A pupil from a North Yorkshire prep school ‘Considers Herself’ a very lucky girl after landing a role in Oliver!
Nine-year-old Ruby Johnson, a pupil at Belmont Grosvenor School, near Harrogate, is treading the boards at Leeds’ Grand Theatre each week, sharing the stage with several famous names in the world of television including Neil Morrissey.
Ruby was chosen from hundreds of would-be young singers and actors for a part in the touring show, which runs at Leeds’ Grand Theatre and Opera House until December 8.
Throughout the four-week run, Ruby is on stage for 19 performances, both evenings and matinees – and is loving every minute of it so far.
Ruby, a pupil in year 5, said:
It’s so exciting and really fun, I can’t believe I have got a part in the show. I just love it.
I have been able to learn the dances and the songs – it’s not been very difficult. I got a bit nervous the first show I did when the curtain went up, but I don’t feel nervous now. It’s just really good fun.
I really want to be an actor when I grow up.
A member of the school’s musical theatre group, Curtain Call, Ruby has been singing and dancing since she was four-years-old and is no stranger to the stage.
Earlier in the year she won a part in Harrogate Operatic Society’s production of The Sound of Music, and last year, along with her best friend Emily Belcher, also a pupil at Belmont Grosvenor School, she appeared in the grounds of Ripley Castle in a professional production of Macbeth.
In Oliver, Ruby is one of the workhouse children in the first act, singing and dancing to ‘Food, Glorious Food’ and ‘Oliver’, while she later plays a child in the street scenes, singing ‘Consider Yourself’ and ‘Who Will Buy?’
Ruby’s mum Jayne said she was very proud of her daughter’s achievements, and had seen the show already – with more tickets for future productions.
Jayne said:
She really is loving every minute of it – and it is very exciting to be involved, a great experience. It’s a fantastic production.
Belmont Grosvenor School headteacher Jane Merriman said pupils were closely following Ruby’s dramatic successes:
Ruby is one of our many talented youngsters at BGS and we are all extremely proud of her achievements.
She has a natural ability for musical theatre and I am sure we will continue to see her name in lights in the future.
