Kate Burton to Open Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama's NYC Showcase

With the increasing numbers of UK-trained actors on the major US media channels, the time is right for The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama's (RWCMD) inaugural US Actors Showcase in New York City. It will be held at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater in the Signature Theater complex on September 26, 2016.

Obviously, the US broadcast and theater industries value training and technique and this event will provide its American and Canadian graduates with the opportunity to showcase the talents they've honed at RWCMD to US casting directors, agents and managers.

The Showcase will be introduced by Emmy and Tony Award nominee Kate Burton, daughter of the great Welsh actor Richard Burton.

"I have been associated with the College for a long time and have been very impressed by the quality of work I have seen, so much so that I offered to introduce them to the New York entertainment community," says Kate Burton.

RWCMD was named by The Guardian University Guide as the top drama school in the UK twice in the last three years; the acting course delivers an intensive program that concentrates on the skills most valued by the theater and film industries in the UK and US.

RWCMD attracts talented acting students from all over the US, following rigorous auditions in New York, Chicago and LA. With just 22 undergraduate slots, the College is one of the most competitive drama schools in the UK. Its resident company of final year actors, The Richard Burton Company, stages fifteen productions each year, running the gamut from the classic to contemporary repertoire.

Leading agents and casting directors regularly attend the College's productions and the Head of Casting from the Royal Shakespeare Company auditions every acting student. National Theatre's (NT) Head of Casting, Wendy Spon, is also a frequent visitor, "it's one of my favorite drama schools," she says. "The standard of training is high and the NT consistently auditions and employs their graduates."

The College is one of the UK's leading schools "with a reputation for producing unusual and exciting well-trained actors that the industry is hungry for every year," says Tony Award-winning theatre director Michael Grandage.

Christopher Farrar of the Hamilton Hodell Entertainment Agency says, "The Royal Welsh College is an outstanding school; their ability to produce fearless, curious and exciting actors is second to none and their showcases are consistently fresh and inventive... Hamilton Hodell is extremely proud to represent many of their alumni..."

"We feel confident that our students will compare favourably with those training at the top US schools. So we are now putting on our first ever US Showcase at the Signature Theatre in New York. Our London Showcase is one of the best attended in the UK and we hope that that we can go from strength to strength and emulate that. It's an adventure and we intend to enjoy it!" said David Bond, Head of Actor Training, RWCMD.

In 2011 Kate Burton opened the Royal Welsh College's new multi-million dollar facilities in Cardiff, where she also unveiled a bust of her father. Elizabeth Taylor had presented the bust of her late husband to RWCMD Patron Prince Charles at a royal gala at Buckingham Palace. It now stands in front of the new RWCMD Richard Burton Theatre. Kate Burton is an International Associate of RWCMD and continues to assist the College with its advancement appeals in the US. She is a graduate and trustee oF Brown University and a graduate and on the board of advisors of The Yale School of Drama.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski