(To set the scene: this started over breakfast at the Youth Hostel, and continued throughout the day during breaks in tech and performance!)
Let’s start with which projects you have all been part of.
Charlie and Maisie: Ours are the same! Henrietta 2021, Workshop of Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair 2022, NYMT in Concert 2023.
Effie: Summer Skills Course 2020, Henrietta 2021, Workshop of Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair 2022, Workshop of Catastrophe Bay 2023.
All three: And now we are all part of Crescendo 2024.
What was it like being the youngest?
Effie: I loved it.
Maisie: Me and Effie got on really well with the older ones and we looked up to them.
Charlie: We became such good friends and we used to sit with them at lunch!
Effie: All the older girls were so kind to us and looked after us, we adopted Mums in the company.
(Pause while they all reminisced about their company Mums)
Charlie: Sometimes in life it’s harder to find connections with older people but at NYMT we are all working towards the same goal so there’s always something to talk about.
Effie: They were all so insanely talented, we all just wanted to be like them when we were older.
Now you’re working on Crescendo, can you notice anything about how you’ve grown as a performer?
Charlie: When I first came I didn’t know who I was and I wasn’t a big singer. I was really scared and felt like I was lacking. Now I’m singing bigger songs and have had a real evolution in what I’m able to do. I’m Crescendo I sing some really big music!
Maisie: I’m a lot more confident than I was before because as when you get here, as soon as you meet, you’re all becoming friends and working together so I find it easier to talk to people about real things.
Effie: I love Crescendo. It’s so special that all our ideas are being heard because usually you have the creatives and the script and they tell you what to do. But in Crescendo it’s come from us. It’s challenging because you have to bring things to the table –
Maisie: At the end you really feel like you’ve accomplished something. We’ve genuinely made this out of our ideas and opinions. By the end it felt like it belonged to everyone.
Effie: It’s a really different way of performing, which was scary at first. Having to make eye contact with people!
Maisie: The first time we’d look at someone and then look away but once you keep on doing it you feel a real connection.
How would you describe the NYMT Community?
Charlie: A Fam! You are growing up as members of this big family.
Maisie: And friends! Sometimes I look at Charlie and I know what she’s thinking. It’s so exciting that we can go so long without seeing each other and it’s always stronger when we reunite.
Effie: It’s so loving, everyone is so lovely.
(Effie left to get her microphone on ready for Crescendo)
Maisie: I even love seeing people at auditions. Coming back in the room and seeing the creatives and the pastoral team, it’s really magical. Even if you didn’t get it one year it would be worth going to the auditions to see the team.
Charlie: And also, you make new friends each year.
Maisie: Charlie is my friend, but also like my sister. There’s more to it than being best friends. I can’t describe it!
Charlie: I love you so much.
(Short break in the process while Charlie and Maisie hugged)
How has your experience in NYMT influenced your future aspirations?
Effie: Oooh! Can I go? Before I came to NYMT I had no idea what I wanted to do, I didn’t want to go to drama school, and the experiences I’ve had have changed my whole opinion on musical theatre and now I want to do it.
Maisie: before I came it was just something I really loved doing, but being here and hearing the older ones talking, it made me realise you can do this as a job, I didn’t know that, I thought it was just a hobby.
Charlie: I didn’t get that many main roles because I was a child in Ireland liking singing and dancing, but I auditioned for NYMT and when I found out I was going to play Henrietta then I realised it was more than just fun, it was something that could be taken really seriously. Serious fun!
At the age of 23, when you’ve reached the upper age range, what will you have achieved by then?
All three at once: More experiences!
Maisie: This is all of our 4th years, we’ve already worked with so many different creatives and learnt that everyone works differently, it means that we have different experiences.
Charlie: You get to work with insane creatives who have done things that I could only DREAM about doing. Working on Crescendo has been amazing, we’ve been guided so carefully through it.
Effie: I will always keep my summer calendar free because I will try and do NYMT every year and just keep being part of it.
Maisie: There are no teachers who do things one specific way, or who have favourites, there’s no right way of doing it and we get so much insight into different viewpoints. I want to do it every year and keep learning new things.
Charlie: There is something that is so grown up about NYMT, even for the youngest company members, its training, you learn how to respond and answer questions and behave, it turns it into more than something you love, it’s something you can be really professional about.
Maisie: It’s part of my life now and genuinely I don’t know what I will do when I am 23.
Pastoral Sarah: I really need to take them for dinner now…
Thanks so much to Effie, Maisie and Charlie for sharing their stories.
