12:48pm Friday 3rd July 2009
By Melanie Dakin
Special needs coordinator and primary school teacher Lucy Hodgins from Aston Clinton, near Tring will be swapping the classroom for the rock festival stage this summer as charity music show, The Pepper Rock Festival, comes to the Berkhamsted Collegiate Centenary Theatre this month.
Lucy has been selected as lead singer for two high-octane numbers, Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares and Tina Turner’s Simply the Best.
With a cast of more than 20 professional standard performers, Pepper Rock Festival is run entirely by volunteers so all the profits go to the Pepper Foundation, who fund a team of nurses to provide 24-hour on call home care and family support for seriously ill children throughout Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
When not performing, Lucy enjoys horseriding, walking her dogs and eating out. She has been involved in Pepper since the age of nine, when she was a tap-dancing clown. She got involved with the show through Berkhamsted Youth Theatre.
Lucy says that the best thing for her about The Pepper Rock Festival is “raising money to help children. I volunteered at Pepper’s Chrysalis club one year and it really brought home to me why we do this. The hardest thing for me is the rehearsals, especially the tech, which is soooo long, but it’s totally worth it.”
I think the festival is successful because the audience “must pick up on the fun we are having on stage, and the professionalism. I love this show, and the charity. It has provided many fantastic opportunities for me and my voice! My whole family is involved and I met my best friend, Kirsty Wyatt, through the show.”
The Pepper Rock Festival takes place from Friday, July 17 to Saturday, July 25 at Berkhamsted Collegiate Centenary Theatre, Kings Road, Berkhamsted.
As well as live band performances, the festival offers a family party atmosphere with stalls and activities for all ages including face painting and a magic show.
Tickets: 01442 877292, www.peppershow.com (£8-£20)
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