Meet The Team
Rachel Wonfor, Principal
Rachel began dance lessons at the age of 5, later training in Musical Theatre at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
For 2 years she worked as a dancer in Disneyland, Paris and toured Europe with LM Productions.
Rachel has performed in many shows at The Churchill Theatre including Fiddler on the Roof, Hello Dolly, Camelot, West Side Story, Annie, Cats, Titanic the Musical, The Producers, Witches of Eastwick, Jesus Christ Superstar, Wizard of Oz, Me and My Girl, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Anything Goes and Sister Act. She was also the choreographer for their production of My Fair Lady.
Rachel is passionate about Musical Theatre and always dreamed of owning her own Musical Theatre School. In 1999 that ambition was realised when she opened Showbiz Academy, offering affordable training alongside professional performers who still work in the Industry.
Rachel continues to enjoy performing and is eager for her next production.
Jezz Weatherall
Jezz began his career as a pianist and show band director for cruise ships 20. He has since worked in the field of corporate entertainment with the likes of Jonathan Ross and Ruby Wax and has written music for Chrysler, Rover, Sega Games to name a few.
In addition he has composed scores for BBC documentaries and notably ITV’s theme for Wizadora.
For 13 years he worked as the chief musical director and co-ordinator for Spillers Pantomimes Ltd and was responsible for all the musical arrangements in 10 different venues each year.
His interest and love of Musical Theatre has seen him work on shows as diverse as ‘Footloose’ to ‘West Side Story’ and his work on a recent production of ‘Dames At Sea’ with director Des Barrit (RSC) earned him a review of ‘One man musical genius’
Since joining up with the team at Enchanted Entertainment he has overseen the whole creative process integrating the musical numbers, underscore and sound effects in the productions and his knowledge of sound and music production greatly enhances the shows production values.
Jezz is a multi-instrumentalist and plays piano/keyboards, saxophone and drums to a high standard.
Jezz has taught at Showbiz since 2001 and is passionate about nurturing the students and seeing them progress.
Marie Gearing
Marie attended Showbiz as a pupil in 1999 at 5 years old and left in 2012 to pursue higher education in Performing Arts.
In 2017, Marie returned to Showbiz Academy as the Acting teacher. She also teaches the Little Stars.
Marie is still performing professionally. Some of her favourite credits include Alice in Hobson's Choice, Wendy Darling in Peter Pan, Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, Faustus in Faustus, Julia in The Wedding Singer, Gillian in Ravenscroft and Eva in Eden.
Marie made her television debut as a singer in BBC 1's Pitch Battle with the vocal group Soul Train.
Marie is passionate about encouraging confidence in children. She also offers tutoring for LAMDA exams and is extremely proud of the fantastic results the Showbiz pupils received.
Kerry Blaskett Weatherall
Kerry started dancing at 6 years of age and went on to train at the Brit School, London. She then went to university and gained a degree in Performing Arts. She later gained her Dance teacher qualifications and has been teaching all aspects of Dance ever since.
Kerry has worked professionally abroad in both Spain and France as a dancer and as various characters in Disneyland, Paris. She has also worked throughout England as a dancer and as cheerleader for UK Superbikes.
She has choreographed numerous shows both at The Royal Albert Hall and Sadler’s Wells, London.
Kerry has appeared in UK Tours of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (The Really Useful Group/ Bill Kenright) and Evita (Bill Kenright).Other theatre credits include Swan Lake (Ellen Kent Ballet and Opera International), A Christmas Carol (Northern Ballet Theatre), Aida (Ellen Kent Ballet and Opera International) and Turandot and Tosca (Ellen Kent Ballet and Opera International).Her TV credits include Dancer at The BRIT awards (ITV), Worst Witch (ITV), No Banana’s (BBC), Perfect Parents (ITV), Waking the Dead (BBC),MI High (BBC / CBBC).
Kerry has been teaching at Showbiz for many years.
She loves teaching the students and enjoys watching them progress in all aspects of performing arts.
Jessica Mullaly
Jessica was a pupil at Showbiz Academy for 9 years. When she was asked to return as a member of staff she was delighted to accept. Now you see her at the front door every Saturday welcoming all our students into their classes.
Jess has her Exercise to Music qualification and enjoys working on the students fitness
Her favourite musical is Billy Elliot.
Laura Beasley
Laura Beasley graduated with a BA (Hons) in Musical Theatre from The London College of Music, where during her training she took on roles in productions including: Meredith Parker in 'Bat Boy' (Lawrence Hall, London); Lorna in 'Page to Stage' (Lawrence Hall, London); Pauline in 'West Side Story' (Weston Hall, London); and Old Ma Strong / Ensemble in 'Urinetown' (The Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone).
As a former Showbiz Academy pupil for over ten years, Laura developed her skills in singing, dancing, and acting right here, gaining invaluable experience and confidence. She has incredible memories of performing in shows and being part of the Young Performers Cabaret Group during her time at Showbiz Academy.
Her professional credits include include Featured Vocalist in 'Now That's West End' (The Sinden Theatre, Tenterden); Featured Vocalist in 'Curtain Up! A Musical Revue' (The Sinden Theatre, Tenterden); Featured Vocalist in 'Sky News: The Musical' (The Union Theater, London). In 2016, Laura reached the semi-finals on Britain's Got Talent with The Collaborative Orchestra and Singers.
Outside of performing, Laura works as a Marketing Coordinator for a Global PLC, with a particular passion for all things digital marketing and social media. She brings this enthusiasm to Showbiz Academy's Instagram and Facebook pages, where you can see some of her creative social media work in action!
Laura loves to see shows wherever she can - whether in the West End, on Broadway, or our tour - always drawing inspiration and ideas to bring back to her students.