Hamilton star and Glastonbury musician to take to Ashville’s online stage in Harrogate

Harrogate Theatre's roof to be replaced in exciting £1 million plans

An actor who has starred in one of the most talked about musicals of the century and a musician who has played at Glastonbury will be ‘appearing’ on Ashville College’s digital stage, as part of a new series of question and answer (Q&A) sessions with guests from the world of Performing Arts to be held on Thursday, March 11, and Monday, March 15.

Sam Oladeinde, who in 2018 made his professional debut in the original West End cast of Hamilton, will be joining pupils and parents tonight (Thursday) for the first online Arts Q&A.

He is followed on Monday by session saxophonist, John Waugh, who in addition to performing on Glastonbury’s famed Pyramid stage, has played live at Madison Square Garden with hit indie-pop band The 1975, and at London’s O2 Arena.

British-Nigerian actor Sam, who is also a qualified solicitor, most recently starred as Young Scrooge and Fred Anderson in the West End production of A Christmas Carol alongside Brian Conley, and pop band Busted’s Matt Willis.

He also appeared in The Book of Mormon and was the understudy Ramses in the original West End cast of The Prince of Egypt. Sam is also involved in a diverse range of other plays, films, workshops, musicals, concerts and projects around the UK and abroad.

Before taking to the stage professionally, Sam completed a Masters (with distinction) at the Royal Academy of Music in 2018, fully-funded by an inaugural scholarship from Disney Theatrical Productions.

He previously read Law at the University of Cambridge, and qualified as a solicitor in a premier international law firm.

John Waugh is a former Leeds Conservatoire student and last November he self-published his first book, Jazz Improvisation Basic Training, which offers an insight to his approach to improvised music and the theory behind it.

John’s big break came eight years ago, when he was invited to play on The 1975’s debut album, The 1975.

He has also featured on albums by Sam Fender, Plini, and Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

John has also played live on The Saturday Night Live Show, and at the Summer Sonic Festival (Japan) and the BRIT Awards. Between tours he busies himself with work in music education, delivering one-to-one tuition and guest lectures at music colleges and universities.

Karl Boyd, Ashville College’s Director of Performing Arts, said: “We are delighted to have Sam and John joining us for our first two Arts Q&A sessions with pupils, parents and staff.

“Both Sam and John are incredibly talented performers in their own right, and stars very much on the ascent.

“These are going to be fascinating evenings, and we are really looking forward to having Sam and John with us, albeit via video links. In addition to hearing all about their careers to date, there will be plenty of time for the audiences to ask them questions, and I’m sure there will be no shortage of these.”

For more information about Ashville College, please visit www.ashville.co.uk or call 01423 566358.

Organisers 'thrilled' as Hollywood director is set to appear at Harrogate Film Festival

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.