SURPRISE MESSAGE FROM WEST END PHANTOM STAR FOR CHESTER YOUTH THEATRE

A rising star of musical theatre, currently starring in ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ in London’s West End, has surprised members of a Chester-based youth theatre with a ‘good luck’ message ahead of the opening night of their shows at a Chester high school.

Chumisa Dornford-May, a former student of On The Mark Youth Theatre (OTMYT) in Chester, who is currently appearing in the West End production of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ at His Majesty’s Theatre, playing the lead role of Christine Daaé in some performances, surprised current members of the youth theatre with a video message wishing them good luck in their upcoming shows Monty Python’s SPAMALOT (school edition) which runs from 10th to 12th July and The SpongeBob Musical (youth version) which runs from 13th to 14th July. Both shows will be staged by OTMYT at Christleton High School.

In her video message posted on the Youth Theatre Instagram account, Chumisa praised the youth theatre for helping her start her journey in musical theatre saying, “If I wasn’t there every Saturday at 10am… I wouldn’t be where I am now” and told the young cast members “Enjoy every moment, I hope you make it, have the best time, good luck!”

Chumisa’s video message can be seen here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8w8gE6ooxe/?igsh=eTFjdnJ0bTBzenZ0

After graduating from Christleton High School in Chester, Chumisa went on to study at the prestigious Mountview Drama School in London and was awarded the coveted Elaine Paige Scholarship. She has since starred in the West End revival of ‘Aspects of Love’ with Michael Ball as well as a production of ‘Evita’ at the Curve Theatre in Leicester where she understudyed and played the lead role of Eva Perón before landing her role in the box office hit ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ in March this year.

As a student at Christleton High School and On The Mark Youth Theatre, Chumisa has been involved in several productions including playing the role of Delores Van Cartier in the school production of ‘Sister Act’ as well as a spectacular performance of Defying Gravity alongside Ellie Moulson in OTMYT’s 2019 production of ‘Magic of The Musicals’.

Lovingly inspired by the cult film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and with music and lyrics by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, SPAMALOT will feature OTMYT’s oldest members aged 15 to 19. The hit Broadway and West End show tells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, featuring a cast of hapless knights and Las Vegas theatre stars, not to mention monks, Finnish villagers, Susan Boyle, cheerleaders and more! The 2005 Broadway production won three Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, and was followed by two successful West End runs. OTMYT hopes the outrageous, hilarious and gloriously entertaining story of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake will delight audiences as the heroes search for the Holy Grail and “always look on the bright side of life.”

Following SPAMALOT, the Senior Youth Theatre group, ages 9-14, will present an abridged version of the SpongeBob SquarePants musical, which recently toured across the country. When the citizens of Bikini Bottom discover that a volcano is about to erupt and destroy their humble home, SpongeBob and his friends must band together to save the fate of their underwater world! Based on the hit Nickleodeon animated series created by Stephen Hillenberg, the musical premiered in Chicago in 2016 before transferring to Broadway in 2017.

Speaking about Chumisa’s good luck message and the challenge of staging two very different shows, Simon Phillips, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of OTMYT, said:

“We are all very proud of Chumisa and all she has achieved in her career so far, including her current role in ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. It was very kind of her to take the time to send a message of good luck to the cast and crew of Spamalot and SpongeBob SquarePants. Both shows are a real departure from what we were putting on last summer and the cast have worked incredibly hard to bring these challenging musical theatre pieces to life in such a short space of time. Work is well underway on over 200 costumes, line learning, songs and of course the big movement numbers that make musical theatre so entertaining. We are so lucky to have a great audience in Chester and we look forward to seeing all our regulars and a few new faces in the audience. It is a great opportunity to see two incredible shows right here in Chester and we know we will send our audiences off with a big smile on their faces.”

As well as staging two back-to-back productions, the OTMYT artistic team are also gearing up for their annual Summer Workshop week in Chester from Monday 12th to Friday 16th August. Open to anyone aged 5-19 and run by experienced musical theatre artists, the workshop offers budding artists the chance to spend a week during the school holidays working on singing, acting and dancing, culminating in a specially staged performance for family and friends at the end of the week.

Full details of SPAMALOT, the SpongeBob SquarePants musical and On the Mark Summer Workshop are available at:

www.otmyt.co.uk

…where tickets can be booked online.