Showcase 2009/2010

Ka Hei Ng

***

Mahmood Abdullah

***

Chris Reid

***

Corey O'Neill

***

Patrycjusz Majer

***

Graham Hanlon

***

Kevin Foran

***

Evan McGivern

***

Christopher O'Dwyer

***

April Showcase

My name is Evan. I'm in fifth year here in Moyle Park College. I'm going to talk
about what I like to do most outside school which is Performing Arts. I first
got into acting and singing and dancing from a very young age. My nanny and
grandad would always bring me to see the shows in the Gaeity theatre at
Christmas time and I would really enjoy it. I would watch the actors performing
on the stage and would be amazed at the talent and everything they would
give in a performance. From this influence my parents would notice me
singing around the house and my nanny really wanted me to get involved
with acting in a group.

From around the age of ten I was put into my first theatre group and really
loved it there. I would go once a week and rehearse a routine or do some
improvisation. It was so enjoyable and a great confidence booster. I went
from group to group for a while as the first one closed down. Then at the age
of 12 I joined the Inchicore Variety Group and loved it there. I had made lots
of friends very quickly and fitted in very fast. We would have rehearsals every
Friday for an hour doing some dance or singing. The group would put two
shows on a year, one on the mid-term break in February and one in the
summer. The first show would be a pantomime and the second would be a
variety of different musicals. Each show would start on the Wednesday of
that week and finish on the Sunday.

The first show I was in I was very nervous. Everyone had worked so hard
and now it was time to shine. Before going on the stage I had some nerves
but the craic backstage was great and helped with them. Then when I got out
for my first scene my nerves went and I gave my all in the performance. I
remember in one of the shows I had my first major part playing Pinochio in
Shrek . The buzz you would get every night going on stage was great and I
had made many friends there whom I still talk to today. Everyone was so
committed and I remember in first year I broke my arm and still went out
every night singing dancing and acting with a cast on my arm. I left this group
in July of 2008 and took a break from the acting scene for a while.

Then in September of 2009 I joined a professional performing arts school
based in Lucan called Westside Performing Arts. I go every Tuesday from
six till nine doing fifty minutes of acting, then singing and an hour and ten
minutes of dance. The school has over 1,000 students and runs every night
of the week. Our teachers are normally professionals with experience in the
West End or other things and the school would often fly actors or actresses
over from London to teach us every week. One of my acting teachers, Ben
Morris, is in RTE's Fame the Musical on Sunday nights. We also have
connections with Pineapple Dance Studios in London and often go over for
classes. I have even got parts on TV doing some extra work for a program
called Love-Hate that will soon be released. The school gives us so many
opportunities and we have some fun in classes with my friends and we still
work very hard. At the moment we are rehearsing for our show that will be
out in the Helix in October around Halloween and goes on for three days
with two shows a day. Its so much fun going to eveyr class and having some
fun with my friends and it's a great confidence builder and I would recommend
it to anyone my age.

I would hope to pursue a career in the performing arts after I leave Moyle Park
College, as it's such a great experience on stage or in front of the camera
and I enjoy it so much. I would recommend it to the students here in years to
come as its great fun and you make lots of friends and its a great confidence
booster to anyone and you learn so much from it.