MARION SAUVEBOIS meets a man who never gave up on his dream to perform despite all the setbacks he faced

AS he paced the hall, waiting to be called in by the audition panel, Sam Wearing thumbed the wad of rejection letters in his hand. Glancing at the sorries and unfortunatelies, his mind drifted to the ordeal of the past five years: his mother’s sudden passing, the relentless knockbacks, the blasted injury that curtailed his West End dreams just as his career was finally looking up.

Moments later, The Brit School alumni stepped out of Laine Theatre Arts with the promise of a full scholarship and a new start.

“This was the biggest day of my life,” says the 22-year-old from Cheney Manor. “And finally everything fell into place. I had read all the letters to psych myself for it. Rejection is the best source of determination. I kept thinking, ‘This was my chance. This could be it’.

“I sang ‘Why God Why?’ from Miss Saigon and there was an eerie silence when I finished. The director, Miss Laine, had her head down. Then she said my mum would be so proud of me and everyone in the room started crying. She offered me a three-year scholarship. It took me five years to get there; but I did.”

Despite his dogged refusal to abandon hope, for many months it had seemed a happy ending was simply not on the cards. And yet for as long as he could remember Sam has wished for nothing more than to be given a chance to perform.

Even knee-high to a grasshopper, Sam’s theatrical streak was clear for anyone to see. Lively, with a penchant for the dramatic, he never missed an opportunity to stage improvised shows, transforming his bedroom into a makeshift playhouse, with a shower curtain in lieu of the real thing. He went as far as charging his indulgent parents for the privilege of watching him.

“I used to make them sit on the top bunk pretending they had balcony seats’,” he recalls chuckling. “I was quite full on. It would have been easy for my parents to say no that’s enough but they were very supportive.”

Mesmerized by the flamboyant pantomime dames and villains getting into sticky scrapes on the Wyvern stage each winter, at the age of seven he asked to train at Tanwood School for Performing Arts in the hope of one day being cast in the panto ensemble. It would take another five years for his dream to become a reality. Meanwhile, at school the tenacious little boy coaxed, pleaded and negotiated until his amused teachers yielded to his requests to put on impromptu concerts during assembly or show off his Pop Idol mic fresh from Argos in a low-key production of Mary Poppins.

“I was a confident child,” he smiles. “But no-one ever discouraged me. When I said I wanted to juggle on stage, although I couldn’t really do it, or sing in front of everyone, the teachers always made it happen.”

While his classmates were amused by his spontaneous skits in primary school, they were not as accepting in secondary school. But Sam carried on regardless. When he won a talent contest at Commonweal School in 2010, things took an unexpected turn. He earned the respect of many of peers and a friend suggested he enrol at The Brit School, whose famous alumnae include Adele, Amy Winehouse, and Jessie J.

Sam had never heard of the Croydon performing arts centre but sent off an application on the off-chance. The 16-year-old was called in for an audition but ended up on the reserve list. Out of the blue, just two weeks before the start of the academic year, he was offered a place in the musical theatre programme.

“When I found out, I woke up my mum and she just said, ‘Let’s go find you somewhere to live.’ And we did. For the first time there, I realised this could really be my career.”

The Brit School opened many doors for Sam. He was approached to sing at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and performed in Voice in a Million at the 02 Arena.

But midway through his first year, his mother Patsy was diagnosed with cancer. Four months later she passed away. Overwhelmed with grief, Sam took to filming himself singing and uploading the videos to YouTube as a distraction. Not once did he contemplate dropping out – his mother would never have stood for it.

Resolved to make her proud, after graduating with a triple distinction, he auditioned at some of the capital’s most sought-after performing arts programmes. He secured a place at The Musical Theatre Academy but, unable to scrape together the £23,000 annual fees, had to turn down the offer.

He received three more offers from other colleges over the next three years but each time had to decline unable to pay their astronomical fees. Until, fortune smiled on him at last and he was offered a full ride at London College of Music in 2014.

“The situation with mum filled me with determination; she really believed in me and supported me,” he says resolutely. “That’s what kept me going for three years. I just had this belief I would get there in the end.”

But disaster struck again ten weeks into the course when he displaced cartilage around his knee rolling over in his sleep. Bed-bound for weeks, he was forced to drop out.

“My leg was locked, I had to get surgery,” he sighs. “I had finally got somewhere. I had waited three years to be able to do what I loved and I just thought, ‘For God’s sake, what did I do to deserve this?’”

To fill the hours stretching in front of him each day, he busied himself with his YouTube channel, recording short videos of himself singing lyrical melodies reflecting his mood. Against all odds, John Barrowman retweeted one of his clips and he has since notched up half a million views.

His injury healed, he immediately joined a ballet class (a discipline he had always avoided) at Swindon Dance to regain some flexibility and prepare himself for a new gruelling round of performing schools auditions. He also embarked on a steep training regime for the Swindon Half Marathon, which he completed in October last year, before reaching the finishing line at The Bristol + Bath Marathon.

For all his grit, his auditions were an unmitigated disaster.

Deflated after five failed try-outs, he headed to Laine Theatre Arts in Surrey for his sixth and final audition at the end of last year.

“That was my last shot,” he says. “I was terrified. But from the moment I stepped in the building, I knew this was where I needed to be. I was by far the worst dancer there. When I found out I got a place, I just cried.”

He was awarded a £70,000 scholarship and is set to join the prestigious programme on September 15. To mark this new beginning Sam will hold his first solo concert, An Evening with Sam Wearing, at the Arts Centre on September 3. The performance, produced by his long-time friend Chris Robins, was initially intended as a fundraiser to help cover his tuition fees but swiftly rebranded as a full-blow show when he received his three-year grant.

“The show is my way of thanking all the people who’ve been there along the way, at various stages, at primary school, or when I did the panto. And I want to share my story with others through this. I never had any doubts I wanted to perform but it’s so easy in the industry to give up.

“All the knockbacks I’ve had have given me the determination to get somewhere. Everything before was the dress rehearsal – it’s really on now.”

For tickets to Sam's debut concert visit swindontheatres.co.uk or call 01793 524 481.