May 12, 2022 - 1812 views
Eleven-year-old star Oliver Pearce from Conwy will be making his Wales Millennium Centre debut this month as Lawrence, the keyboard player in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Olivier Award-winning West End show School of Rock – The Musical. The show runs from 16 – 21 May.
Oliver trains at The Pauline Quirke Academy in Colwyn Bay. He has previously starred as Abas in The Learners on BBC Radio Wales, as well as Benji in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Trouble’s a Brewin’ in Her Majesty’s Theatre in London's West End.
Oliver also plays the cello and has taken his grade 7 passing with merit. He is in the National Schools Symphony Orchestra and also loves playing chamber music with his string quartet. He gained distinction for his grade 5 singing, and has fun playing the guitar and drums.
Ahead of arriving in Cardiff with the rest of the cast, Oliver said: “I am so excited to be performing in my home country. I have some friends in Cardiff who are coming to my opening night there so I am even more excited!
"I am especially excited to perform in the iconic Millennium Centre for the very first time and it sounds like a really big venue so that’s even more exciting! I hope all my School of Rock friends will like it as well as me and coming to Wales where I live. I think they will.
“I think I’m a lucky boy to be doing this School of Rock. I had to do lots of auditions and then I got chosen- I couldn’t believe it! I have learned loads and made great friends too.
“We are all like a big family on tour every other week. The chaperones look after us and we have tutoring as well. I have done this tour since September last year and have been in many cool and great venues around the UK, but this is the one I have been waiting for the most and I think it will be amazing!”
The show’s adult cast is led in spectacular style by Jake Sharp as Dewey Finn, having previously performed the role in the West End, and are joined by Rebecca Lock as Rosalie Mullins, Matthew Rowland as Ned Schneebly and Nadia Violet Johnson as Patty Di Marco.
