A WEST End star recently visited Stanwell School to run a workshop ahead of their upcoming Christmas production.

Gerard Carey ran the workshop on December 8 with the 108 strong cast of the school’s Half A Sixpence production.

Mr Carey trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and has since been part of the original West End cast of Mary Poppins and played the role of Lord Farquaad in the UK and Ireland tour of Shrek the Musical.

He has just finished playing one of the leading roles in the critically acclaimed West End production of Half A Sixpence.

Kate McCusker is head of drama at Stanwell School.

She said: “Our pupils are delighted to work with Gerard and hear about his experiences when working on the show.”

The workshop involved pupils performing the key numbers in the show, including Flash, Bang Wallop and Money To Burn as well as working with him on character development in key scenes.

Ms McCusker added: “The pupils playing principal roles in the show are a little nervous about working with such a star but equally cannot wait to receive his expert feedback and direction.”

A number of our pupils playing principal roles in the production are in the process of auditioning for theatre schools around the country and the workshop is set to be hugely beneficial for them with this.

The workshop ended with a question and answer session which gave pupils an insight into the profession they are striving to be part of.

The show runs from December 18 to 22.