NEW College students lit up the stage with lively dance numbers and shimmering costume designs as part of the media make-up course’s end of year show.

This year students based their prop, makeup and set designs on themes from box-office hit The Greatest Showman. Parents, teachers and members of the public came to watch a series of routines which showcased a variety of the performers’ skills on what was a sell-out night of entertainment.

To recreate a circus atmosphere on stage, level two students worked on props and sets, a second-year BTEC class designed pieces on the theme of superstition, while diploma students explored the idea of phobias.

Gemma Mulrooney, programme leader of the make-up course, said: “It was fantastic, I’m really proud. It gave our students a real buzz and the designs were of a really high standard. Parents gave feedback saying their children felt inspired by an opportunity they wouldn’t have necessarily had.

The students absolutely loved it. It’s a lot of pressure on the day and some of the make-up took six hours to put on, but they enjoyed seeing their work come alive.”

When they aren’t dressed up as lions, clowns, showgirls, and monsters, students of the new HND diploma course learn the skills they need to become professional make-up artists for careers in film, TV and theatre.

The college has connections with make-up businesses Bobbi Brown, Illamasqua, and Mistair, which means the course takes a hands-on, experience-based approach to teaching.

The programme leader added: “It’s a very rewarding course. It’s full on, you never get the same day twice, and it’s visually exciting. It’s great to see them at the end of the year and to know that you’ve helped to mould them into the artist that they’re becoming.”

Alex Rye, a diploma student at the college, said: “I created my look around the phobia of balloons and helped with choreography and performed in the dances. It was a jazz dance inspired the Greatest Showman so I was helping to create something to give the show a bit more life.

“We really did pull it off. There were a few nerves but we did brilliantly. There was a really great camaraderie in the group and everyone was watching from the wings and clapping along.”

Gemma started planning the 70-performer show back in April with the help of her course colleagues Philomena Liston and Elizabeth Corbett. The performance on Tuesday built on the college’s 2017 show to incorporate stilt-walking and dancing into the catwalk displays.

Gemma said: “They had to create the hair, make-up, handmade costumes, props, wigs headdresses and bodypainting, so it was a really good showcase of the variety of skills they learn over the year.”