Theatre News

Photos: Theatregoer Makes West End Debut Thanks to Stage One

| London's West End |

6 January 2012

Thanks to Whatsonstage.com Awards adopted charity Stage One, 20-year-old theatregoer Lauren Paine got the thrill of a lifetime on New Year’s Eve when she joined the cast of West End smash hit Jerusalem on stage.

Paine, a drama student from Kent, won the opportunity after her parents bid £700 in Stage One’s West End Lots online auction as a gift for their daughter.

She took part in the opening ‘rave’ sequence before joining her family to enjoy the show from the other side of the footlights. The sell-out audience for the performance included former Prime Minister Gordon Brown with his wife Sarah.

Speaking after her cameo role, Lauren said: “It’s the best Christmas present I could have wished for. I still can’t quite believe I was there on stage at Jerusalem, raving away! The cast and crew were all very welcoming and friendly and helped to make the experience one that I’ll never forget.”

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PHOTOS BY DAN WOOLLER FOR WHATSONSTAGE.COM.

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Jerusalem, which premiered in 2009, won the Whatsonstage.com Award for Best New Play with Mark Rylance also picking up Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for his portrayal of Johnny Byron, a limping, caravan-dwelling ex-stuntman, all-round village rogue and modern-day Pied Piper.

Jez Butterworth’s play has enjoyed two sell-out runs in the West End as well as a Tony Award-winning run on Broadway. It finishes at the Apollo next week (14 January), with queues for return tickets regularly snaking along Shaftesbury Avenue.

Other West End Lots still available include two original signed illustrations by Jerusalem cast member Mackenzie Crook, as well as experiences from a wealth of West End shows including Ghost, Sweeney Todd, Singin’ in the Rain and Matthew Bourne’s The Nutcracker!.

The website auction.stageone.uk.com has details on how to place bids and all the latest updates on new auction lots as they become available. Follow the auction on Twitter @westendlots.

Founded in 1976, Stage One’s work includes workshops, bursary schemes,
apprentice schemes and start up funds to support new producers and
productions for the commercial theatre industry. As part of its adoption as the 2012 Whatsonstage.com Awards charity, we have declared this the “Year of the Producer” on the website – for more information and articles, see Whatsonstage.com/Yearoftheproducer

** TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITES IN THE 2012 WHATSONSTAGE.COM AWARDS – CLICK HERE! **