Amazing student, Felicity Mitchell, has been awarded a fantastic opportunity!
She has just secured a place at the Italia Conti stage school to study Acting.
Felicity, who studies Performing Arts, Physical Education and History here at college has been performing from an early age, singing from the age of five and receiving her first acting training from the age of nine when she began ‘Stagecoach’ in Guisborough.
Since 2019, she has been training on the Young Musicians Programme at the Centre for Advanced Training (The Glasshouse International Centre for Music) in classical and musical theatre singing and has also received 1:1 acting tuition to work on monologues and acting through song.
Felicity applied to, and got offers from, four stage schools but chose Italia Conti as she loved the immediate sense of professionalism the school gave her. She says it was professional without being intimidating and encouraged auditionees to be themselves.
Felicity goes on to say that the students there on the day gave everyone auditioning advice and answered their questions before entering the audition room. They stressed the importance of using their own accents when delivering speeches and songs in the audition. They were told that the school believes in using students’ own accents as it gives auditions a more truthful, authentic and convincing performance.
Felicity says she sometimes feels like a minority of people with a northern/regional accent when she attends auditions so liked how this was actively celebrated at Italia Conti.
She says “all the staff and students there on the day were so welcoming and created such a comfortable and hard-working environment. Taking part in classes and panels for the entire day gave me the feeling that I was at a place with a strong work-ethic, where I would receive the high-quality training I needed to improve on my skills.”
Felicity says her years at Prior have greatly helped her to develop into the performer she is today. She played ‘Roxie Hart’ in the production of ‘Chicago’ in 2022 and also played ‘Carole King’ in the 2023 production of ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’.
Of her performing arts teacher, Jacob Ditchburn, Felicity says “Jacob has been a massive help to me over my two years as my teacher and particularly during audition season. He gave up his own time to help me work on my audition monologues and songs and I will be forever grateful for all of his advice and everything he has taught me. I was able to apply his feedback to both my external auditions and my performances within the performing arts course at Prior”.
Congratulations Felicity, we’re all super proud of you and can’t wait to see what the future years will bring. Good luck in everything you do!