CELEBRATING 80 YEARS OF MOUNTVIEW
12 Jun 26
Mountview was honoured to welcome a constellation of stars to Peckham last night to celebrate our 80th birthday! Guests included Mountview Vice Presidents Dame Elaine Paige and Eddie Marsan, a host of Mountview Ambassadors including Amanda Holden and Arian Nik, and Mountview staff and graduates from throughout the years.
Hosted by Mountview alum Julie Atherton, the event featured performances by current Musical Theatre students and alumni Hope Dawe and Alice Fearn. Speeches were given by Mountview Principal and CEO Sally Ann Gritton, along with Vice Presidents Dame Elaine Paige and Eddie Marsan.
Mountview President Dame Judi Dench sent a special video message saying “I hope you raise a great deal of money because you deserve it, the training you give is unsurpassable”.
In her speech, Dame Elaine Paige said: “Every time I come to Mountview I’m struck by the buzz of creativity and the energy in the building. Everything in Mountview’s building teaches us to listen, to be creative, to have courage and to have resilience. It helps us make sense of ourselves and the world around us, but most of all, I think it helps us to connect to one another in a way that nothing else really can.”
Speaking of his time at Mountview, Eddie Marsan recollected: “I had a wonderful teacher at Mountview called Amir Korangy, and one of the first things he told me was that nothing human is alien to you, that’s the principle of acting, it’s an exercise in empathy. I took that on and I try to tell young actors from whatever background, ethnicity, sexuality, religion or class that the arts are there to create empathy and for us to understand and see the commonality.”
In addition to the live auction last night, Mountview is also running an Online Silent Auction and Prize Draw in aid of the 80th Birthday Fund, with items including tea with acclaimed actress Golda Rosheuvel, a Producer Toolkit Mentoring Session with Turtle Arts CE Alison King, a life coaching session with Olympian Michelle Griffith Robinson, a VIP theatre and hotel package to ABBA Voyage and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Sky News and Sky Sports studios with sports broadcaster Manish Bhasin.
