodchain #worldslargestfoodchain #mostrecognisedfoodchain #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Well done to all of our students, pictured above, who took their LAMDA exams back in July! Some of the students were taking there first exams with us, so an extra well done to you! The results have all been received and as always, they are nothing short of outstanding!! The Academy LAMDA students have smashed it again and done themselves so proud and we are so proud of each and every one of them! As always, your hard work, determination and efforts have paid off, so well done! Also a massive shoutout to all those who have taken their last exam with us, we wish you all the best. Even though these results are amazing, as they say, there is no rest for the wicked, as preparations are already underway, for the next exams in January!xx

As always a huge shoutout to @staceyvictoriabland and @nbland 👏🏻

#academyessex #talent #LAMDA #LAMDAexams #distinction #merit #pass #LAMDAresults #welldone #soproud #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for our lovely Ariya, for a pilot, for an online series. Amazing work Ariya, we have everything crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #childactor #teenactor #selftape #pilot #onlineseries #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for our wonderful Kiki, for a new short film. Great work Kiki, we have our fingers crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #childactor #shortfilm #newfilm #newshortfilm #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for our wonderful Kai, for a 2025, spin off, British comedy series! Great work Kai, we have everything crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #teenactor #comedyseries #Britishcomedy #2025comedyseries #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tapes submitted for this duo, Darmani and Kai, for an online safety project, for a multinational telecommunications company! Great work you two, we have our fingers crossed for you both!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftapes #teenactors #onlinesafety #onlinesafetyproject #multinationaltelecommunications #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for our wonderful Iesa, for a commercial, for a major British telecommunications provider, for mobile phones and broadband services. Amazing work Iesa, we have everything crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #childactor #teenactor #commercial #telecommunicationsprovider #mobilephones #broadbandservices #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Self tape submitted for our lovely Kai, for a new collaborative short film! Great work Kai, we have our fingers crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #selftape #teenactor #shortfilm #collaborativeshortfilm #collaborative #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

We want to say a HUGE congratulations to our little superstar Ella Critchell, as she finishes her run today, as ‘Amy’ in Inter Alia, which has been showing at the National Theatre!
What a great experience for you Ella, we are super proud of you and what a great play to be a part of, on your first professional theatre job! We hope you have had the most wonderful time and made some lovely memories. You have smashed it and we really couldn’t be more proud of you and we hope you have loved every minute. We can’t wait to see what’s next for you, but for now we hope you enjoyed your last show this afternoon as ‘Amy’ and enjoy your last show on standby this evening!

If you didn’t get to see Ella in action, don’t fear as ‘Inter Alia’ will be coming to a Vue cinema near you, so watch this space!

Well done Ella!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #childactor #play #InterAlia #Vuecinema #watchthisspace #TheNationalTheatre #finalbow #endoftherun #lastshow #curtaincall #theclaireharveyfoundation #Chtheshowmustgoon

Wishing the best of luck to our amazing Ella Critchell, this evening, as Ella’s cast of ‘Inter Alia’ are filming for NT Live, and will be coming to a Vue cinema near you, so definitely watch this space! Have the best time Ella and enjoy this amazing experience, we are super super proud of you! Well done!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #childactor #searingnewplay #InterAlia #TheNationalTheatre #filming #cinemas #watchthisspace #soproud #welldone #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

⭐ EXCITING NEWS ⭐️

We have been nominated for the SSEA Award for “Best Performing Arts School” in the South!

If you do have a spare second, we would really appreciate it, if you could give us a vote (it’s just one click, we promise)!

It’s not solely done by votes, but it does count for some of it, so a quick vote from you all, would be amazing! If you want to support us, just click the on the link below and get voting 🙏🏻

https://www.facebook.com/1143393752/posts/10237444054057789/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

We hope you’ve all had a lovely summer break and we can’t wait to see all our classes return and to see our students back, next Sunday 7th!

Let’s go Team Academy 💙⭐️ xx

Super proud of our Ella Critchell, who is currently starring in ‘Inter Alia’ at The National Theatre, we were so happy to watch Ella in this amazing piece of theatre, this week! But don’t fear, as if you didn’t manage to grab a ticket, you will still be able to see Ella in action, as Ella’s cast have been selected to film for the NT online, so will be coming to cinemas near you, so watch this space! Well done Ella, so proud!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #childactor #searingnewplay #InterAlia #TheNationalTheatre #cinemas #watchthisspace #soproud #welldone #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Good luck to our amazing Peggy Cohen, as she takes to the stage this evening, for her opening night, for one of the West End’s longest running musicals!

We hope you have the absolute best time Peggy and have a fantastic first show. We hope you make lots of wonderful memories! We cannot wait to come and see you on that big stage and absolutely smash it, we are super proud of you! Enjoy every moment and break a leg!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #openingnight #westenddebut #firstshow #breakaleg #goodluck #longestrunningmusicals #WestEnd #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekid #triplethreat #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Now the show and summer school are over we can finally say a HUGE well done to all students who took part in either show or both! Here is a little message from the team ⭐

Main School Show

Now the summer school madness is over, we wanted to quickly say how amazingly proud we were of you all last weekend. Your behaviour in the theatre was flawless, you were professional and did The Academy proud. The shows spoke for themselves and I think the crowds said it all. Everyone gave 💯 and to watch side of stage all of us teachers were beaming from ear to ear on how amazing you all were! You were up there living your best lives. So a huge congratulations on another successful show. Enjoy your summer and come back ready to go again! To our lovely seniors leaving us for new ventures good luck and come back and see us as we will miss you…. It’s going to be quiet for a minute! Have a great summer all and well done again. Nic, Stacey and the Academy team ⭐️💙

Summer School Show

A huge well done to everyone this week! You all worked so so hard and that clearly showed Friday night. What a show!!! All of us teachers were as proud as always and behaviour this week has been perfect both in lessons and at the theatre. Well done to our current students, who welcomed the newcomers and took them under their wing, from helping them with lines, lyrics and dances throughout the week, to helping to calm the nerves side of stage before the show, the support you showed was amazing and we couldn’t be prouder. We hope you have the best summer and we will see most of you back in September! Love, the Academy team ⭐️💙

#academyessex #academyteam #academyfamily #annnualmainshow #summerschoolshow #memoriesforever #friendsforlife #besttimes #rollonSeptember #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

A massive shoutout to Peggy, who started her first day of rehearsals yesterday, for one of the West End’s longest, running musicals! We hope you had the best first day on your new adventure Peggy and hope you are making lots of new memories! We are super proud of you and can’t wait to come and watch you shine, up on that stage! Enjoy the rest of your rehearsal time, before it’s finally show time!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #rehearsals #newadventure #westenddebut #soproud #longestrunningmusicals #WestEnd #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekid #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

A big CONGRATULATIONS to our Peggy Cohen, who we can announce has been CONFIRMED, for one of the West End’s most successful and longest running musicals. Amazing news Peggy and we can’t wait to come and watch you shine like a superstar, in your West End debut! We are extremely proud of you, so make lots of memories, have the best time and enjoy! Well done Peggy! ⭐ xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #confirmed #WestEndmusical #WestEnddebut #longestrunningmusicals #WestEnd #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekid #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

We want to say a HUGE congratulations, to our amazing little star, Chloe Boyle, as she finishes her run in the UK Tour of @josephmusical today!
What an amazing experience for you Chloe and what a great run you have had. We hope you’ve had the best time and made the most wonderful memories. You have absolutely smashed it, from performing in a West End show and straight into a UK Tour, but we hope you’ve loved every minute and hopefully now you can have a well earned break! We are extremely proud of you and are so excited to see what is next for you and what the future holds, but for now enjoy your last show!xx

Thank you to @amy_bea for another amazing opportunity for Chloe ⭐

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #UKTour #josephandtheamazingtechnicolordreamcoat #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekid #triplethreat #finalbow #curtaincall #lastshow #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Good luck to our amazing Ella Critchell, as she takes to the stage this evening, for her opening night, for an exciting and searing new play, which is showing at a very well known and popular theatre!

Have the absolute best time Ella and have an amazing first show. We hope you make the best memories, you really deserve this! We cannot wait to come and see you absolutely smash it on that stage and we are so so proud of you! Enjoy every moment! Break a leg!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #childactor #openingnight #firstshow #breakaleg #goodluck #searingnewplay #populartheatre #wellknowntheatre #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Good luck to this lovely duo, Vienna and Peggy, who are off to London today, for the FINALS, for one of the West End’s most successful and longest running musicals! You have both done amazing and to get this far is an achievement in itself, you should be so proud, we definitely are! That being said, we have everything crossed for you both!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #finals #westendmusical #longestrunningmusicals #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekids #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

A huge shoutout to our Ella Critchell, who started her first day of rehearsals today, for a searing new play, which will be showing at a very popular and well known theatre. We hope you had the best first day on your new adventure Ella and we hope you make the best memories! We are so proud of you and now it’s your time to shine and we couldn’t be more excited for you! We cannot wait to come and watch you up on that stage, but for now enjoy rehearsals and have the best time!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #rehearsals #firstday #newadventure #mytimetoshine #soproud #newplay #searingnewplay #populartheatre #wellknowntheatre #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

A big CONGRATULATIONS to one of our youngest agency clients, Quinn Ellard, who has been CONFIRMED for an educational advert! Well done Quinn, we are so proud of you and we cannot wait to see the final product!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #confirmed #childactor #educationadvert #proud #welldone #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

A huge shoutout and thank you to Charlotte, from MJ the Musical, who came to The Academy on Sunday for a fantastic workshop. Every student thoroughly enjoyed it and a had an amazing experience.

A massive thank you to @theclaireharveyfoundation for funding this workshop for the students! And a massive shoutout to @staceyvictoriabland @nbland @bellabox1 for making this happen. A great time was had by all ⭐️💙 xx

#academyessex #workshop #MJworkshop #dance #danceworkshop #westend #talent #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

Good luck to our lovely Olivia, who is off to London today, for the FINALS, for an multi-award winning musical in the West End! You have done so amazing to get this far Olivia, whatever happens you have done so well and it’s such an achievement and you should be so proud, as are we! That being said, we have absolutely everything crossed for you!xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #finals #westendmusical #musicaltheatre #musicaltheatrelife #musicaltheatrekid #triplethreat #awardwinning #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

A big CONGRATULATIONS to our Ella Critchell, who we can announce has been CONFIRMED for a searing new play, which will be showing at a very popular and well known theatre. Amazing news Ella, we can’t wait to watch you shine up on that stage! We are extremely proud of you, all the hard work as paid off, so enjoy! Well done Ella ⭐️ xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #confirmed #childactor #newplay #populartheatre #wellknowntheatre #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

⭐️ANNOUNCEMENT⭐️

As a special experience for ALL Academy students, in our main school classes, the Claire Harvey Foundation have paid for Charlotte, from MJ the Musical, to come in and run a workshop on Sunday 11th May. This will be run alongside our normal lessons, as each of our age groups will get to have an hours lesson with Charlotte.

Charlotte’s credits, other than being an original West End cast member of MJ the Musical are:

Ghost, The Wizard of Oz, Joseph and the amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Phoenix and Some Enchanted Evening.

Charlotte is excited to come and work with our talented Academy students and we are looking forward to this amazing event!

A huge thank you and shoutout to @theclaireharveyfoundation for making this happen ⭐️ xx

Happy Easter from all of us at The Academy ⭐️🐣

Here is a little video of all the Easter fun we had at The Academy, at our Wednesday and Sunday classes and also our Young Performers Workshop! See if you can spot our Easter Winners too, well done all! 🐰🍫

We hope you’ve had a lovely break and can’t wait to see you all back at classes next week 💙⭐️ xx

Here is a few highlights from our Aladdin Workshop, last week! A huge shoutout and massive thank you to @thtgirlangeline for an amazing workshop, the students had the best time! Enjoy! ⭐️ xx

Excited to announce that the feature length documentary, that our Jayden Smith filmed back in 2023, will have it’s world premiere at SXSW London, on Thursday 5th June, followed by a 2 day cinema release on the 10th and 11th June!

‘Love and Rage: Munroe Bergdorf’ is a documentary, that was filmed over 3 years and is about model and transgender activist Munroe Bergdorf. The documentary tracks Bergdorf’s life and career, exploring the challenges she faced in both.

We are so proud of you Jayden and are very excited to see the final product and you up on the big screen, well done! ⭐️ xx

#academyessex #academyagency #talent #childactor #featurelengthdocumentary #MunroeBergdorf #cinemas #worldpremiere #proud #theclaireharveyfoundation #CHtheshowmustgoon

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