Director & co-founder
Teacher: Singing, Musical Theatre
Debbie Spellman grew up in Streatham and trained as a ballet dancer from the age of 9, in a very small school in Brixton, South London. She also supplemented her training by taking classes at Rambert, Pineapple and Danceworks London with various independent teachers. After leaving dance school, Debbie went on to perform Street Theatre in Covent Garden, tour Mexico with Circo Magico Italiano and even learnt to skate, joining the cast of Starlight Express for the 1st world tour to Japan and Australia. Starlight Express led to her love of Musical Theatre and not long afterwards led to her meeting and working with choreographers such as Arlene Phillips, Carole Todd and David Bintley, and with directors such as Trevor Nunn, Simon Callow and John Caird. She has performed in West End productions of Starlight Express, Cats, Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Pajama Game, Children of Eden and has toured the UK in regional shows and galas. Debbie also assisted Arlene Phillips as resident Choreographer/Director for the final company of Starlight Express. Debbie’s television appearances include Victoria Wood‘s Midlife Crisis and working as a backing singer and dancer for Alison Limerick in her music videos and TV appearances.
Not long after the birth of her first child, Debbie moved to Brighton and joined forces with Sally Orr; together creating Drama Queens. They have been working together and running classes since 2004.
Recently, Debbie assisted children’s director Cherida Strallen on Bill Kenwright’s Brighton dates for the UK tour of Scrooge, in which 26 Drama Queens children joined Tommy Steele on stage at the Brighton Centre. Debbie worked as Co-Producer on Bugsy Malone for City Youth Theatre in Brighton and recently produced Into The Woods for Drama Queens.
Debbie still has links with London’s West End and invites many of her colleagues to Brighton to help with the Drama Queens Musical Theatre Workshops. She has also forged links with and choreographed for several theatre groups in and around Brighton, including Southwick Opera, Music Theatre 2000, and Martlets concerts for Simon Gray and Nathan Potter, involving as many Drama Queens children as possible in performances! Debbie is also the head of the children’s casting department at the London based MR Management theatrical agency.
As a teacher, Debbie offers private and group musical theatre, singing, movement and staging classes, and specialises in developing performance confidence and technique in her students.