Wallasey School brings house down as it performs Grease at the Floral Pavilion

Dec 9 2009 by Jade Wright, Wallasey News

Wallasey School brings house down as it performs Grease at the Floral Pavilion

A WALLASEY school brought the house down at the Floral Pavilion last week as pupils performed a version of the show which brought them national TV stardom.

Wallasey School sold out the theatre for its performance of Grease as friends and family were keen to celebrate the school’s success.

It was the culmination of winning Sky TV competition Grease: The School Musical, which saw Wallasey beat more than 500 schools nationwide to perform the show at the Novello Theatre in the heart of the West End.

Proud headmaster Phil Duffy spoke of his pride at the school’s achievement.

He said: “There have been so many amazing moments along the way.”

Executive producer of the Sky show, Dan Barraclough, told the packed house that the final show in the series brought in just short of one million viewers – beating the numbers who tuned in to see The Simpsons on the same night.

The Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Andrew Hodson said the school had brought pride not just to Wallasey, but to the whole of Wirral.

The TV show was filmed over the summer, with the whole school involved.

It followed the progress of the group as they worked with top performers – including Duncan James from Blue, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child and Liverpool singer Ray Quinn – on their singing and acting.

In October the Mayor held a special reception to celebrate the pupils’ achievements.

The school had double reason to celebrate this year, as it won the Wirral News’ Your Champions award, in association with Scottish Power.

This followed the school’s 4x4 Challenge, in which staff, pupils, governors, LEA and members of the local community raised £20,000 for Claire House.

The group walked 87 miles through England, canoed 74 miles across Scotland, cycled 168 miles across Wales and ran 133 miles across Ireland.

l The Grease cast and ensemble were: Terry Jones, Michael Nelson, Owain Pierce Hayes, Alex Leeman, Rakeem Abiru, Justin Beacall, David Bulley, Luke Seddon, Danielle O’Neill, Stacey Peers, Kate Mault, Emma Andrews, Megan Price, Tenneigha Cassidy, Sacha Venner, Samantha Williams, Benn Mullin, Claire Gent, Duncan McKay, George Niccolls, Harry Ashton, Jemma Kilby, Jess Casey, Lucy McCulloch, Niamh Minney, Olivia Clee-Barnett, Robyn Hardaker, Ryan Moroney and Adam Traynor.