Medway

Known as the biggest and most influential event in the franchising world, Razzamataz Medway was delighted to be among the winners at the British Franchise Association (bfa) Awards 2018.

Hayley Limpkin, Founding Principal and now co-owner of Razzamataz Medway was shortlisted by the esteemed panel of judges in the ‘Lifestyle Franchisee of the Year’ category and took the title on the night, beating off stiff competition.

Hayley opened Razzamataz Medway in September 2010 after working in a lead marketing agency for seven years. She decided to swap the busy corporate life for her dream of owning her own theatre school. Having studied franchising as part of her Masters, she was attracted to the strong and credible brand that Razzamataz has.

Members of the bfa judging panel said: “Hayley identified a strong passion and franchising enabled her to achieve success in business where she herself admitted she may not have been able to as quickly had she have done it herself. Faced with significant challenges in her personal life she then had to think strategically and identify a way in which she could balance home and work life. Not only did Hayley do so successfully but she became more impactful in the process. This wasn’t an example of someone achieving a balance and being comfortable, it was an example of achieving a balance and refocusing on continual expansion in tandem.”

The judges and everyone who attended the Awards, including other franchisees and franchisors, were so impressed with Hayley, that they also chose to give her the title of ‘People’s Choice Franchisee of the Year 2018.’

Want to join an Award-winning theatre school. Contact Lead Principal and co-owner Emily Miller on medway@razzamataz.co.uk or call 01634 893 524.

Congratulations to Medway school girl Shalamar Baker age 15, who has just been announced as the winner of Razz’s Got Talent, a talent show contest judged by a panel of industry experts.

Shalamar attends Fort Pitt Grammar School and beat off still competition to be crowned the winner of Razz’s Got Talent. The competition was run by Razzamataz Medway and out of 45 young performers, Shalamar came out on top to win the prize of a year’s scholarship at the popular theatre school, that has more than 500 students.

Contestants were able to perform a piece of their own choosing and Shalamar selected the song With You from Ghost The Musical. “When I leave school I want to become a singer and song writer and create songs to make other people happy and for them to be able to relate to the lyrics,” says Shalamar.

The aspiring performer is well on her way to achieving her dream. She was a finalist for Britain Does Variety in 2017, wowing the judges with her rendition of She Used To Be Mine from Waitress The Musical.

Supporting local talent and giving back to the community to help young people with their performing arts training is high on the agenda for Razzamataz Medway and it was with great delight that Shalamar was announced as the winner and awarded a year-long scholarship to attend the theatre school completely free of charge.

Shalamar was praised for her performance and confident delivery. The judges were Michelle Vellacott from The Royal Academy of Dance and Ben Irish, a musical theatre performer whose credits include Ghost the Musical Tour, Pirates of Penzance and 42^nd Street in the West End.

Judges were particularly impressed by her maturity and understanding leading up to the audition. They said: “It was very clear you had researched the character, story and prepared and rehearsed every second of your piece. You make mixing drama and singing look effortless and you have lovely musicality. Our main highlight was the way you emotionally connected with the story and character and this produced a sincere and genuine performance. With continued training we believe you have the potential to be the next musical theatre star.”

Shalamar has been a student at Razzamataz Medway for seven years, starting at just eight years old. During this time, Shalamar has developed a love for singing and performing in general as she explains: “I love Razzamataz because it has and still is helping me a lot with my confidence. The teachers have also helped me to understand what other genres of music there is out there and what I love to sing. I’ve been given the opportunity to experience Soul, Musical Theatre, Motown and Rock music to name just a few.”

The teachers at Razzamataz are also helping Shalamar to develop into an all-round performer who can be an accomplished ‘triple threat artist.’ “When I first started at Razzamataz I couldn’t dance at all,” says Shalamar. “I’m now a lot more confident in this area and I’m happy to dance in front of an audience and I’m developing new skills in this all the time.”

Unlike many popular TV talent shows, Razz’s Got Talent is about nurturing young performers and celebrating the joy and experience of public performances. Part of the appeal of Razz’s Got Talent, is the opportunity to perform in front of a highly experienced team of industry experts. At Razzamataz Medway, students were thrilled to be judged Michelle and Ben and they in turn enjoyed having the opportunity to offer feedback to the talented youngsters.

Razzamataz Medway offers a wide range of performing arts styles for children age 2-18 including current trends that are accessible to children and teenagers. Razzamataz classes consist of dance, drama and singing and the curriculum covers the whole of the performing arts, from classic West End musical theatre to street dance, pop singing and acting for camera. There are also specialist Masterclasses from industry experts as well as Razz Project Intense, that allows staff to teach in the specialist areas of dance to help build a strong technical skill base to equip the Razzamataz students with the correct guidance, skills and confidence to be better prepared for professional vocational college auditions.

Classes in Medway are every Saturday during term time at Mid Kent College on Medway Road in Gillingham. To book a FREE trial session at Razzamataz Medway, email Principals Hayley or Emily on medway@razzamataz.co.uk, call 01634 893524 or visit https://medway.razzamataz.co.uk.

As a backing dancer to arguably some of the world’s most successful female artists and as part of the original West End cast of ‘Memphis’ and ‘Bodyguard The Musical’ Yasmin Harrison is used to thousands of excitable children and teens, which no doubt came in handy when she headed to Medway to teach a dancing master class to the students of Razzamataz Medway.

Likewise professional actress and singer Catriona Mackenzie who’s most recent work includes ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’ has performed in front of many young and enthusiastic audience members which set her in good stead to lead a singing and drama master class to the younger students of Razzamataz Medway.

Both Yasmin and Catriona visited the school in Medway on July 14^th to teach young people of Medway a specially devised master class as part of the Razzamataz Theatre School’s weekly classes.

Both master classes were part of the student’s normal weekly classes.  As part of its pledge to keep up to date with current performance trends, Razzamataz works with professional musicians, dancers and actors to run special masterclasses on a regular basis to inspire and mentor students.  The younger students were treated to a story and narration led workshop whilst the older students received a commercial dance workshop. For the youngest groups, aged 2-3 and 4 – 5yrs the emphasis was on introducing narrative movement and encouraging confidence and teamwork. The older groups, age 6-8, 9-11 and 12-18 were treated to more specific, intensive dance choreography and stylized moves to really challenge them. The dance style excitingly crossed the school’s Musical Theatre and Commercial (current and funky) curriculum as Yasmin has worked professionally in both sides of the industry.

“Razzamataz Medway is a very talented school and it was lovely to see everyone so eager. I hope they enjoyed it as much as me.” says Yasmin Harrison.

Each Saturday during term time, Razzamataz teaches dance, drama and singing, covering the whole performing arts spectrum and creating ‘triple threat performers’, that is performers who are equally skilled in all three disciplines. What sets Razzamataz apart from the competition is the very strong links the team makes with those working professionally to give the students lots of amazing opportunities.

“These type of master classes really give the students a taster of what the industry is really like and challenges them to explore different styles across both commercial and musical theatre styles of dance, drama and singing” says Emily Miller, Lead Principal & Co-owner of Razzamataz Medway. “Even if students come to Razz for fun, it’s really exciting to be taught by the professionals our students see on the West End stage and television!”

The students at Medway all attend Razzamataz every Saturday and during term time. Ages range from just 2 up to 18 and each week they attend singing, dance and drama classes and experience a range of styles from traditional West End musical theatre to pop singing and street dance.

To find out more information about Razzamataz Medway or to reserve a place at our next free taster session in September, call 01634 893524, email medway@razzamataz.co.uk or visit www.razzamataz.co.uk