Amersham

Principal – Liz Charleston

Hi, my name is Liz Charleston & I am delighted to be running the Amersham Academy and love working with the team at the Amersham Academy.

Since my own children were small, I have been involved with Youth theatre and love the sense of self-worth that this has engendered in my own and other children that I have worked with.

I’m delighted to be able to offer children in the area a whole new experience in performing arts. PQA offers children the opportunity to get involved with all areas of performing arts from dancing, singing and theatre to comedy and television and is designed to help children gain confidence, make friends and have fun.

All the teachers at Amersham are dedicated professionals and we are looking forward to working as a team to provide a fun experience for all the children who join us

Liam – Film & Television

Liam has known that he wanted to be a performer since the age of 4! He has since been involved in as many productions as he could manage, taking lead roles in many.

He has worked as a runner, autocue operator and sound assistant with the TV company Pozitiv Productions and was further able to use his knowledge when working on ‘This Morning’ in 2005.

Matthew – Comedy & Drama

Matthew is a Director and Actor. In 2007, he co-founded The Tin Horse Theatre Company who specialize in interactive performance. He can also currently be found at Wycombe Swan, directing Youth Theatre. In 2008, Matthew co-created the play ‘Face in the Crowd’ which was nominated by The Stage Magazine for best ensemble.

A former drama teacher, Mathew has over 7 years experience of working with young people.

Amber – Musical Theatre

Amber has been into musical theatre from the age of 8 after seeing her first west-end show, Joseph. She has attained qualifications in five dance disciplines; ballet, tap, modern, jazz and lyrical, and earned qualifications from LAMDA for her acting skills.

Amber teaches in a secondary school throughout the week, a Youth Theatre and dance club after school and directs musicals in the evenings. It doesn’t stop there; she also attends college one night a week to learn British Sign Language! Amber has appeared in a number of shows, has also been a lead vocalist for west-end variety shows and has appeared on several television programmes for her singing.

Amber’s hot news for 2012 is that she will be dancing at the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games!

Clare – Assistant

Clare has recently finished her A levels and is currently in a gap year and working at the Wycombe Swan Theatre, where she is also a member of the Youth Theatre.

She has studied Performing Arts for 4 years and will be leaving for university in September to extend her studies. She has been in lots of productions within the local area.

Clare started out as a student at PQA Amersham when it first opened in 2010. She loved every minute of it …… and loves it even more now she is part of the Amersham team.

James – Assistant and Runner

James loved performing from an early age and joined a local drama group when he was four years old. He has played principal and lead roles in many productions including Sweeney Todd Shock ‘n’ Roll Show, Mike Teavee in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Nathan in the Full Monty and the Tin Man in The Wiz. More recently he played the lead in a youth production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd at the Headington Theatre, Oxford and Thernadier in Les Miserables at the Boxmoor Playhouse. As well as musical theatre he loves Shakespeare and performed in The Tempest at the Minack Theatre, Cornwall playing the part of Prospero.

James was Assistant Director for the Tring Festival Company Children’s production of Peter Pan in July 2011 and has also worked in local schools providing vocal coaching for school productions.

James is currently studying A level music and drama. He has achieved his LAMDA gold medal Acting award and is currently studying for his LAMDA gold medal musical theatre award. James is studying for his Grade 8 singing and music theory.