Fame star raises funds for academy course

WITH a little help from her
talented friends a young Northside starlet has succeeded in raising some of the
funding she will need to attend a prestigious musical academy in the UK.

In June 2010, 20-year-old
songstress Jessica Cervi, from East Wall, won the musical RTE reality TV show

‘Fame’.

As a result, she claimed the
lead role of Serena in the nationwide tour of

‘Fame – The Musical’.

Jessica has played in venues
all over the country including the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin.

Since her excellent
performances in the

‘Fame’ contest Jessica has continued her studies under the
tutelage of her dance teacher Maureen Ward at the College of Dance in Monkstown.

She is now gearing up for
the move to London in September, as she has been offered a place to train in
musical theatre at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London.

But going to college in
London is expensive with tuition fees alone costing e12,100 and Jessica needs
all the help she can get to pay her way.

For this reason, Jessica and
several of her talented friends held a benefit gala concert that was attended
by about 400 people at the O’Reilly Theatre in Belvedere College on August 12.

Jessica said the concert was
a resounding success thanks in part to the efforts made by many of her creative
friends.

“I sold millions of raffle
tickets and raised about e4,000 on the night so it went fab,

? she told
Northside People.

“The whole show was brilliant
and it couldn’t have been any better.

“I had a good few friends
who performed including Mickey Joe O’Brien who was also on the

‘Fame’ show, and
I also had a girl called Gemma Dunleavy who is a singer and she writes her own
music.

“Loads of friends in the College of Dance in Monkstown where I trained
also took part in the Gala show.

?

Jessica still needs to raise
at least another e4,000 to fund her 12-month term at the UK course.

“My fees for the course are
e12,100 and the college gave me a scholarship of e5,000, and I raised e4,000
that night, so I did pretty well,

? she stated.

“They say I will need about
e10,000 with the cost of living over there. I think I will need another e5,000
more at least to fund my year.

“I would just like to say
thanks to everyone who came to the event and supported me at the benefit
night.

?

Jessica, who will be taught
to mainly sing and act on her London course, said her dream is to appear in
musicals in London’s West End.

“Musical theatre is what I
love and I really love singing, so my dream would be to perform musical theatre
in the West End,

? she added.

If you would like to contact
Jessica or donate to her academic fund, email jesscervi15@hotmail.com