Episode 9 School for Stars

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

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

Oh, you've all gone mad!

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

# You can be cool

# Cool like me

# You can be cool

# Cool like me... #

London's Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.

Where, for some pupils,

dreams of a career on screen and stage really can come true.

This is what life is like for those seeking the big time.

# You can be cool

# Cool like me

# You can be cool... #

This is the School For Stars.

Previously on School For Stars...

While filming TV series Wolfblood, Kedar became unfit

and didn't make it into the end of year dance number.

The boys who've been here for three months

will have a better chance than me.

Now he has the opportunity to open the show.

Can he pull it out of the bag with a gruelling stunt routine?

It all just was one big unbelievable mess.

Niki landed a solo singing part.

Well done, Niki.

There will be a section of that, and you will be singing.

But is she about to blow her moment to shine?

I'm running a two strikes and out. You've missed three rehearsals now.

Tell me why I shouldn't use Chelsea over you.

And when talented dancer Luca fractured his foot,

his bond with dancing partner Ella seemed doomed.

It's a bit disappointing that I can't do it, but that's the way it is.

Could all that be about to change?

It's the final week before the end of year show,

and everyone is being pushed to their limit

as show director Karen has nearly 30 numbers to stage.

The pressure is on like never before.

What are you doing to me?

It's good news for Ella as her original dance partner Luca

has made a speedy recovery from his injury, and it looks like

he may be able to perform in the show with her after all.

Look at her.

That's better.

That's it, better.

And dance teacher Miss Dale is on hand to help them rehearse.

That's it.

My cast's been taken off, and Karen's going to make me learn

all the dances I was meant to be doing.

If I can learn them all safely, and I feel fine doing them,

she's going to put me back in the show.

Which is great.

With his dancing shoes firmly back on,

Karen pops in to see if Luca's up to standard for the show.

How does it feel?

-It's good.

-Honestly?

-Yeah.

-No fibbing?

-No, it's fine.

-I can't risk it. Does it feel good to be dancing again?

-Yes.

-It feels beautiful.

-So, can I see it?

-Yeah.

OK, let's have a look, then.

Aah!

You went straight past him!

Catch her, catch her.

Luca's so out of practice from his foot injury,

he's feeling the exhaustion more than usual.

Can you feel the difference?

I saw the difference.

I know you keep tripping up, but I can let that go for now.

But the difference, it was fluid, you looked at each other.

Yeah, there were little moments of blush...

OK, but for me, that's good.

Amazing, I'm so pleased.

-I'm all sweaty.

-I don't care.

You too, well done.

It's going to be gorgeous, well done.

Thank you so much, excellent work. It's in.

# Grab me by the neck and don't you ever let go

# Mess me up so good until I'm begging for more

# Animal. #

It's the last assembly of term. The whole junior school is excited

to find out which pupils will be awarded special honours next year.

-Good morning, everybody.

-ALL: Good morning, sir.

Right, our head boy next year will be Ryan.

CHEERING

Clearly an unpopular choice.

LAUGHTER

Our head girl will be Ella.

Ella's enthusiasm, dedication and hard work has paid off,

and she's been heavily rewarded.

It's a great confidence boost, especially here.

You get in your own bubble sometimes,

you're afraid you're not doing all you can,

so when you get a reward like this it makes you so happy.

I'm so excited! I'm ecstatic,

and my best friend, Ryan, got head boy as well.

I'm super happy. We're going to be an awesome team.

OK, my darlings, very sorry to have to announce this,

but we have a hygiene problem in the room.

There's one or two people that smell,

and I don't work with smelly people.

Please go and wash, get changed and get sorted, please.

# I've been infected. #

OK, guys, stop.

Can you just... You don't seem to be going into your correct positions.

I placed you and now I've got people just walking in.

So can you walk in for me in your correct positions, where you go?

Show director Karen has the job of managing

the quality of each pupil in the end of year show.

Four, five, six, seven, eight.

On the wave. That's where you should be.

Coming round in a circle, your arms should be tight and rotating.

Yours was round here somewhere, going in slow motion. OK?

-SCATTERED LAUGHTER

-No, it's not funny, guys.

Not at this stage, it's not funny.

Go, go, go!

With song lyrics, choreography and positioning

all- important aspects of performing,

it isn't always easy to remember everything.

# So, Do, La, Ti, Do, Re, Do. #

And every now and then Karen is forced to remind them

of the standard she expects.

OK, I'm going to have to be really, really blunt now.

OK? Because I have in this room what I term to be passengers.

A passenger is somebody in my opinion who doesn't retain

choreography for themselves or vocals for themselves.

Doesn't put 100% into what they should be doing,

but rely on the person next to them to get it right,

so they're constantly looking like this, constantly...

"Oh, yeah, we turn there. Oh, yeah, we're back there now."

I will not have passengers.

Because that's just lazy.

And what's sad is, it's usually those passengers that

moan and groan, "I never get anything.

"It's so not fair, she always gets it."

Well, wake up and look why he or she always gets it.

That is the worst I am ever going to see that.

-Is that clear?

-ALL: Yes.

If I see it again, I'm going to start cutting people.

Opening positions, go.

After a tough talking to,

the pressure is mounting for the juniors.

Only time will tell if they can turn things round for the big day.

# This house party is crazy

# My crew is hella wavy

-# Yo flip the cut

-Put your hands up

# Put your put your hands up

# Put your hands up

# Put your hands up. #

The junior boys are rehearsing for their roles

in the end of year show.

They'll be singing Pharaoh's song from the musical Joseph.

Pharaoh is based on Elvis Presley,

so today's challenge is to become kings of the hip swing,

and bring those famous moves to the performance.

So, when we're doing,

"I was wandering along..." I want you to come in...

A-one and two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight.

Another name that Elvis used to be called

-was Elvis...

-Elvis Pelvis!

-..the Pelvis.

OK, and he was called Elvis the Pelvis for a reason,

because he used to move his hips all the time.

OK?

So when we hear one and two and three and four and five

and six and seven and eight,

I want you to start to think about using that pelvis, OK?

Ready? A-five, six, seven, seven...

# I was wandering... #

-Stop. Which way does it go first?

-Right.

You've got to make sure it comes across that way.

Think about doing an impression. Don't think about you doing this.

I want an impression of Elvis Presley.

# I was wandering along by the banks of the river... #

As one of the lead Pharaoh roles,

year seven's Joel is keen to show he's king of this rehearsal.

OK, boys, shh, shh.

In all seriousness, shush.

You need to realise that you are Pharaoh.

-Yeah.

-So you own the joint.

This is your place, OK?

So everyone around you are your servants and work for you.

Yeah. I'm the king.

And now the boys show Karen if Elvis is in the building.

# Seven fat cows came up out of the Nile

# Uh-huh-huh Bap she-waddy-waddy

# Bap-bap she-waddy-waddy

# And right behind these fine healthy animals

# Came seven other cows that were skinny and vile

# Uh-huh-huh This dream has got me baffled

# Hey, Joseph, what does it mean? #

That's so cool!

-Well done. Lovely work.

-Thank you.

We've just done rehearsals and learnt the Pharaoh bit.

There's twists and turns, Elvis the Pelvis, you know?

-Kind of moving stuff.

-Embarrassing.

-Yeah.

The end of year shows aren't just about rehearsing routines and songs.

It's important to look the part too. Today is costume fitting.

Everyone's excited to see what they'll be wearing, especially Joel.

I am very excited about my costume, cos it's going to be like Elvis.

The costume he normally wears are gold, like, massive collars...

And hopefully that's what it's going to be like.

Tommy, have you seen the costumes?

What?!

Those and those...

What about...? OK.

OK, so I've got that...

which I'm guessing goes over your head, and then I've got...

these.

These.

These. But, seriously... It's got a heart on it.

You think Elvis would seriously wear one of these?

A heart... One missing.

What...? I'm slightly disappointed with what I'm going to wear.

I just wish I could just rip these things off.

All right, I'm going to go and try it on now.

# Oh, baby, let me be

# Your lovin' teddy bear

# Oh, let me be

# Oh, let him be

# Your teddy bear. # MUSIC SLOWS DOWN

Seriously?

What do I think?

What do I think?!

-Stop laughing.

-God, you look so hot.

Bit embarrassed.

# I don't wanna be your tiger

# Cos tigers play too rough... #

Although it isn't quite the look Joel was hoping for,

he puts on a brave face about the bling

as he's forced to embrace some female attention.

-It's just not real.

-Little love heart!

Actually, it kind of matches, cos it's gold.

Are you wearing this?

THEY LAUGH

I think Joel's outfit looks a bit like he's an alien from space.

He's got that material that makes him look like an astronaut.

Looks like I'm wearing a skirt.

I thought this would be a really cool costume, like feathers and...

He seemed very disappointed.

He thought it would be a full-on Elvis costume,

And he got a space outfit.

# I just wanna be your teddy bear. #

Having got over the disappointment

of not making it into Mark Webb's dance routine,

Kedar has been given a part in a physically demanding

choreographed fight scene with elements of dance

for the show's opener.

Five, six, seven and go.

Through.

Can we take it from before that?

For fight scenes like this to look as real as possible on stage,

they are always extremely well-rehearsed,

and are only performed by the senior pupils.

For safety, each technique is overseen be a trained professional.

Once again, please, thank you. Whoa, whoa.

What we're trying to do is we're trying to build the fight scene

so it actually is looking convincing,

but because it's within a dance sequence,

that there is some sort of artistry to it as well.

That's will be the most challenging thing.

This routine is quite physical,

mainly because there's a fight thing before the dance.

But it's fun, I'm enjoying it. It's hard work, but it's good.

While Mr A choreographs,

show director Karen is brave enough to get in amongst the action.

You said you'd protect me!

-Boys, go.

-Please stay calm, everything will be sorted out.

You said I'd be safe, you said he wouldn't get me!

-Karen's down!

-Karen's down.

That's cos you wasn't there to grab me!

That's true.

Go again.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah!

Ever the professional, Karen doesn't let a knock keep her down for long.

Let's go again.

# True love

# True love

# It must be true love

# Nothing else can break my heart like true... #

Year 11 pupil Reece has been at the school of five years,

but his time here is nearly over,

as he's leaving to study performing arts at another school.

Today is his last ever GCSE exam, and it's maths.

It's sad that it's coming up to the end of the year,

cos it's our last exam and then we've got the show, and then that's it.

And this has gone so quickly, I remember the first one we had,

so it's definitely quite a sad time.

Guys, good luck.

For Kedar and the senior boys,

it's all gone very rough and tumble

as they use their stage fighting techniques

to rehearse the show's opener.

RHYTHMIC DRUMMING

ALL PANT

Again, all of a sudden, it went a little bit frantic.

Everybody was trying to keep up with everybody else,

and it just got quicker and messier, and quicker,

and it all just was one big unbelievable mess.

So can we sort of take a break, compose ourselves?

The dance was a mess.

Again with the music, please.

-Yes.

-Yeah!

School's out!

With their last exam over,

there's a lot for the year 11s to be excited about.

And Reece is especially thoughtful about things coming to an end.

We just finished our final GCSE

and it feels like so much stress is like off the shoulders now.

Woo!

So it's a relief, but also upsetting, because you've put in so much effort

for your GCSEs and it just goes in seconds.

And it's just like you just pray that the results are what you want.

We've just come out of our final maths exam, it went really well.

I'm so pleased, considering my first maths exam didn't go as well.

So, I'm just happy that it's our last exam,

and it's all ended on a high, definitely.

Now that the exams are over,

everyone's going to go crazy and celebrate, just have fun, I guess.

# Running and you're running and you're running

# And you're running away away, away boy

# You keep running and you're running and you're running

# And you're running away away, away boy

# It's like gold dust

# Hear me coming through your speakers

# You see me mashin' up your air waves

# I know you can't get enough of my sound... #

It's a new day, and straight down to business as the junior pupils

do a run-through of songs for the end of year shows.

With different casts for each performance,

staff and pupils are feeling the pressure

of an intense rehearsal schedule.

-Yes, darling?

-Shall I sing?

No, save your voice. You're not very well.

And all performers are expected to be dedicated.

Three, two, one...

Year nine's Niki was chosen to sing a solo, but as the music

for her song begins, she's nowhere to be seen,

and Chelsea has to stand in.

Hannah, just let Owen know that we've got people missing.

That's two strikes and out for Niki.

And Sadie and Jasmine.

Along with Niki,

several other juniors are missing from the run-through.

While the rest of the cast is rehearsing,

the absent juniors must wait outside before they're allowed in.

-We asked someone to come down...

-Why are you not in the room, then?

THEY ALL SPEAK AT ONCE

They said to go down, and we asked someone specifically to tell us.

-Who did you ask?

-We asked...

-Why were you not with everyone else?

You shouldn't have been downstairs.

It's not someone else's responsibility

to get you to rehearsal, it's yours. You should know that.

Well done, guys. Thank you very much.

Can I please see Niki, Sadie and Jasmine?

I need to see those people straightaway, please.

-Thank you, well done.

-Thank you.

Thank you for continuing.

We're in so much trouble!

-No, they'll just...

-Yes, we will, we'll be in loads of trouble.

She's going to...

Although Niki thinks missing rehearsal isn't her responsibility,

Karen has a different view.

Where were you?

We got changed, waiting...

So how come the rest of the lower juniors were all up here, and one,

two, three, four, five, six, seven people were in the changing rooms?

Were you not aware the other juniors were not with you?

We thought they were in the schoolrooms.

If they're in the schoolrooms, that doesn't answer my question

why you were in the changing rooms.

-We still had 15 minutes, we had time.

-But you didn't.

You didn't did you?

Niki, I'm running a two strikes and out.

OK? And it's been like that from the day that we started rehearsals.

You've missed three rehearsals now.

I've been poorly and I've been here every day.

You were off for a day telling me, "I was so ill yesterday, Karen,"

and you made a miraculous recovery the next day.

But today you are in the building and you still missed the rehearsal.

Tell me why I shouldn't use Chelsea over you.

Give me a reason. Because now I'm thinking,

"Is she even going to get on stage when we're doing it?"

It's unacceptable. So right now, you are at risk of losing your part.

And every single one of you,

there is no reason at all why I can't replace you.

I don't want to, but I have to think about the show.

And I also have to think, I'm training you to be professional.

And it would not happen

if you were working on Billy now, or Matilda, or anywhere else.

You would be out.

You need to go away and think that you'll never,

-ever miss another rehearsal. Am I clear?

-Yes, Karen.

To miss a run-through when she was in the building

through no fault but her own, I'm really upset and disappointed.

And I have to think, as director,

will she make it the stage when we've got the show in process?

She is on her final warning now.

Niki has to leave the school this term

because of a change in her family circumstances.

Now she's on her final warning,

can she turn things around and ensure her last performance

at this school will be something to remember?

You know what this is called? School For Stars.

As most of the year 11 pupils are leaving, it's an annual tradition

to entertain the juniors with a special assembly.

We're celebrating our year 11.

This is their leavers' assembly,

most of them have been here for five years.

They've been through several stressful GCSE weeks.

They're wonderfully talented, so sit back and enjoy.

# Tonight, take me to the other side

# Sparks fly like the fourth of July

# Just take me to the other side

# I see that sexy look in your eyes

# And I know we ain't friends any more

# If we walk down this road # We'll be lovers for sure

# So tonight kiss me like it's do or die

# And take me to the other side... #

How you doing? How you doing, everyone?

Woo!

# I've got you and you've got me

# So reach for the stars

# Climb every mountain higher

# Reach for the stars

# Follow your heart's desire

# That's when your dreams will all come true. #

Once the fancy dress mayhem is out of the way,

it's an opportunity to reflect on their time at the school.

Hankies at the ready, people.

# I have died every day waiting for you

# Darling don't be afraid I have loved you

# For a thousand years

# I'll love you for a thousand more

# I have died everyday waiting for you

# Darling don't be afraid

# I have loved you

# For a thousand years

# I'll love you for a thousand more

# And all along I believed I would find you

# Time has brought your heart to me

# I have loved you for a thousand years... #

Oh, please! Are you being serious?

Lots of things to take away from that.

What I love is the sheer sense of enjoyment and excitement.

If you do nothing else, you learn to live it to the full,

to enjoy it, to love the people you're with,

and to just be fantastic. And that's what you've done.

I've also learnt that maybe I should have ten head girls next year.

Thank you very much. Mr T, I think you're on.

I said to myself, "I'm not going to cry,"

and here we are crying our eyes out.

And as if the photos

and memories weren't enough of a tear-jerker,

it's another annual tradition for maths teacher Mr T

to dedicate a farewell song to the year 11s.

# This place is so familiar

# With your friends and our maths teacher

# And you're leaving special people Yes, you are

# Rehearsing all those songs and all those dances

# The time has gone in just no time at all

# This special day with all its special feeling

# You'll remember every moment

# Every hug and kiss and call

# Kiss and call

# Memories will last. #

# All I know is we said hello

# And your eyes look like coming home

# All I know is a simple name

# Everything has changed

# All I know is you held the door

# You'll be mine and I'll be yours

# All I know since yesterday

# Is everything has changed. #

Having to face the big, wide world can be daunting,

especially when it means leaving good friends.

But if you feel sad at something ending,

it can only mean it was time well spent.

And those memories will give you the confidence

to face anything the future holds.

# Everything has changed. #

Next time on School For Stars...

It's show time as the whole school comes together

for the spectacular end of year show.

There's drama on stage and off for Ella.

I'm really scared that I'll let everyone else down, and myself.

Sadie takes on a big challenge in her first ever end of year show.

I'm in four numbers tonight. I'm quite scared.

It's very important to me to make sure that I get everything spot-on.

And when he realises his time has come to an end,

it's all too much for Reece.

I thought that it was going to last for ever,

it's just literally come to a dead stop.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd