A FORMER Great Sankey High School student has thanked the Warrington performing arts community for helping her get a place at a prestigious drama school.

Chloe Hughes is on a musical theatre course at The Arden School of Theatre in Manchester which has connections with the Royal Exchange Theatre and was where The Woman in Black's Shaun Dooley studied.

The 19-year-old found her taste for the stage with youth musical theatre company CODYS and then gained the confidence to look at turning it into a career after a year with amateur theatre group Encore Productions.

Chloe, who also studied performing arts at Priestley College, has just started at The Arden but hopes to continue being a member of Encore for as long as possible.

She is currently preparing for her role in Footloose alongside the team of 48 at St Thomas's Church Hall in Stockton Heath.

Chloe, whose first role with Encore was in In The Heights, said: "I’m one of the youngest members and getting to know everybody and interacting with people of a variety of different ages has really helped me improve my confidence and maturity.

"I can’t imagine not going to Encore now. I’ll be trying my best to keep it up alongside my course."

From auditions and rehearsals to stepping on stage, preparations for productions take about six months but Chloe says it is all worth it when the show opens and anticipation reaches its peak.

"Show week brings everyone together," added Chloe, whose dream is to play Veronica in Heathers in the West End.

"Everything you’ve been doing has been leading up to that moment so everyone gets on so well. It’s nice that I’ve found people who are interested in the same things and we all spend time together outside of Encore as well."

Chloe fell in love with musicals when she was just four – with a little help from John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

She said: "I loved musicals as a little girl and I remember my mum putting Grease on and I couldn’t stop singing it even when everyone was telling me to be quiet."

Her favourite thing to do at home from that point on was to watch – or rather sing along to – musicals on DVD before she discovered CODYS.

Chloe added: "I went to watch one of the CODYS shows when I was really little. From there I watched other productions and when I was big enough I joined CODYS and did my own shows there so I’ve always been part of this little family."

Danny Moores is another member to pursue professional training in performing arts after treading the boards with Encore.

He has just started at Bird College in Kent.

  • Encore present Footloose from September 27 to 29. Visit tickets.thebrindley.org.uk