This week we chat to Arts1 Alumni Emily Puttick, a student with us for 11 years, before going on to continue her training at Fourth Monkey, and now at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Emily is pictured to the top starring in the Arts1 production of ‘9to5’ as one of our leading ladies, Violet, belting out ‘One of the Boys’
She chats to us about her time at Arts1 and how it helped prepare her for the industry…Enjoy reading!
Emily, can you tell us about your time at Arts1?
In March 2007 arts 1 came to my primary school and did a workshop, and I took a leaflet home, and was like “hey mum, I like singing so why don’t I try this musical theatre class” and that was all Arts1 did at the time. And that’s where it all started, and then from there I did so many classes, I ended up doing musical theatre, and then I wanted to make my dancing better so I started modern and then I did contemporary and ballet and tap, jazz, I even tried street dance, so many classes! I did one to one vocals as well, acting, basically every class that was on the timetable, as I wanted to get as much training as I could, and I just enjoyed being there. I didn’t feel like I was doing it as a hobby, I wanted to be there to get better and better at what I enjoyed.
I finished in 2017, after doing the sixth form course. I graduated with triple distinction.
What was your favourite class?
My favourite class was always musical theatre as it’s the one I started from the beginning and it was just so much fun to have such a long class, like two hours of singing and dancing and every term we did a different project, sometimes a group project, sometimes solo. Everyone in the room was just so supportive and it was so nice for us all to come together and learn a big show number and put it on at the end of term for all our parents and show off all our hard work. There was a real family vibe about it, every Wednesday everyone would come in a bit early so we could all see each other before the class!
Did you find benefits to doing more than one class at Arts1?
Yes, you are just getting more training and developing your skills a lot further than if you were just going in once a week. And if you are wanting to go into performing it’s kind of a no-brainier because you need as many skills as possible, for me I started doing more classes because I needed more dance training at the time and it definitely helped to strengthen my skill set as a performer.
You mentioned you went on to do the Sixth Form course in Musical Theatre, what was that like?
Being on the sixth form course really helped shape and mould me into the performer that I wanted to be and it really helped set a path for where I needed to go. I was so much clearer in my head about what I wanted to do and what I wanted to get out of this career. It also ignited my passion for acting much more, if I hadn’t done the sixth form I wouldn’t have gone on to do acting.
What 5 words would you use to describe your time at Arts1?
Life-changing, incredible, fun, family, unforgettable – I use those words, because in the 11 years I spent at Arts1 I made so many friends, it changed my life, and shaped me as a person, I owe a lot to them.
And what are you up to now?
I’m have recently completed my training on the Year of the Monkey course at the Fourth Monkey Acting Training Company. I’ve spent the last year training with them and it’s been incredible. I wouldn’t be training there now if they hadn’t come to Arts1 to audition us sixth form students. And this year I have gained a place at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire of acting on their BA Acting course, which I started in September. And have also been shortlisted as one of five students to be asked to audition for the Andrew Lloyd Webber foundation scholarship which covers all your fees for three years.
