Highlights
Discover some of Callum's career highlights and moments he considers his favourite experiences
Much Ado About Nothing (2018)
Callum's first professional stage play. He auditioned at the Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames after hearing about it through his college. Callum's audition was successful and became part of the Community Chorus.
"I met and worked with many professional actors who all gave me strong advise for the future in acting. Actors such as: Mel Giedroyc, John Hopkins, David Rintoul, Peter Guinness, Kate Lamb, Sam Daston and many more"
The play ran from the 13th April 2018 - 6th May 2018. Members of the cast have since assisted Callum with further career advise.
"I am so grateful for being part of such an amazing cast in a fantastically hilarious show. I was also allowed to keep all my costume from the play!"
Archie - 13 the Musical (2018)
'13 the Musical' was the first show Callum performed in with Starlight Youth Theatre Company.
"Archie is potentially one of the most fun roles I've ever had the pleasure of playing. To be an 18 year old (at the time) playing a 13 year old made the character even funnier due to my accidental and occasionally purposeful voice breaks. I recall during plenty of my scenes and songs, the audience couldn't help themselves from laughing at my performance.
After one of our shows, when we went to greet our audience, a cast members relative asked her:"where's the boy who played Archie?" as she wanted to congratulate me. To hear those words and to have people congratulate me is an incredible feeling.
If I ever got the chance to play Archie again, I definitely would NOT turn it down. I loved that character and felt we became one"
Grease Lightning - 'Changes' (2019)
Following '13 the Musical', Starlight Youth Theatre Company created a musical compilation show named 'Changes'. The musical sections included Starlight Express, Les Miserables, Bombshell, Newsies, Our House, Chicago, Mamma Mia and Grease.
"The aspect that made this performance so memorable was seeing the audience dancing and singing along with the classic Grease Lightning actions as I sang. As an actor, to watch an audience enjoy your performance so much that they start to join in with the song is the best feeling in the world.
This is also the reason why whenever someone asks me if I prefer performing on stage or screen, I will always say stage because you don't get moments like that performing on screen in-front of a camera.
Grease Lightning will forever hold a special place in my heart. Due to my love for performing the song, I put it in my variety show 'A Night of Variety' in 2023 and it was a massive success once again"
Right Here or There (2022)
"Right Here or There follows, Alex Phillips, a boy who has recently passed away. Throughout the play, Alex revisits events in his life whilst trying to solve a mystery at the same time"
For the 3rd and final year of Callum's degree in BA (Hons) Degree in Acting for Stage and Media, the group were each required to create their own dissertation project. This could take the form of a play, a film, a radio play, etc. Students all had the choice of what they created and who they worked with, whether that was on their own or with someone else.
"In and prior to starting 3rd year, I had no ideas for what to do for my dissertation project. I was conscious I needed to have something and seeing peers craft their ideas in the summer put some pressure on me. Luckily, through a lot of spider-diagrams I eventually crafted the idea for ‘Right Here or There’.
Performing with my cast of 7 actors, including myself, was such a great experience. I was so thrilled to have been able to pull of such a strong performance when I had so much doubt in the beginning.
The live reactions and comments from the audience filled me with so much happiness and made me proud of what I was able to achieve. I had peers saying it was a rollercoaster of emotions with them belly laughing one minute then minutes later, crying their eyes out which is exactly what I had hoped for".
A Night of Variety (2023)
This was a variety entertainment show directed and produced by Callum. He first created the idea when he saw a local theatre, the Cecil Hepworth Playhouse, Walton on Thames was at risk of getting knocked down after being in Walton since 1899.
Callum reached out to a number of friends/ colleagues he has worked with and met along his creative journey asking if they wanted to be involved in the show. He managed to create an adult cast made up of people he'd met through school, college and musical theatre companies.
"I was over the moon when I also managed to get my original theatre company involved, Theatre4kids (aged 6-15), allowing them to put on their own pieces but also act as the ensemble as and when I needed them".
Callum allowed his cast to have a free choice of what they wanted to perform, whether it was acting, dancing, singing, stand up comedy, etc. Callum selected pieces from the requested lists and put them all together to create the running order. Including himself, Theatre4kids and the adult cast, there was a cast total of 30 performers.
"The pre-production for the show was obviously a lot of work as I had to investigate into aspects I'd never looked into before such as venue hire, microphone, sound and lighting hire, Public Liability Insurance, music licensing, programmes, posters and marketing. It was a lot of hard work but it definitely taught me many valuable lessons".
Callum acted as the host, introducing each act as well as performing his own musical theatre, comedy and even magic! The show was almost a sell out with there being around 10 empty seats. The theatre seats a total of 156. Money was also being raised for the Downs Syndrome Association.
"Every audience member I have had the chance of speaking to since the show has congratulated me on how successful they found it and how much fun they had getting involved when the opportunities rose for them! My cast passed on feedback from their friends and family who came to the show and I hadn't had the chance of speaking to. The Mayor and Mayoress of Elmbridge also came to the show and have since said it was the best thing they had seen so far.
Originally, when I first came up with the idea and throughout the whole pre-production period, I never even thought about whether I would put on a second show after this one but seeing how well this one was received and now I have learnt all these lessons, I think it's definitely safe to say that at some point I will be putting on another show like this one!"
