Welcome to Urban Young Actors
URBAN YOUNG ACTORS was set up because there is such a hunger for a drama group in Leicester designed specifically for 'Real kids with natural ability'. URBAN is a drama workshop for children between the ages of 8 and 16. Our session plans change weekly and consist of improvisation, script work, drama games, play writing, showcasing, confidence building but most importantly FUN!
For the latest URBAN News please scroll down!
Urban News
| URBAN TO LAUNCH AN OVER 16'S GROUP! |
05 February 2010 |
| Due to demand it has been decided that an over 16's group will be set up within Urban this Easter. This is very exciting news as it now means that members can remain in the group until age 21 and of course that new people can apply! Auditions are to be held on Wednesday 31st March at Quad Studios. Auditions on this date will be for ages 12-21 only. Apply Now to book your slot as places are extremely limited. |
| URBAN AND HIGHCROSS SHOPPING CENTRE TEAM UP! |
03 February 2010 |
| A handful of 12-16 members are currently involved in an exciting project at Highcross Leicester. Due to our fantastic reputation in the county, Highcross has asked Urban to help out with their security staff training by improvising and acting as 'Naughty teenagers'! It means that for 2 hours a week those Urban members are allowed to misbehave so that Highcross staff learn to deal with any problem youngsters efficiently and effectively! Acting and running around the mall after hours is proving to be lots of fun for our young people and is of course offering them a great chance to brush up with their improvising skills! We look forward to continuing to assist the Highcross on this project and in the future. For further information on the shopping centre please visit Highcross Website |
| LUCAS HITS THE BILLBOARDS AND CBBC! |
01 February 2010 |
| Thurmaston 12-16 member Lucas Hayward is currently featured on Billboards across the UK as a star of a new campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to create awareness of a charity called 'Changing Faces' which highlights face equality. Lucas also appeared on Channel 5 news this week discussing this and will be heavily featured in an upcoming CBBC Documentary which is due to hit screens in the next few months. CBBC actually came down to Urban to film a session in progress so watch this space! For more information on the charity please visit www.changingfaces.org.uk |
| DRAMA FESTIVAL SUCCESS ONCE AGAIN FOR URBAN! |
23 October 2009 |
Once again, members of Urban Young Actors took part in The Leicester Drama Society Festival of Speech and Drama on 18th October held at The Little Theatre. The day was a bigger success for our actors than anyone could have imagined. This was our second competitive festival as a group where we competed against other drama groups in the region. Placings were as follows:
15-18 Year Olds: Monologues- 1st Place to Ravel Lumba, 3rd Place to Zane Burkmar.
12-14 Year Olds: Duologues- 1st Place to Kia Moules and Sinead Hirrell
8-11 Year Olds: Monologues- 1st place to Louis Gale, 3rd Place to Mahalia Burkmar
8-11 Year Olds: Duologues- 2nd Place to Che Simms-Stewart and Fern Gandy
On top of those amazing placings we also had Mahalia Burkmar win the award for the best performer of all sections in her age group and the most prestigious Award of the festival was the Ruth Berridge Shield for the Most Promising performer of the whole festival which went to Ravel Lumba! Well done to all members that took part, the standard of what you did was exceptional this year. Congratulations! |
| LOUIS WINS STARRING ROLE IN 'OLIVER' |
20 October 2009 |
| Thurmaston 8-11 member Louis Gale has won the lead role of 'Oliver' in the production of the same name at Loughborough Town Hall which takes place 17th-21st November 09. Louis fought off stiff competition from many local young actors to win the lead in this production and is currently thoroughly enjoying rehearsals. For information or to book tickets please visit http://www.loughboroughtownhall.co.uk/events/oliver |
| CITY CENTRE MONOLOGUE/DUOLOGUE EVENING 9TH OCTOBER 09 |
29 September 2009 |
| Tickets are now available for the city centre 12-16 year olds performance of monologues and duologues. The evening will be taking place at Quad Studios, 78 Friday Street, Leicester, LE1 3BW and begins at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced at £5.50 standard and £4.00 concessions and are available by sending us a message through the website. Tickets are extremely limited due to the size of the venue so please book now to avoid disappointment. It is sure to be an exciting night showcasing Urban's newest talent! |
| URBAN SHOWS- A HUGE SUCCESS! |
25 September 2009 |
| Both of our Thumaston groups performed in their annual performances this month. The under 12's performed 'The Monster that ate 3b' by Randall Lewton and the 12-16's performed 'The secret diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4' by Sue Townsend. Both shows were performed at Wreake Valley Community College and were a roaring success and had very appreciative audiences. Many comments were made on how talented our young actors are and how professional the shows were. Great compliments to all involved! Congratulations to all members! Thank you to all who supported these wonderful events |
| MADDY AND BENNY TAKE PART IN LONDON FASHION SHOOT! |
18 September 2009 |
| Madelaine Nyombi and Benny Seeds from our Thurmaston under 12's group took part in a fantastic photo shoot at Hoxton Street Studios in London. The made their moves for celebrity photographer Simon Webb and the theme for the shoot was 'MUSIC'. Both kids did a great job playing a variety of instruments and bringing masses of energy and enthusiasm to the shoot. We look forward to seeing the pics! Good work guys! |
| RAV AND LEWIS INTERVIEW |
06 July 2009 |
| Urban member's Ravel Lumba and Lewis Meagor have been interviewed by Leicestershire County Council website 'The Jitty' about their recent filming project. To read the full interview please visit http://www.thejitty.com/articles/hey-babe |
| UNDER 12'S PRODUCTION ANNOUNCED! |
26 June 2009 |
| The members of the under 12's group in Thurmaston are to perform 'The Monster that ate 3b' by Randall Lewton. The performance is on Saturday September 5th 2009 at Wreake Valley Community College, Syston. Ticket information will be available a little nearer the time. It is sure to be a great show with our talented youngsters! |
| WATCH URBAN MEMBERS FEATURED IN ONLINE SERIES |
17 June 2009 |
| Member's of from Urban's Thurmaston and City Centre groups are featured in a brand new online series which is a docu-soap outlining teenage issues. Check out www.hey-babe.co.uk |
| URBAN CITY CENTRE MEMBERS CHOSEN |
18 May 2009 |
| After our last set of auditions, the city centre version of Urban has officially been launched! The new members have been chosen for showing great performance potential and a passion for drama. Melissa Simpson who will personally be running the sessions states "I am so thrilled with the members that have been selected for our new group. They all show great promise and I am looking forward to helping develop their talent. I have no doubt that this new group will be just as wonderful as our other two Urban groups." |
| URBAN MEMBERS CAST IN FILMING PROJECT |
11 May 2009 |
| Many members of Urban have been working on a local filming project over the last few weeks for an online teenage drama series for the Leicestershire healthcare trust. Many Urban members took part in this project and lead roles went to Oliver Hanney, Ravel Lumba, Lewis Meagor and Oliver Collins. The series is to be launched later this year. Rebecca Mumby (Production team) said "Urban Young Actors were brilliant! They were interested, professional and brought a lot to the roles. Please pass on my thanks." Good work team Urban! |
| NEW URBAN PRODUCTION ANNOUNCED! |
07 May 2009 |
| The Thurmaston 12-16 group are to perform a production of "The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾" by Sue Townsend. Rehearsals have begun and the play will be performed on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th September 2009 at Wreake Valley Community College in Syston. It is set to be a very exciting show and ticket information will be available nearer the time. |
| MEDIA EXCITEMENT ABOUT NEW URBAN CITY CENTRE GROUP! |
24 March 2009 |
| The excitement is mounting in Leicester over the launch of Urban's next auditions to find talented children for the new city centre group. Details of the auditions are spreading quickly in local media who are excited to have something fresh for young actors in town. The group this week has already featured in the Leicester Mercury, as well as Melissa being interviewed on BBC Radio Leicester's lunchtime show today plus the Arts in Leicestershire website were more than happy to talk about our upcoming auditions. To visit the website to keep up to date with arts in Leicester then please click here. |
| URBAN TO LAUNCH A NEW CITY CENTRE GROUP! |
04 March 2009 |
| Due to the incredible success of Urban Young Actors in Thurmaston which now has two groups, Urban are launching a brand new city centre group so that it is accessible to even more talented young people. The new group will be for 12-16 year olds and the auditions for this group will be held at Quad Studios, Leicester on Thursday 30th April from 4pm. This is also the venue for the new group which will meet every Thursday 5pm-7pm. Audition slots are extremely limited so click on the apply now page to request an audition for this exciting new group! |
| URBAN FEATURED IN A SPECIAL ARTICLE ON THE JITTY WEBSITE |
16 January 2009 |
| Urban members were observed and interviewed during an exclusive interview for Leicestershire County Council website "The Jitty". To read the full article and see what the writer thought of Urban please visit TheJitty.com |
| URBAN LEADER MELISSA TO STAR IN NEW PLAY AT THE NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE |
10 January 2009 |
| Melissa will be performing in "Glamour" as the part of Beatrice from February 6th- February 21st. The play is a brand new comedy written by the fantastic writer Stephen Lowe and is directed by the well-respected Bill Alexander. The play is set in the 60's and is all based in an old run down cinema whereby some "special" guests arrive in the form of a couple of the most notorious gangsters in the world! For more information please visit nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk |
| ZANE FEATURED IN SUGAR MAGAZINE! |
28 December 2008 |
| Urban member Zane Burkmar is featured in the current edition of girls magazine Sugar in an article about dating different girls and not judging people. Like the urban members before him, he got to go down to London and be styled and photographed in a penthouse for a celeb style shoot! |
| URBAN SWEEP THE BOARD AT PRESTIGIOUS DRAMA COMPETITION! |
26 October 2008 |
All members of Urban Young Actors took part in The Leicester Drama Society Festival of Speech and Drama on 26th October held at The Little Theatre. The day was a bigger success for our actors than anyone could have imagined. This was our first competitive festival as a group where we competed against other drama groups in the region. Placings were as follows:
15-18 Year Olds: Monologues- 1st Place to Ravel Lumba, 2nd Place to Oli Hanney
12-14 Year Olds: Monologues- 1st Place to Zane Burkmar, 3rd Place to Helena Iliffe
12-14 Year Olds: Duologues- 1st Place to Sean Torr and Serena Gainda
8-11 Year Olds: Monologues- 2nd Place to Jordan Studd, Joint 3rd Place to Mahalia Burkmar and Jules Harvey
8-11 Year Olds: Duologues- 1st Place to Isaac Widdowson and Louis Gale, 2nd Place to Gianni Modha and Che Simms-Stewart.
On top of those amazing placings we also had Oli Hanney win the the award for the best performer of all sections in his age group and the most prestigious Award of the festival was the Ruth Berridge Shield for the Most Promising performer of the whole festival which went to Zane Burkmar! I am sure you will agree that it was an exceptional day and that thanks to our young actors we are now the leading drama workshop in Leicester. WELL DONE! |
| Joint Urban and Inspire Summer Course a huge success! |
26 August 2008 |
| On Tuesday 26th August, once again the two premier drama groups in the midlands met for a joint performance course held at the International Community Centre in Nottingham. The children once again got to meet with their sister group and worked on improvisation, contemporary dance and vocal work. A great day was had by all. |
| BBC Radio Leicester welcomes Melissa back once again |
24 August 2008 |
| Melissa was heavily featured on The Monica Winfield show with a two part studio interview. Melissa talked about her life as an actress and shared her own personal experiences as well as discussing the group and how far Urban have come since their launch in January. |
| Ravel and Lewis featured in Sugar Magazine! |
17 July 2008 |
| Melissa took the boys down to London for an exclusive photoshoot for national magazine SUGAR. They were styled and then photographed by celebrity photographer Simon Webb who has worked with stars such as Blacked Eyed Peas, Girls Aloud, Moby, Gordon Ramsey and Ant & Dec to name a few! The shoot took place at the famous Castle Gibson Studios where Dragons Den was filmed. Check this shoot out in the September issue of the magazine! |
| New members chosen! |
01 June 2008 |
| Auditions were held for the next intake for Urban Young Actors and we were very impressed with what we found! We now have some fantastic new members on board and look forward to welcoming them to our group. |
| Urban members film Anti-Social DVD |
31 May 2008 |
| Members of Urban were chosen to spend a day on set filming for an Anti-social dvd for the Leicester City Council. It was a fantastic experience for all involved and the group made a fantastic impression. Here's what director Damien Nickerson had to say, "Thanks for bringing your group over- they were brilliant! They really were great. It was nice to meet such a responsive and polite bunch." The dvd will be circulated around all local schools. |
| Melissa featured on BBC Radio Leicester |
25 May 2008 |
| Melissa was interviewed by Monica Winfield discussing the acting profession and of course, Urban Young Actors! |
| Urban Monologue/Duologue Evening a great success! |
10 May 2008 |
| A host of celebrities attended Urban's first performance on the main stage of Roundhill including Joe Dempsie (Skins), Luke Gell ( Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps), Rendall Munroe ( European Super Bantamweight Champion Boxer) and Joe Hanney (International personal trainer of the year). The children performed wonderfully and a fantastic night was had by all. An amazing start to what is to come from URBAN YOUNG ACTORS! |
| Urban and Inspire host the first joint performance course! |
25 March 2008 |
| On 25th and 26th March the members of Urban got on a coach and headed over to Nottingham to join our sister group Inspire Academy for a joint Easter Course. It was a truly memorable experience for all involved and the children participated in specialist workshops with various tutors on improvisation, comedy, shakespeare and had the privilege of being taught by Freddie Kofi who gave the groups gospel singing classes and was truly inspirational in his teachings. He also treated us to a
performance of his award-winning song 'Kiss'. |
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