“Our son Ethan, aged 10 years has performed in numerous stage productions at venues such as the Birmingham Hippodrome ,plus many smaller local theatre’s and has worked for the BBC. In December 2015 he was invited to perform for Goodrow Productions in their adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol.
Whilst Ethan is confident on stage, he has always been in shows where there is little chance of self expression and “owning” the characters. So getting involved with Stuart Goodwin and Alan Rowe completely took him out of his comfort zone.
During the initial read through he was very nervous, but was soon put at ease by the friendly and very happy environment. As the rehearsals progressed I could clearly see the confidence in Ethan grow. This in the main was down to the direction from Stuart, who installs self belief in the younger performers, and allows them to express themselves, whilst giving them valuable professional and experienced input.
The cast of seven for Christmas Carol performed to small audiences in different spaces, which meant each performer had to adapt for each show. Also they had to portray different characters without leaving the stage, by simply changing their accent or maybe the use of a small prop. This in itself was challenging, however Ethan grew into this type of theatre and thoroughly enjoyed it.
There is no doubt, despite his experiences prior to this, that his time with Goodrow Productions has been the most beneficial to his acting skills to date…bring on the Pied Piper” – Ian Bowley
“GoodRow productions was a great experience for me and my daughter Eva. The unique atmosphere of being able to perform and spend time with my family was one of the main attractions. I had not been on stage for 25 years but the infectious enthusiasm of both Stuart and Alan brought me into performing Hamelyn. Its brilliant to work with such talent and to be able to perform and help to shape new pieces of community theatre. I made some great new friends and re-discovered a love of singing and acting which I have carried on.
Eva blossomed in her performances. She was able to take on larger and larger parts in the shows and has also kept up the singing and acting. It was great to see the trust and dedication of the small team behind the project and I know the songs of Hamelyn will live on to be performed by other casts.
The shows were great for all the family, humour to keep all entertained and some characters being created who were both fun to play and to perform. With a new piece I know that Eva and I were both given great freedom to develop the parts and music. The giggles of Stuart and Alan keeping the cast engaged and focussed which is no small feat with a mixed cast of children and adults.
I wish GoodRow well in the future and look forward to hearing of their successes and I know both Eva and I really enjoyed our time with the company and we are using the lessons learned now as we both continue with our singing.” – Tom Bailey