Judges across the UK have been making their final decisions on a number of scholarship winners to attend part-time theatre schools for a year with The Stage newspaper, which is the oldest and most prestigious performing arts publication in the UK.

Equating to more than 100 hours of exceptional performing arts training worth up to £800, these scholarship winners will be taking up their places with their local Razzamataz schools in September.

Razzamataz is a national network of almost 50 schools across the UK and they have been offering scholarships with The Stage since 2010. The franchise business was the first part-time theatre school to offer these scholarships and is immensely proud to have been able to continue this rewarding partnership.

This wonderful opportunity gives all children the chance to join in because all that is required is a love of performing arts regardless of formal training. Participants simply had to send in a simple two-minute video highlighting what they can do from the Razzamataz curriculum. So that could be anything from a musical theatre song or dance, a drama piece, a pop song or street dance.

“We are delighted for all the children and young people who won a scholarship and look forward to helping them grow their natural talent with the help of our highly skilled performing arts teachers,” says Denise Hutton-Gosney, MD and Founder of Razzamataz. “It’s a privilege to be able to help these youngsters start or continue their performing arts journey. Some of our past scholarship winners have never had any previous formal training but we spotted raw talent in them and knew with the right training, they could go on to be very successful. In fact, many of our scholarship winners are now gaining places in prestigious performing arts colleges and appearing in professional TV and theatre work.”

Winning The Stage scholarship has been a huge confidence boost as 13-year-old Bethan Martin from Ashington, Northumberland explains: “I am absolutely delighted at winning the scholarship. Razzamataz Newcastle is a big part of my life and has given me the confidence to achieve what I thought was impossible. I am looking forward to further opportunities at Razzamataz in the future.”

Lucy Ankiah (age 13) from Chester adds: “It means a lot to me to have got this scholarship as I have only ever really done dance before. I have a big life ambition to have my own dance and musical theatre school and I think having this opportunity will really help so I can pick up new skills. Because of this I am determined to work extremely hard. I’m very excited to start and meet new people who share the same interests as me.”

To keep up with today’s trends, the students at Razzamataz will participate in all sorts of performing arts styles from street dance to pop singing, acting for camera and traditional West End and Broadway musical theatre.

There are many exciting events that will happen in 2017/2018 that the scholarship students can be part of. These include a whole host of performing opportunities, masterclasses with industry experts and the chance to audition for a leading talent agent among others.

As well as working with The Stage newspaper, Razzamataz has many other partnerships. In the last year alone, the franchise business has worked with Eurocamp, Diversity, Move It, Rock Challenge and Her Majesty’s Theatre. In 2018, two new exciting opportunities have been confirmed; performing in Disneyland Paris and London’s O2. There are also many more in the pipeline.

For new franchisees, Razzamataz has a special offer of just £7,995 (£2,000 saving) to launch a Razzamataz theatre school. Plus until the end of 2017, Razzamataz will pay your VAT – a saving of around £1,600 and your first term management fee is free. To find out more, submit an enquiry form below!