CHRISTMAS has come early for a Colchester schoolboy who has been cast in his first professional theatre gig.
With Christmas just around the corner, Zachary Richardson is gearing up to take on the role of Tiny Tim in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous A Christmas Carol at London's Middle Temple Hall.
The talented youngster, who has trained at TDH Academy which offers performing arts classes in Colchester and Clacton, was selected from a pool of about 500 hopefuls vying for a part in A Christmas Carol, which is being produced by the Antic Disposition theatre company.
It’s a dream come true for the nine-year-old who has dedicated the last three years of his life to performing after realising his talent at just six years old.
His mum Jennifer, whose own background is in musical theatre, recalled: “He was about six when he did his first show and he was doing baby ballet and things like that.
“They came into the dressing room during the dress rehearsal and asked if anybody knew a song because someone needed to sing while the senior got changed between her two numbers.
“He said ‘well, we have just sung a Disney song at school’, so he got up on stage at the Princes Theatre and they gave him a microphone and he sang the whole song by himself.”
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Zachary’s first love of dancing remains one of his passions alongside his talent for singing and acting.
The bright spark attends musical theatre, acrobatics, ballet, tap, and contemporary dance classes, and can even play the violin.
“Some days he’ll go straight from school to dancing and won't finish until late and he’ll eat his dinner in the car,” Jennifer explained.
“But he never misses his homework. He’s a good kid.”
The Colchester Prep and High School pupil was perhaps always destined for an on-stage career, with talent most definitely in his blood.
His dad David also has a background in musical theatre and his grandma Vicki owns her own dance school in Newcastle.
His great-grandparents are the late Dickie Henderson, who starred in his own ITV programme in the 1950s, and the contortionist Dixie Ross.
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