2009 Awardee: Terri O’Brien
I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am [to receive the award]. I was on the verge of giving up my place before you graciously stepped in to help me!
Biography
Glasgow-based Terri O’Brien, whose stage name is Terri O’Ryan, started pursuing her ambition to work in musical theatre at the Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre. She went on to study at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts for three years, where she was considered to be one of the four top students of her year.
At LIPA she impressed particularly with her acting talent. In her second year, she had a major role in the workshop production of “The Boys in the Photograph” (formerly known as “The Beautiful Game”) with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton. Ben was particularly impressed with the truthfulness of her work.
Terri won a coveted place on the postgraduate diploma course in musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music, for which the competition is extremely fierce. Here she can develop her skills in acting, singing and dancing in order to progress to the West End stage.
How the Award Helped
The Dewar Arts Award will help towards the fees for the postgraduate course at RAM.
Since the Award
Terri graduated in 2010 with a postgraduate diploma in musical theatre. She was signed up with a top London agent while still on the course. Terri writes of the course that as a result she feels a more established performer, “I know what I need to do in a practise room, but I also know exactly what I need to do in a situation that could end with me getting a job.”
I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am [to receive the award]. I was on the verge of giving up my place before you graciously stepped in to help me!