“You got big dreams? You want fame? Well, fame costs, and right here is where you start paying.”
Back in the eighties, it was with those stirring words that the hit American TV series Fame would begin each week.
The show was based around the lives of the students of New York’s High School for the Performing Arts. The young dancers, singers and actors were taught that hard work was the way to earn fame, that was how you got them to remember your name.
And it is fame that beckons for a young Black Country actress who is living her dream in a prestigious New York school. Of course, this school is very real.
Cat Stevens has just finished her second year at the American Academy Of Dramatic Arts, one of the world’s most elite academies.
The school has been training professional actors for stage, film and TV over 120 years, and counts the likes of Robert Redford, Danny De Vito and Sex And The City’s Kim Cattrall as among its famous students.
It was 18 months ago when Cat started a new life in the States, leaving her Wolverhampton office job behind for the bright lights of the Big Apple.
“It’s been fantastic,” says Cat – who describes it as Fame without the music.
“I’ve always loved performing and was so thrilled to get in to the academy. It’s been a once in a lifetime experience but has certainly been hard work, especially in my second year which has seen my stress levels rise,” she says.
And it has also been expensive, costing almost $20,000 each year. Part-time work, scholarships and fundraising have helped Cat, who started dancing at the tender age of 18 months, survive financially.
Before moving to the US, the former pupil at Wolverhampton Girls’ High School was a member of several amateur dramatic clubs, including Studio61 in Wolverhampton, South Staffs Musical Theatre Company and Maximum Productions in Sedgely. She trod the boards in such productions as Anything Goes, The King And I, 42nd Street and The Tempest.
“I started off by dancing but by the time I became a teenager, theatre had taken over.”
And with that she applied to the long-established academy in New York.
“I was thrilled to be invited to an audition in London, especially as thousands apply for a place at the school. And I was over the moon to be one of the few to win a place.” Cat has now enjoyed two years at the school, during which she met former students and Sex And The City stars Kim Cattrall and David Eigenberg – and has now won a third-year place at the academy.
“It’s been very intense and I’ve performed in play after play but this year I’m very much at the professional level and will be working with Broadway directors.
“We get to showcase our work in front of some of the top agents, so it should be a great career opportunity.”
Her dream job is in the movies – but she’s been told she’s unlikely to get a role in American TV adverts.
“A casting agent visited our school and told me my teeth were very British and I wouldn’t make it in TV commercials over there,” says Cat.
“That’s because they’re not a set of perfect gleaming teeth,” she laughs.
“I don’t think they’re bad at all, but it’s just as well I want to pursue a career in film or the stage,” she laughs.
And her advice to any other would-be stars? “Anyone who has dreams of taking up a career in acting should go for it. It’s been the best 18 months of my life,” she adds.
By Maria Cusine.
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