A group of approximately 250 young people travelled to one of the most enchanting places on earth thanks to a theatre school franchise who arranged a special performance opportunity for them at Disneyland® Paris. This was in the year the iconic venue celebrates its 25th Anniversary, making it even more special.

The lucky youngsters all attend Razzamataz, at one of the part-time theatre schools throughout the UK. The children, from the ages of 8 to 18 performed at The Dome Disney Village®, where Cirque Du Soleil once performed their iconic shows on Saturday 25th November.

Eighteen of the theatre schools within the Razzamataz network had the chance to invite their students and families to take part in the special gala performance called RazzaMagique, including performing the school’s own song in the iconic Disney Performing Arts® Pre-Parade down Main Street USA® in the Disneyland® Park.
“It has been a magical and wonderful experience which has exceeded all of our expectations by a mile,” says Andrew Govier, parent of Razzamataz Medway student Ruby. “We were truly transported into a fantasy world of mystery and wonder watching our daughter perform in the pre-parade. The seamless process of the Take Us To The Magic organisation has added to our wonderful holiday experience. This has been a dream come true for our daughter, when she finished the parade she said, wow, that was like a dream.”

Each school got an opportunity to showcase their talented students and creative performing arts teachers. Although the curriculum at Razzamataz covers everything from musical theatre through to the commercial genres, for this special gala performance the pieces were of course all Disney inspired.

“Thank you so much to Head Office and everyone that made this amazing event possible,” says Debbi Ledwith, Principal of Razzamataz Newbury. “Our students and their families are all buzzing and I am so proud of them all.”

Claire Blower from Mansfield adds: “Being part of such a fabulous show was just amazing and as for the parade, well I was a wreck! I couldn’t contain myself, it was just magical. I’m so proud to be part of such a fabulous network and be able to offer these amazing opportunities to my students.” 

To conclude the magical show, the finale saw every student perform a new re-mixed version of the Razzamataz theme I Believe, created especially for RazzaMagique. This was a wonderful celebration of the fantastic achievement they, along with their wonderful teachers and Principals have worked so hard towards for such a long time.

The chance to perform at Disneyland® Paris is just one of the many amazing experiences that Razzamataz offer its students. As well as lots of local events, new for 2018, students will be performing at the Indigo Centre at London’s O2.

“I am overwhelmingly proud of each and every student, Principal and staff member who put on an incredible show at Disneyland® Paris,” says Denise Hutton-Gosney, MD and Founder of Razzamataz. “I had goosebumps watching our students leading the Pre-Parade and performing the song from our very own charity. The whole experience has been wonderful and we are so grateful to have been given this opportunity.”

Razzamataz offers a wide range of performing arts styles for youngsters age 4-18 including current trends that are accessible to children and teenagers. Classes consist of dance, drama and singing and the curriculum covers the whole of the performing arts, from classic West End musical theatre to street dance, pop singing and acting for camera.

To find out more about becoming part of the Razzamataz network of Principals, contact Head of Franchisee Recruitment Suzie McCafferty. For new franchisees, Razzamataz has a special offer of just £7,995 (£2,000 saving) to launch a Razzamataz theatre school. Plus until the end of 2017, Razzamataz will pay your VAT – a saving of around £1,600 and your first term management fee is free. Chat to Suzie on E:[email protected] or call 07793 054 233. For more details visit: www.razzamataz.co.uk.

The RazzaMagique cast

Carlisle and Penrith
Opening the show with a “mash up” taking us through the years of Disney. From Snow White to Moana visiting various magical kingdoms on route.

Maidstone
Students transported us to Victorian London to pay a visit to Burt, Mary, Jane, Michael, street sellers and Chimney sweeps.

Durham
“Razz Cats’’ was based on ‘High School Musical’. This highly energetic young cast worked well together on stage and the charming Troy melted all our hearts.

Edinburgh
‘Be Brave’ featured songs from the modern Disney film with a traditional theme, ‘Brave’.

Paisley
The next number gave us an insight into the dark lives of some popular Disney villains.

Dumfries and West Cumbria
These schools joined together to create a “A Whole New World”. The trio of Aladdins and Jasmines were especially charming during the title number of this piece.

Sheffield
Twenty six students covered head to toe in gold glitter graced the stage and treated us to a very well rehearsed, polished performance of ‘Hercules’.

Mansfield and Nottingham
The evening show opened with a visit to Aladdin’s cave of wonders. These students displayed great stamina, particularly during “Never Had a Friend Like Me” and there were some lovely solo lines and harmonies during “A Whole New World”.

Rayleigh and Hampstead
These two schools joined together to create an original piece “Razz Jungle” which incorporated ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Tarzan’.

Rickmansworth
‘Alice in Razzland’ captured Lewis Carroll’s dark and disturbing world wonderfully. Cleverly conceived featuring modern choreography, clips from the 1951 Disney classic animation and sections from the original book, the students delivered the story very well.

Newbury
This was an original story featuring songs from several films and musicals and included some very confident solo singers.

Weymouth
‘Zero to Hero’, based on Hercules showed a classic Greek story that was re invented by Disney. This cast managed to achieve classic meets modern with great success.

Derby
‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ was an exciting ‘mash up’ of Disney themes opening with the characters ‘Ryan and Sharpay’, famously from ‘High School Musical’ auditioning for the roles of ‘Mickey and Minnie’.

Medway
The final school to perform was ‘A Tale As Old As Time’ from the Disney hit ‘Beauty and the Beast’. All thirty students on stage performed with energy and conviction but a special mention to the young Belle who delivered the opening number with immense charm and to Lumierre who oozed confidence and sang wonderfully.