Our wonderful staff...
Leah mccay
Leah McCay- Director
Leah McCay was one of the founding members of Class Act Theatre Group in February 2012. She graduated from the University of Ulster in 2000 with a BA honours degree in Theatre Studies and English and a PGCE in English and Drama. She is a teacher of Drama at Holy Cross College. Having been Head of Department for many years she has since become Curriculum Leader for the Arts and Languages in the college. Since its inception, Leah devotes a lot of time promoting drama within the community through Class Act Theatre Group. Leah is no stranger to the theatre as she has directed numerous productions for school and Class Act - most recently: Bugsy Malone, Oliver, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Beauty and the Beast, Blood Brothers and Les Miserables. She is currently working on Holy Cross College’s next production of Jesus Christ Superstar which is being staged in the hall in the autumn. Very recently, Leah, along with Ryan Quinn and Emmet Stewart, formed a new group - The St Patrick’s Hall Musical Society and have just finished staging a hugely successful run of Footloose. Outside of the theatre she loves spending time with her husband, Marty, and her two children, Hannah and Ethan. Leah loves everything about Class Act and is very excited to be working alongside Ryan Quinn as a partner in the group. She loves nurturing the pupils in her care and enjoys seeing them flourish into blossoming and confident performers.
Ryan Quinn- Musical Director
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Ryan graduated from Queen's University, Belfast in 2010 with a degree in Music. Whilst studying, Ryan was very involved in the musical theatre scene at the university, musically directing their inaugural production and the following 5 productions before moving to Belfast Theatre Works. Ryan worked as a freelance pianist, tutor and accompanist for many theatre schools and was the resident pianist at a school of ballet. In 2012 Ryan moved "home" to Strabane where he taught piano, brass and voice (musical theatre) in his private studio and at many performing arts academies and local schools. Whilst in Strabane Ryan became a music facilitator at Knockavoe School, a school for children and young adults with Special Educational Needs. Alongside side this "day job" Ryan was very much in demand as a musical director for many productions across Northern Ireland and further afield. In 2015 Ryan returned to university to complete a PGCE with Music and Drama.
After a short time teaching in England, Ryan returned home to teach in his alma mater- St. Columb’s College, after a year and a half, Ryan took a position at St. Cecilia’s College, Derry where is Head of the Music Department.
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Ryan is absolutely delighted to have joined ‘Class Act Theatre Group’, Strabane as a partner with Leah McCay. This is a fantastic organisation which promotes the arts within the local community and produces many young stars. Class Act run drama, music and dance classes providing professional tutelage to varying ages and abilities weekly and produce many performing opportunities throughout the year.
RYAN QUINN
EMMET STEWART
Emmet Stewart is a recent graduate from Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts, one of the top Performing Arts colleges in the U.K. After 3 years of intensive training at Bird College, Emmet gained a BA (Hons) in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre. He is professionally trained in Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap and Commercial Jazz; as well as Acting and Singing.
Emmet has a vast amount of performance experience including venues such as Saint James’ Palace and the O2 Arena in London. He also has experience of the professional audition circuit, both for colleges and for professional productions.
Emmet moved back to Strabane in 2017 and set up Ignite Dance Company. Through Ignite he now teaches for various stage schools in the area and works as a free lance choreographer.
Emmet’s classes aim to bring a professional level of training to the North West. Every child is treated as an individual and their talents nurtured so that they can achieve their personal best. Classes focus on core dance technique needed to create versatile performers who can adapt to any genre of dance. Within the class students will learn a range of Ballet, Contemporary and various genres of Jazz.
Mary-Claire graduated from the university of Coleraine in 2003 with a BA Hons Theatre Studies degree. She then obtained her PGCE in Aberdeen in 2010. In that time Mary-Claire has been associated with many drama projects and companies, working with the youth in our community.
Mary-Claire joined Class Act in 2013 (?) and has been involved in choreography and back stage in shows such as, ‘Bugsy Malone’, ‘Oliver’ and ‘Joseph’. She also co-directed her own school productions of ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Made in Dagenham’.
Mary-Claire is no stranger to the stage herself and has appeared in many Operas, pantomimes, plays and musicals, with her most recent to date, playing the role of Principal Clark in the hit musical “Footloose”. In her spare time she keeps herself engaged with the drama festival’s duties and commitments and helping with local projects.
Mary-claire mcdaid
nICOLA JANE MCLAUGHLIN
Nicola graduated from Ulster university, Magee in 2016 with a 2.1 in Drama. Since then she has continued to work with different theatre groups such as Big Telly, In Your Space and Black Air Theatre Group. She also co-wrote and starred in a piece of children’s theatre called A Sheet of Dreams for the annual children’s theatre festival, Young at Art in 2017. From a very young age she has also performed in many local and school productions, in February 2020 she starred as Cinderella in St Patrick’s Hall annual pantomime.
Nicola has stage managed a lot of our productions from our first, Bugsy Malone(2013) to our most recent production, Bring It On(2019) Nicola has a great understanding and patience of working with children and adults of all ages.
‘Working at Class Act is amazing, we are a team that share a true passion for theatre and having fun. Class Act provides children of all ages with great experiences for working with others both on stage and off.’
Maria is currently studying Drama & English at Queen’s University Belfast. She previously attended Holy Cross College where she completed her A-Levels in Drama, English Literature and Spanish and she was part of many school productions such as Les Misérables and Blood Brothers. Maria attended Class Act Theatre Group from its beginnings and has many fond memories of participating in their various productions, such as Oliver, Bugsy Malone and A Christmas Carol. Maria recently completed her DipLCM in Acting. She is also thrilled to now be working as a tutor at Class Act with such a great team!
Maria carlin
Ann Coyle
Ann Coyle is a Senior Bank Official with Bank of Ireland and has been in banking for 20 years. Ann is an active member in her community and coaches Gaelic in her local club, Sigersons.
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Ann joined the Class Act team in December 2018 as an administrator, looking after class schedules, finance and communication with parents.
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If anyone has any queries or questions, Ann will most likely be your first port of call as she often is the person with all the answers. Class Act prides itself in its organisation and this is all down to the wonderful commitment and skill of Ann.