A young performer from Skye won the ‘Young Scottish Musical Theatre Performer of the Year’ award at a ceremony held at the SECC in Glasgow last month.
Eilidh MacPherson (pictured) who is from Portree, began performing at an early age in local productions before moving away to further her studies in musical theatre – eventually leading her to London, where she now lives.
Eilidh told the Free Press she was honoured to receive such a prestigious recognition: “It’s an incredible privilege to receive this award, and I feel truly delighted and proud to have achieved it”, she said, before explaining more about the process of the competition, “I had my first audition in the Prince of Wales theatre in London then the finals in the SECC in Glasgow in front the final judging panel, which included Billy Differ, Claire Moore, Laura Boyd and Alan McHugh – as well as a large audience – on the 18th of May. I sang ‘Mister Snow’ from ‘Carousel’ and ‘When I Look at You’ from ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’.”
The award was founded by Graham Dickie MBE who was, until his retirement in 2023, the Director of musical theatre at the national centre of excellence for the performing arts at The Dance School of Scotland based in Knightswood Secondary School in Glasgow.
The win comes at a key time for Eilidh, who will graduate from her musical theatre degree at ‘Urdang’, City St George’s, University of London, this summer: “I’ve absolutely loved my experience studying for a Musical Theatre degree at ‘Urdang’ in London. With graduation approaching in July, I feel like the last three years in full time training has been absolutely worth it. As I’m in the process of graduating I’m taking each day as it comes and getting used to being a ‘proper’ grown up in London, however It’s a very exciting time. I have some big auditions coming up and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.”
Eilidh concluded by saying: “Musical theatre is such a magical art form. Growing up I always admired the ability to tell a story and move people emotionally through performance. I find this is a true gift, and I feel so grateful to be part of it.”
Article by Daniel Cullen