Episode 6 School for Stars

Millions dream of fame, success and life in the spotlight.

But few realise what it takes to make it to the very top.

We're back inside one of the most famous stage schools in Britain.

Can we take it from the top, please, and give it EVERYTHING.

We'll be taking you behind the scenes

as we follow all the highs and lows of the summer term...

-It's heart, it's passion...

-..and show you what life's really like

-for those heading for the big time.

-# You're taking my heart... #

You're so close, but we need to work at that level all the time.

This is the School For Stars.

Coming up, Max gets flustered...

I don't know what I'm going to do.

..Luca's nerves are put to the test...

I am freaking out right now.

..and the battle lines are drawn between Reece and Natasha.

Forget the shows, forget the GCSEs, this is where it's at at the moment.

It's on!

At the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts,

pupils spend half their day doing academic subjects...

Las pizaritas, por favor, como se dice "I like fish?"

..and half their day singing, acting and dancing.

The pupils are encouraged to be all-round performers,

but, of course, everyone has their favourite subject,

and for Year 11 Steph, it's definitely dance!

# I wanna, wanna

# I wanna, wanna

# Dance like it was the last dance of my life. #

Dancing takes up most of my life.

Beyonce's music videos have inspired me

and I'd just love to work with her one day.

Steph is currently taking her GCSE exams

and the young dancer is determined to get the best grades she can.

To me, academics are just as important

as the vocational dance side

so I'm trying to even out both halves of my education.

Steph has a GCSE English exam tomorrow morning,

but finding time to revise isn't going to be easy

because today she's got a massive rehearsal

with one of the school's toughest teachers, Pat D.

It needs to be lifted.

Either you've not listened or you don't understand.

If you don't come up with the goods then I maybe have to rethink.

-I don't want to.

-Pat's numbers are so full-on

and you come out of her lessons and rehearsals dripping in sweat.

In, out, up.

The industry is tough so I am tough with them.

Come on, let's start it as we intend to go on.

Down, out, up!

Today's rehearsal is for a jazz routine in the end-of-year show

and Steph has the lead dancing role.

Steph, show me your first move, remember the...

Yeah, it's too straight. One, two and three, four and...

I'm very, very happy

that I've been given the opportunity to have a solo in this

and I just hope I can prove to Pat that I'm worthy of it.

But the strain of balancing

her exams and her dance is beginning to show.

I just don't feel 100%,

but I've just got to remember the steps and get back up there.

Steph isn't 100% at the minute

so I'd like to see a bit more from her.

One, two, three, four.

Can we get a bit more?

Tomorrow I've got English Literature, I've got two GCSEs next week.

There's a lot going on at the moment

and it's taking all my energy out of me.

After this lesson which finishes at half six I've got to go home

and I've got to revise really hard

and be up early tomorrow to be here on time.

Will Steph find the time and energy to prepare for the exam?

Another student finding the demands of stage school life a challenge

is Luca in Year Nine.

Luca joined the school earlier this year

and when he did, he caused quite a stir.

When Luca arrived and came here everyone had a crush on him.

Everyone did have a crush on Luca!

-You, you're cute.

-I'm not cute.

He's really cute and he's really manly.

Ha, that's a hard one!

Friendly, so funny. We have so much banter.

-Am I allowed to say banter?

-You're so delicate, aren't you?

-He gets on well with Pia.

-Shut up!

Delicate? No, what? I'm a big man.

Luca is an internationally trained ballet dancer.

I trained in Italy for ballet for four years

and now when I joined the school I began doing singing and acting.

He has had a lot to learn in a short space of time.

Before coming to this school, he'd had no acting training at all

and this term, he's got a major drama exam

with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts,

also known as a LAMDA.

Luca has not done an acting exam before. To start with he was weaker,

but he's getting stronger and stronger and stronger.

He just needs to have more confidence.

And it is nerve-racking the first time you do it.

He's not done it before so I think that is also adding to it.

Luca is teamed up with Mimi

who has always been one of the school's strongest actresses.

She's had distinctions in her past two drama LAMDAs.

I'm really nervous because my LAMDA exam's on Sunday.

-Do you know this one 100%? 100?

-Yes.

OK, that's good. And we've got to do all our scripts

and everything's got to be perfect today.

Just go over it in your head. Don't look at the lines any more.

If you look at the lines, you won't be used to it.

When it's like a duologue

you have to make the other partner look good as well

because she makes you look good, I make her look good,

we look good together and the piece goes well.

Time for the mock, but before they even start, Luca's in trouble.

Right, sorry. You're going to take a minute,

I'll see another candidate and then you two can come in.

you know this isn't how you're meant to be.

You're meant to have your shoes on and have correct uniform.

The socks need to be taken out of the trousers. Come on.

Ms Everisto is not happy, and neither is Mimi.

I was ready. I was ready with my hair up and my skirt on

and my shoes on, everything was... I was ready.

Luca's going to go and put his shoes on now

and then we're going to start again.

I am guessing it might have annoyed Mimi a bit

that I forgot my shoes cos she was prepared and I wasn't.

so I sort of let her down in that.

We're up next now and it's going to be fine

and Luca's going to stop messing around now and we're going to go in.

Time to try again, this time with shoes.

To the centre, and go a little bit further back, not too close to them.

Start, guys.

In this piece, Luca and Mimi have to master Southern American accents.

-Harry just died. I've been looking for ya'll.

-You have?

Was it you that put them handkerchiefs on my desk?

I put a box of handkerchiefs on your desk.

I figured it was you. What was the idea, Ms Price?

-You needed them.

-You trying to make a fool of me?

Thank you, call the next person.

When all the mocks are over,

Ms Everisto calls them back in for the verdict.

-Mimi, beautiful tone of voice.

-Thank you.

Luca, my dear, I need you to be a bit more Southern

cos at the moment you're a bit, "Talkin' to me?",

New York Gangster, "You talking to me?".

So you've got to be a bit more southern drawl.

Because she's doing the southern drawl,

so just, with your vowels, just elongate them a little bit.

Do you understand what I mean when I say that?

Give me a line and elongate the vowels for me.

Hi, preacher's daughter.

OK, but you've just got to think about

-being less New York and more Southern. OK?

-Yes.

At the moment, I'd say what you did today was distinction level,

no lower than that, please, Mimi.

I'd say what you did today was probably a high merit.

I just need a little bit more from you.

Mimi got a distinction in her LAMDA mock exam

and she done really well, better than me. I got a high merit.

But yeah, she's obviously an actor and I'm lucky to be her partner.

I'm feeling good, I'm really happy with my feedback

and she said that it was distinction level, which is what I wanted

and I'm really happy and I hope it goes as well as that

in the real thing. It would be perfect.

I'm feeling well nervous.

I just don't know what to expect, but I'm hoping for the best.

These students are always under pressure

to prove they are the best and they are always competing,

in dance, singing, acting...

and baking cookies.

Yep, you heard it right - baking cookies.

Year Ten friends Reece and Natasha

have a biscuit-based battle to settle.

The other day me and Reece had a massive argument

about who made the best cookies.

So now tomorrow I've got myself into a cookie contest with him.

I want to obviously win the competition.

I think I'm going to win. It's on!

-Handshake!

-I'm going to win this.

I'm more nervous about this than I have been about a lot of things

and it's a cookie contest! I really, really want to win.

He has no chance against me.

I will make sure mine are better, definitely.

All knock-outs need to be judged

and stepping into this ring will be chief judge Estelle.

My role is to judge the contest.

I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to base it on.

Definitely taste and probably appearance.

There's a clothes shop voucher of £20 for the first prize.

The stakes are high

and Reece is taking this very seriously...

# We don't follow no crowd... #

..and has even made a poster for the event.

But when he goes to put it up, he's stopped by Mr Voe.

Tell me, young lad, what's going on here?

We're doing a cookie contest between me and Natasha

to see who's got the best cookie.

-Are you a practised cookie cooker?

-Yeah, I did a batch the other day

and everyone thought they were really nice.

You don't go halfway, you guys!

We've got five things we're marking on.

Presentation, appearance, creativity. I need two more.

-Taste might have something to do with it.

-Did I not say taste?!

THEY ALL LAUGH

This is one of the biggest things ever to happen to Year Ten.

Forget the shows, forget the GCSEs, this is where it's at at the moment.

The gloves are off and the oven mitts are on!

While Natasha and Reece get ready for their cookie clash,

the Lower Juniors are still in preparations

for their routines from Seussical The Musical for the year-end show.

Can I have Cat In The Hat in the centre?

Seussical is very energetic and over the top

and the challenge is to make themselves as big

as the characters they play.

Year Nine Hannah plays the Mayor's wife.

The best thing about being here

is I'm doing what I love and I'm getting better at it

and so when I'm older I can go out there and do what I want to do.

But at the moment, Karen is worried

that Hannah's Seussical performance isn't getting better,

and she needs to take action.

My biggest concern is the character Mrs Mayor.

Unfortunately, Hannah missed a lot of notes so she's already behind.

She wants to audition good friend Natalya against Hannah

to see if she would make a better Mayor's wife.

'I did have the part of Mrs Mayor but now it is under threat.'

I need to really up my game now to show that I am Mrs Mayor

and I can do it.

I'm about to audition for the part of Mayoress in front of Karen.

'I'm a bit scared about it but hopefully it all goes well.'

-BOTH:

-# We're tiny little people blowing by in the air

# Wondering how and why-y

# We're on Who

# The tiniest planet in the sky... #

OK, let's stop there, stop there.

I'm finding it hard to believe in you

because you two don't believe in yourselves.

You haven't created this character or researched.

I'm giving you homework to do tonight.

You go home, I want you to find YOUR Mrs Mayor.

Tomorrow when you come in, you'll give me YOUR version

so as soon as you walk in the room, I'm going to see her.

Neither girl has shown Karen the characterisation

that makes Mrs Mayor such a funny character.

Can Hannah do enough homework to keep the role

or will Natalya upstage her?

'I know I could've done a lot better,'

but Nat's obviously competing against me now

and I need to...really up my game so I can get where I want to be,

cos I really want that part.

Steph has been rehearsing for the lead in Pat D's end-of-year routine.

It's pushing her to the limit

and it means she's had little time for revision.

And this morning she has her English Literature GCSE.

I don't feel completely ready for today's exam because

I had a rehearsal till half-six yesterday

so I didn't get home until about eight,

and by the time I got home I was too tired to even pick up a book,

so most of my revision was done last weekend and this morning,

so I hope it's enough.

The exam is minutes away

and Steph is panicking

We have 25 minutes.

I'm going to fail, Ellie!

-So am I, babe!

-I don't even like reading!

-Neither do I!

-What does THAT mean?

-That means it goes that way.

-I'm going to fail, Miss.

-No, you're not.

-Watch me.

I think Stephanie will be fine, actually.

She's a very bright girl and can think on her feet, too,

so I'm sure she actually knows much more than she thinks she does.

Look at the time, guys!

This is it...

Can Steph stay calm and remember all she's learnt?

It's over and I'm quite happy with the questions that came up

'and it just feels like a massive weight has been lifted

'and I'm ready for the next exam.'

It's also exam time for Luca and Mimi.

Inexperienced actor Luca is facing his first drama exam

and isn't exactly oozing confidence.

-How are you feeling?

-I am so nervous.

Same.

I'm feeling really nervous cos I've never done a LAMDA exam.

I don't know what to expect.

I think it's good to be nervous

cos I think it makes you do better, to be honest.

Failure's not an option. OK?

It'd have to be a hurricane for them to fail.

They are prepared to the absolute maximum.

I'm going to say to you no more practical practising now.

-We're not going to practise?

-No more practising,

-cos if you start practising now you'll over-practise, OK?

-Mmm...

And come the exam, you'll have no energy left to do what you need to.

I just want to you relax and think about your characters.

OK? Chillax!

-Yeah, but I'm allowed to worry.

-Chillax!

I haven't done an exam before.

Shall we go through it, just practise it, yeah?

-You know what you're doing. Relax.

-No more, Luca.

I am freaking out right now.

-Don't freak out. You know what you're doing.

-I hope so.

You're ready.

I feel I want to practise but I trust Ms Everisto,

so I'm just going to go with it.

-It's show time...

-Ssh.

..but can Luca hold his nerve?

Luca is nervous but you don't know what'll happen when they go in.

-You needn't look at me if you don't like my appearance.

-But I do...

And nerves are good. Nerves drive you forward.

I was only thinking how handsome you'd be if your face wasn't dirty.

# Baby, I don't know what you done-done-done but you done one... #

It went really well so I'm hoping at least a merit,

hopefully a distinction.

I'm so happy that it's over and it went so well.

We both did really well. Everything was perfect.

At the beginning of term

things between ex-boyfriend and girlfriend Max and Jade

were all a bit...

What's the word I'm looking for?

-It's very awkward.

-It's awkward.

-Awkward.

-Awkward.

But time has passed, so how are things now?

# Now and then I think of when we were together... #

'After we broke up we didn't talk as much,'

but we're starting to talk and getting on really well as friends.

It's no longer awkward. We're really good friends and I'm really happy.

I think it's gone back to normal.

'It would be hard not to speak to her again.'

Things may be better but Max is still devoting lots of his free time

to his new love, his guitar.

'I started to learn the guitar and I've got a little obsessed with it.'

Max is in a band with Luca and now Luca's acting exam is done,

they are practising non-stop for an upcoming street gig.

# But you're not here next to me... #

We've been working on songs

and think it's about time to do something with it,

so we thought, "Why don't we just...busk?" Yeah.

# Even the sun sets in paradise

# I'm at a payphone trying to call home

# All of my money I'm spending on you... #

'Me and Max, we're good friends'

so we do it for fun and we enjoy it

as well as taking it seriously.

# You turned your back on tomorrow so you forgot yesterday... #

We're just focusing on practising and making our songs sound great.

Max has always been a great singer but for their band to be a success

he must master the guitar.

Hey, Luca, what's the first chord?

HE PLAYS SOME CHORDS

-< E, E.

-E?

One of our biggest challenges during the busking session

is probably going to be me playing the guitar

because I'm not that advanced, to be honest.

I've only been playing for two months now,

and, yeah, it's quite hard to play the guitar

because you've got a lot of different stuff on it to remember.

But it looks like the relationship with his guitar is a bit rocky.

-HE PLAYS AN OUT-OF-TUNE CHORD

-Argh!

I don't think Luca's too impressed with my playing right now...

No, that one doesn't work, does it? Er...

..but hopefully I'll get it done and hopefully I can do it.

It's crunch time for Hannah.

She has to prove she is good enough to keep her role as Mayor's wife

or she might lose this dream part to close friend Natalya.

You go home, I want you to find YOUR Mrs Mayor.

I'm hoping just by having that gentle chat with them yesterday

they will come back today and show me that they ARE capable.

Natalya is nervously waiting...

I've just characterised Mrs Mayor in my head

and thought of what she would be like.

..but Hannah is still to arrive.

It certainly looks like Hannah has taken Karen's notes on board.

I think you're going to really impress Karen.

I'm feeling a bit worried because Hannah's come in a full-on outfit.

But I know all my lines.

OK, guy... Ooh, hello, Mrs Mayor!

It's time to find out who will get the part.

Yesterday, I have to say, for me, was really disappointing.

I'm hoping you appreciated how bad it was.

You have chosen a very, very difficult industry to work in.

You have a tough job but you have to make sure, guys,

that this is a school that you apply yourselves

and organise yourselves.

Natalya steps up first.

Ready, Natalya?

# We're tiny little people blowing by in the air

# Wondering how and why

# Here on Who

# The tiniest planet in the sky. #

You can stop there, sweetheart, well done.

Hannah has made an amazing effort,

but will her performance be as over-the-top as her outfit?

# Each gust propels Ozone dust

# How the heck do Whos survive?

-# At any given moment we could crash to the ground... #

-Timing...

# Hitting the ground, oh, my!

# Here in Who

# The tiniest planet in the sky. #

Well done. Thank you very much.

Both girls have impressed Karen, but who will get the part?

-Can you feel the difference from what you did yesterday to today?

-Yes.

So why do you think that's happened?

Because I know my character more now.

Did you feel the difference?

Hannah, I'm going to say straight away, you've kept your part.

# It's got to be you... #

I am thrilled with that level of work now.

I know where you can perform at.

I don't want to see it less than that EVER, ever again. Well done.

-ALL:

-Whoo!

It's the day of the cookie competition,

and both Natasha and Reece have turned up the heat.

These are the cookies which I made last night.

They turned out OK but Tash's looks really nice as well

so...I think it's anyone's game, really.

I've seen Reece's cookies and I'm not feeling very confident.

I'm not saying I'll lose or he'll definitely win.

Some are a bit burnt but I hid them.

It's going to be very close, I think, between us.

Cookie competitions don't get tougher this.

Let the judging commence!

Here are the cookies.

The winner...

..goes to this cookie.

Reece is the King of the Cookies.

Yay!

I didn't think I was actually going to win

cos Tash's cookies looked so nice.

Me and Tash are such close friends

and even though it was a contest between us it won't get in between us

cos at the end of the day both our cookies were nice.

It was just the case of who's one's better.

Well, I lost... So, it went well(!)

But it was no big deal. It was just a friendly thing anyway.

Reece hasn't been mean about it at all.

I'm not going to be too big-headed about it

but I am secretly pleased that I won and she didn't!

# Number one! #

After a full day of lessons,

Luca and Max head to central London to busk.

But Max is still nervous about playing his guitar

in front of strangers.

I'll try and play a little bit guitar.

Hopefully I can try and pull something off.

I think it's good to be nervous, so, yeah, it should be fun.

Hit it harder, cos then it...

The streets are packed but will anyone stop to listen?

# I'm going to fight them all off

# A seven-nation army couldn't hold me back

# They're gonna rip it off... #

The busking is starts off well and they're attracting a crowd.

# Whoa! A seven-nation army couldn't hold me back. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you.

You have to play guitar. You can't bring it and not use it.

I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what to play.

But when it's Max's turn to play his guitar,

nerves get the better of him.

We haven't... I haven't practised. Er, erm...

# Going to pick up the pieces

# And build a Lego house

# If things go wrong we can knock it down... #

Ooh, no.

And the crowds start disappearing.

You can play the guitar. You just do it.

Max's confidence is shattered...

Oof! Right, let's go.

..but he's not giving up.

# I'm out of touch, I'm out of love

# I pick you up when you get down

# And out of all these things I've done

# I will love you better now

# I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind # I'd do it all for you in time

# And out of all these things I've done

# I will love you better now. #

CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS

# I'm out of touch, I'm out of love

# I'll pick you up when you're getting down... #

Thank you.

# And out of all these things I've done... #

-Thanks.

-Cool, man. That was good.

At least people didn't walk away.

Ooh, I was so nervous. My fingers were like....

-OK.

-Couldn't have gone better, mate.

I was nervous about guitar but, you know, like...

How long? Two months you've been playing.

That was great, that was amazing.

If it wasn't for Luca, I'm sure I couldn't do it on my own

so he's brilliant, he's a really good friend. So, yeah.

We all get nervous...

but nerves only show how much we care.

And caring about doing your best is never a bad thing.

# I think I love you better now. #

Next time...

things get tough for Estelle...

It's hard. It is really hard.

..exam time means double trouble for twins Duke and Jo...

It's going to be lethal in there.

..and Georgia struggles to keep up.

Not good enough. You're not a Lower Junior any more.

This is life at the School For Stars.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd