Rebecca Stenhouse lands Grease role on Harmony of the Seas

SHE once danced in community centres in Leith, participated in school shows and sang in the city's youth theatres.

But now Rebecca Stenhouse has landed her dream role performing for more than 100,000 people in one of the most famous musicals ever – on board the world’s largest cruise ship.

The former Leith Academy pupil has been cast as a Pink Lady in the Royal Caribbean production of Grease, which will be performed on the new Harmony of the Seas liner after it sets sail for the first time in May.

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The 24-year-old said: “I’m so excited to start rehearsals in Miami next month and work with the directors and choreographers.

“When I was a little girl, I used to have a Pink Lady jacket and would dance around the house and sing.

“To have actually been cast as Marty in such a large production is a dream come true.”

From a young age, Rebecca dreamed of becoming a stage star. She loved nothing more as a child than to dance around her living room, singing to hits from Calamity Jane and Guys and Dolls.

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She said: “I’ve always loved musicals for as long as I can remember. I think I caught the performing bug from my family because they introduced me and my sister to all the classic musicals such as Singing in the Rain and the Wizard of Oz.

“My mother and grandmother took me to see Grease at the Edinburgh Playhouse when I was six and I instantly fell in love with live theatre.

“They put me into dance classes at the age of three and I haven’t stopped since.”

Rebecca started dancing at the Phelan School of Dance in Leith, before becoming a member of various youth theatres around the city, including LYAMC.

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At the age of 16, she left high school to undertake full-time training at the MGA Academy of Performing Arts, which she said offered her ­London-standard training in Edinburgh.

After graduating a year later, aged just 17, Rebecca was cast as the lead singer in the European tour of The Best of Musicals where she spent a year travelling between cities on a bus.

She then moved to Japan to work for Universal Studios before coming back to the UK and staring as Sherrie in Rock of Ages and Elle Woods in ­Legally Blonde.

Rebecca said: “The best advice I can give to people that would like a career in musical theatre is that they should go in and be themselves at auditions – they shouldn’t try and imitate anyone else because, at the end of the day, it’s their individuality that’s going to make them stand out.”

Anyone interested in auditioning for The MGA Academy of Performing Arts later this month should email [email protected] or call 0131 466 9392.