Centre Stage is one of the leading performing arts and acting schools in Singapore. Started in 1999 by UK actors and husband and wife team PETER HODGSON and ALISON TOMPKINS, it offers a platform for people of all ages to explore their artistic potential and to introduce the magic of dancing, acting and musical theatre to children. This year marks the 25-year anniversary of Centre Stage, so we sat down with them to hear their incredible story.
Tell us a bit about your journey to Singapore.
We trained at Guildford School of Acting (GSA) in the 1980s, in musical theatre (Ali) and acting (Peter). GSA was one of the few accredited drama schools in the UK, and tough to get into. Unlike university training, conservatoire-style drama schools have a packed schedule from 8am to 6pm, covering theatre history, improvisation, mime, character development, singing, choir, stage fighting, and dance – even for acting students! It was a wonderful time, and by the final year, we were rehearsing evenings and weekends for six full-length shows, including an agent’s showcase in the West End.
Then came the reality of working as actors. It’s a tough industry, and you develop thick skin quickly. Over the next decade, we toured extensively throughout the UK and Europe, but making a steady living in theatre is challenging.
We both loved working with kids, so when the opportunity came up to become one of the acting schools in Singapore, we jumped at it. We added a degree in theatre and a teaching diploma to our qualifications and began teaching speech and drama. We wanted to develop our own style of education, which we call creative drama (or process drama), a form of drama for everyone.
What was your vision for Centre Stage when you opened it in 1999?
When we first started Centre Stage, it was just the two of us, and with one room to teach in. We worked from home and handled admin calls and flyers in the evenings. Soon, we moved to River Valley and rented a shophouse, which was a big leap for two actors suddenly dealing with rent and wages. Our first class there took place the day after 9/11. It was a difficult and emotional time, but we carried on.
We wanted to create a small arts centre providing both creative and performing classes and a youth theatre – somewhere to provide opportunities for children to perform and a company to be able to produce children’s theatre and plays, and produce and perform our own work. We wanted to create a homely atmosphere – a club-type feel with a sense of belonging. We’d both worked for a wonderful employer back in London, and she was our inspiration!
Parents often want to see their children on stage, but the work off-stage, without an audience, is where the real growth happens. Acting is a specialist skill, and while school drama classes are valuable, they rarely teach how to be an actor. At Centre Stage we bring our professional experience to performance training, offering something different and complementary to school drama, working alongside them.
Why do you think acting schools in Singapore are so important for young people?
We believe that everyone, especially young children, should experience drama as it teaches self-confidence, problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration.
There’s an old saying, “give me the child till the age of six and I’ll give you the person for life.” The first six years are when you lay down the basis for skills that will stand you well in later life, in all aspects of life. We know that if we can help produce confident, adaptable, enquiring kids, then we are doing a valuable job. And now, more than ever before, it’s important to prepare children for an uncertain world with interpersonal skills that will help them find jobs in an AI-driven future.
You have expanded steadily over the years both with new locations and in types of classes offered. Tell us more.
By 2007, we had outgrown our space and moved to Portsdown Road, where we still are today. We were fortunate to find a place that fit with the vision of the Wessex Estate as a bohemian enclave, and now we’re right in the heart of OneNorth, opposite MediaCorp. Our building has six studios, a dance studio and a black box theatre, allowing us to stage shows and develop productions in-house. We also have a second location at Laguna Park with three studios.
At Centre Stage, we now stage 12 full productions a year and offer a wide range of courses, from musical theatre and drama to backstage, audition technique, and TV and film acting. We also run adult classes and events like Acting for Charity, where adults stage plays to raise funds for causes such as Love, Nils (for childhood cancer). The weekends are packed with themed parties, particularly at our East Coast centre. We also work alongside Songwork International and house an entire recording studio at the Portsdown centre. We provide teacher training, corporate events, play groups, and have just staged a kids’ rave with eight rooms of themed fun.
Centre Stage is celebrating 25 years! What are some of your most memorable musical theatre productions?
We’ve worked on major productions like the two Christmas shows at Marina Bay Sands, each playing to 1,500 people. The scale was intimidating, but we pulled it off to sell-out audiences. However, the shows we truly love working on are our smaller-scale productions where children run the show, from lighting and sound to stage management. These performances explore meaningful themes like underprivileged school life or the impact of social media, and the learning that takes place is profound.
Our alumni have gone on to do incredible things. Two of our former students, Grace Angharad and Harry Mills, are playing Christine and the Phantom in the world tour of Phantom of the Opera, which is coming to Singapore next May. We couldn’t be prouder.
Tell us about your upcoming Christmas panto musical theatre show.
This year, we’re teaming up with UK’s Play On Productions and have a professional cast joining 100 kids. Entitled Frost in Space, the panto follows the traditional British format with plenty of audience participation, massive characters, and jokes for all ages. It’s actually a version of Jack and the Beanstalk – in space. We’ve created a rule that something funny happens every 15 seconds, with slapstick for the little ones, farty noises for older kids, and nostalgic references for the adults. The characters include Jack, the hapless hero; Jill, his loyal friend; Captain Fantabulous; Derek the Cow; Nobby the Nobot; and the villainous Mr. Big. It’s going to be loads of fun!
What energises you both looking ahead into 2025?
The thing we love most about Centre Stage is the children. They see it as a home away from home, a place where they can be themselves, and we love that they are learning so much while having so much fun. We both agree that if we had to pick one thing that keeps us going, it would be the children. We love working with kids, and feel that we still have the ability to see the world through a child’s eyes, which is part of the reason children feel so comfortable here.
In the words of one parent, “What all those kids have done with you has literally shaped their lives – thank you so much for all your hard work!” And we’re still so excited for what is to come for Centre Stage in the next 25 years.
Centre Stage
Blk 15 Woking Road | 6732 7211
#01-32 Laguna Park, 5000G Marine Parade Road | 6449 6211
info@centre-stage.com | centre-stage.com
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