Showbiz dreams

A young Angmering performer is taking a major step towards fulfilling his showbiz dreams.
AlexeiAlexei
Alexei

Alexei Hawkey, who turned 18 on August 9, has been offered a full three-year scholarship to study professional dance and musical theatre at Performers College, Essex.

He has just finished two years of training at Northbrook College, studying dance and performing arts, gaining top marks and enjoying all the opportunities on offer. In his time at Northbrook, he performed at Move It in London both years, performing with university-level students at Olympia and Excel. He also stepped up to the challenge of playing the leading male in Barry Manilow’s Copacabana, playing Tony/Stephen in his first year. In his second year at Northbrook, he played the Baker in their dance show of Into The Woods. He was also the assistant director in their final major project towards the end of the year.

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Now he’s ready for the next move: “I just love the adrenalin you get, the excitement, the whole process of doing a show. I love the passion and the friends you make. The highlight is the opening night of a show where you can hear the audience coming in, you are waiting for beginners’ call… For me the highlight was playing Buttons in Cinderella for Littlehampton Musical Comedy Society. I was shaking in the wings! But you just try deep breathing. I try to do a few stretches, and it was great.”

Alexei has been involved in many productions in the area. He has been involved in productions in Littlehampton, Worthing, Brighton, Crawley, Southwick and London. As well as Buttons, he has played Billy Goose in Mother Goose for Littlehampton Musical Comedy Society’s yearly pantomimes. He also got the opportunity to take part in Janet Lewis’ English Youth Ballet production of Giselle at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing, where he played a Huntsmen and Wilfrid in 2011.

Alexei developed his passion for dance and performing at an early age, starting at a Young Ones Entertainment Group every Wednesday evening in Rustington, run by Susan Pitt. At the age of seven, he was cast in Oliver with LMCS, with the opening night falling on his eighth birthday. He then went to a performing arts school in Worthing called RSOPA, where he took lessons in ballet, tap, modern and musical theatre. He also took parts in their main productions (High School Musical, Aladdin Jr, The Wiz, Our House).

After a few years of training, he then moved to Angmering School of Dance, where he took lessons in ballet, tap, modern, free style and contemporary. In his time at Angmering School of Dance, he was awarded best concept in his choreography piece. He also got the opportunity to perform at His Majesty’s Theatre in London (home to The Phantom of The Opera) with this dance school.

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He also played the character of one of his idols Ron Moody, portraying the part of Fagin in their musical theatre company performance of Oliver.

In his time at Northbrook College, he moved to Glendale Theatre Arts. Not surprisingly, he feels he has got the potential to go all the way in the business: “I feel I could go quite far if I keep my determination and dedication.”

His hope, after training, is to deepen his experience aboard the cruise ships before ultimately going on to set up his own theatre company.

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