SHE’S been a West End star, provided voices for Doctor Who audiobooks and is now working to make it big in Hollywood.

East Anglian Daily Times: Senior students at Finborough School getting the full West End treatment for their up-coming production with tuition from West End Stars, Richard Lawrence and Amy Pemberton.Senior students at Finborough School getting the full West End treatment for their up-coming production with tuition from West End Stars, Richard Lawrence and Amy Pemberton. (Image: Archant)

But Amy Pemberton is still keen to pass on her tips to budding young actors and actresses.

Amy, from Stowmarket, has appeared in the recent production of Rock of Ages as well as the likes of Jersey Boys and Footloose but her latest role has been to coach students from Finborough School.

Amy and her boyfriend Richard Lawrence, who has recently played Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing in both London’s West End and Australia, run Dance With West End Stars, a company which offers people the chance to pick up top tips about performing on the stage.

Amy said: “I love it and the kids absolutely love it too. It’s one thing performing to the audience, but when we are teaching kids they get so excited and you feel useful passing on something that you have learned to that next generation.

“We have set up a company and it’s really good fun – we really enjoy doing the workshops and we’ve been to quite a few schools now.”

During the session with the Finborough students Amy and Richard helped them prepare for their own production of the musical Rent, which will be performed at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds on February 12.

The pair ran a two-hour workshop covering many aspects of stage performing, and gave pupils their top tips, before holding a question-and-answer session on professional theatre training and working in the industry.

“Amy and Richard really helped us bring the songs to life,” said Year Nine pupil Philippa Payne. “Their input showed us just how good our production can be and when we came out we felt we had made real progress. All the cast says thank you for their brilliant work.”

Finborough School’s head of drama, Mrs Georgie Ross, said: “This was a very exciting opportunity and a wonderful experience for our pupils.”

Amy will head back out to Los Angeles soon, where she is signed to a top talent agency as she continues her quest to crack the movie businesses after making her debut last year in Bafta-winning filmmaker Noel Clarke’s film Storage 24.

She added: “It’s been really busy – it all kicks off now because Christmas is over and January and February are very busy. We went out for a little while, then came back for Christmas before we head out for pilot season, which means lots of auditions.”

Amy and Richard have also worked on a new film together in America. She said: “It was really fun working together – we have never done it before, but we keep it professional on set.”

She said she had really been enjoying the workshops, which had been a nice change from her recent work.

She added: “We are good at what we do, teaching-wise, and the kids have a great day as well.”

For more details visit www.dancewithwestendstars.com