Christmas has begun

Christmas has definitely come to Cheltenham, with this year’s panto - Mother Goose, opening last Friday. The full cohort of our Stagedoor campus learners (both year groups) gathered outside the theatre to sing a fantastic array of Christmas songs before the show started, entertaining audience members as they arrived, and raising money for this year’s panto charities - Allsorts and Home Start, both of which support families in Gloucestershire. Stagedoor then joined a sold out audience for opening night of the panto, which featured year 13 learner, Emily Bruton as the Goose! Emily is one of a team of 7 Stagedoor learners who will be playing the role throughout panto season, which continues until January 7th, during which the team will perform the show 78 times, sharing the stage with West End performers Liam Doyle, Jessica Martin and Bree Smith, as well as Gloucestershire favourite Tweedy the Clown.

At the end of Friday's show, the rest of the learners gathered at the theatre stage door to cheer as Emily came out. Stagedoor tutor, Jenny said 'Championing each other is something that we really encourage, and it was fabulous that the whole college was able to turn out to support Emily. It was a fantastic evening, which definitely brought out everyone’s inner child, and got us all in the Christmas spirit! We were really proud of all the learners, not only those involved in the panto, but those who cheered and applauded to support their classmates.'