Razzamataz theatre school is giving talented youngsters the chance to win free scholarships worth hundreds of pounds.

Over the past 20 years the franchise has offered more than £1m in scholarships and grants and now is the time for students to enter this year’s competition.

Razzamataz Carlisle and Razzamataz West Cumbria have joined forces with The Stage newspaper to offer scholarships to children and young people to attend the school free of charge for one year.

The principals of these theatre schools said: “Now, more than ever, we want to continue to be there for our families and young people in our communities and give them something to look forward to. The pandemic has taken away such a lot for children and teenagers so we were determined to keep this exciting partnership for them.”

The scholarship competition is open to current and non-Razzamataz students aged six to 18.

They should create a short demo showing them performing either a musical theatre song and dance, commercial dance (hip hop or street), pop song, drama improvisation or scripted drama piece. It must not be more than two minutes long.

Applicants will also need to complete a short application form on why they would like to take this opportunity.

Videos do not need to be professionally filmed and can be emailed, sent via dropbox or uploaded via wetransfer.com

Over the past few weeks the theatre school has offered performing arts training online with special guest workshops and interviews, including West End stars Kerry Ellis (Wicked), Jennifer Tierney (Come From Away), Lizzie Gough (Strictly Come Dancing), Felicity French (casting agent with Cameron Mackintosh) and actress Danielle Fiamanya (& Juliet).

Former Razzamataz students have gone on to work professionally in West End showsand many TV shows as well as a major film franchise.

The scholarship audition process is all done online and deadline for entries is June 19.

To enter the scholarship contact Carlisle@razzamataz.co.uk or westcumbria@razzamataz.co.uk