Theatre couple 'emotional' at teaching stars of the future

A couple who started off performing in West End musicals have said it is "absolutely thrilling" to now be teaching the future stars of the theatre.

As well as continuing to perform, Andy Reiss and Katie Leeming, from Stone, Staffordshire, put on workshops across the country for people of all abilities.

"What we achieve with them, or what they achieve themselves, actually, is incredible, and it makes us emotional," Leeming said.

The pair's most recent efforts have seen them teach people in Malvern, Worcestershire, about how to put on a "full-blown show".

"I do a lot of workshops, and so does Kate, all over the country but particularly in Malvern as well," Reiss said.

"The Malvern Theatres Young Company runs all year. It does plays, and there's a facility there for people to just turn up and audition with no previous experience necessary."

Reiss admitted that while there seemed to be plenty of choirs and dance classes around these days, "there is still that gap there" in terms of getting theatre experience.

"For that one person that may want to have a go and just do a taster, and be afraid to walk through the door, these [workshops] exist for those people," he said.

Growing up in the West Midlands, the pair said they would have loved to have had such workshops to help them.

Leeming grew up in Sutton Coldfield but did not feel she got much encouragement at her grammar school to get into drama.

"I suppose it wasn't very well supported, I don't think my school particularly thought it was something worth doing," she admitted.

She went to the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama - "which is no longer there anymore" - and managed to get a West End job before going on to appear in Les Miserables.

In a similar route, Reiss did amateur dramatics after leaving school alongside his job, working in childcare services for a council, but "didn't even think about it as a career".

When someone told him Les Miserables was looking for a new cast, he auditioned and, after several recalls, was recruited and "handed my notice in at work, and went to London".

The pair still keep performing, through their Beyond the Barricade musical tour, but said they also got a lot from nurturing new talent.

Leeming has been doing the choreography while Reiss directed shows and they said they had seen people go through their workshops and on to theatrical success.

"They've gone on to take on a career in the arts... it's just wonderful that a theatre like Malvern is opening the door and giving everybody this opportunity," Reiss said.

"If you love it, it's the best hobby in the world, and if you can make a buck from it, even better."

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