Sarah’s happy ending (From The Northern Echo)

Sarah’s happy ending

9:55am Saturday 29th November 2008 in Theatre By Viv Hardwick

Echo’s search for a princess turns out to be a wish come true for 23-year-old Sarah Wales.

WHEN Tynesider Sarah Wales packed her bags after finishing theatre school in London, she had no agent, no offer of work and no money to remain in digs to look for auditions.

So making her debut as the princess in Jack And The Beanstalk at Darlington Civic Theatre following a nail-biting X-Factorstyle contest is a fairytale twist to her career.

The 23-year-old from Whickham, Gateshead, says: “It was very hard being in London because the city is so busy. Everything is go, go, go.

There is so much theatre in the North-East that I just hoped I’d get a chance. I came back home because there was no reason for me to be in London. What I’d decided to do was travel to and from London if I managed to get an audition, but to land this in my local area is great.

“A friend I’ve known for a few years said ‘there’s an audition for a local panto in Darlington looking for a girl to be the princess’. I went along and got recalled for the final 11 in front of an X-Factor style audience. Then it was down to five and then it was just myself.”

Sarah’s friend saw the story about the Echo’s hunt for a princess in our sister paper, the Advertiser and it seemed the perfect opportunity for her having moved back from London in July after qualifying from the city’s School of Musical Theatre.

On winning the role, Sarah comments: “It’s been a nice surprise and a shock at the same time. To make my professional debut in my native North-East is a real bonus.”

She went for a one-year intensive course in London because she didn’t feel confident enough at 16 to leave home and attend theatre school. Her 12 months training rolled three years into one with Monday to Friday classes in singing drama and dance lasting from 9am until 6pm.

“Anyone taking it on has to have the drive to do it. You can’t just take it with a pinch of salt because of the amount it costs. If you take it lightly you’re letting a lot of people down.

There’s also an audition process for college involving two recalls and there was 30 of us in the year out of an audition of something like hundreds. I didn’t manage to get any sponsorship, but I did try.

“Luckily my dad’s been very good about the fees, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without his help and the support of my parents, David and Judith,” says Sarah who has an older sister, Emma, and two halfsisters, Victoria and Jennifer.

“My younger sisters are running around school telling them all. I think my dad’s blown his credit card on theatre tickets and the family will be there in full force on opening night and then several nights throughout the run,” she says.

Sarah has moved into digs in Darlington, rather than commute from home, because she wants to live the life of a panto cast member as closely as possible. But does the way she got the role put her under more pressure than if she’d won the chance by more traditional means?

“I would say yes, it wasn’t different to what I’d call a normal audition but for it to be such a big thing in the newspapers that did put me under more pressure. Luckily, I’m very well prepared. It’s something I can grab with both hands.”

She’s been in pantomimes at the Sunderland Empire previously as a junior dancer at 12 and then a senior dancer at 15 having attended the same Gateshead dance school, Reavley in Heworth, as Jill Halfpenny, who will be appearing in the Strictly Come Dancing tour to the Metroradio Arena, Newcastle, in January.

Sarah laughs when I ask her if she can carry off the goodie two-shoes role of princess alongside Jack, played by “Boogie” Pete Hillier from CBeebies.

“I think I can shoulder that one...

I’m not sure how many people would agree, including my mum and dad.”