Trustees Annie and Roger write:
"We had a very special event recently when we visited Shaldon Theatre Company's performance of The Wizard of Oz. When Helen was 17, she appeared as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz while her Dad, Roger, was the Wizard! (The Wizard of Oz is one of the cheekiest play-title name-grabs in the history of theatre. The Wizard only appears in the last scene and generally has very little to say!)"
"We always try and support local theatre and we were delighted when we heard that Ellen (“Nellie”) Mallett was playing the part of Dorothy. The reason for our excitement was that kept secret from Nellie at the time - but indicated to trustees of THF - was that she had won her school's Helen Foundation Award earlier that week when she had to miss her Year 11 Awards Evening as she was performing in the show.
After our making secret arrangements with the play's director, Andrew Malcolm, the whole cast and stage crew were assembled after the Friday performance. Gradually realising that the special gathering of the cast was all about her, Nellie fought back a rush of tears as Roger read out the glowing citation for the THF Award written by Teign School.
"To loud and prolonged applause, Nellie was presented with the THF Award. It was a very emotional moment for us too, as Annie was holding the sparkly red shoes that Helen had worn when she was performing as Dorothy!"
Nellie's citation from Teign School reads:
"Unfortunately, Nellie cannot be with us because she is performing as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz with Shaldon Theatre Company, which given that this award is for "best endeavour in the arts", just shows how passionate and dedicated she is to performing arts.
Nellie has been given this award for her dedication throughout school. She was in all the school productions, in the chorus and taking on lead roles, led workshops for the lower school, was a drama ambassador and in her final year also helped choreograph some of the pick-pocket numbers in Oliver. She always put 100% into her drama lessons and was an amazing influence on the younger students. As they say in the industry, Nellie is a triple treat as she can sing, act and dance to a high standard. We are sure she will go a long way as she pursues a career in the performing arts industry."
REALLY WELL DONE NELLIE - WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!
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