Actor Tom Hughes admitted that if he hadn’t joined a Chester youth theatre when he was 12, he would not be where he is today.
And the RADA-trained star of stage and screen proudly showed off his new hoodie as he took on the role of the Jigsaw Music Theatre’s first patron at Theatre in the Quarter’s 10th anniversary celebrations at the Hammond theatre last Friday.
Tom travelled to Chester from rehearsals with Niamh Cusack and Anthony Head for Paul Andrew Williams’ West End debut play Ticking, which opens in October.
The 29-year-old former Upton-by-Chester High School pupil, of BBC2 The Game fame, said that joining Jigsaw at the end of the 1990s was a real ‘eye-opener’.
He said that he had been full of energy as a child and ‘always confident’ but being a member of the youth theatre, founded by Veronica Bennetts in 1990, introduced him to great friends and gave him the passion and belief in himself to pursue a career in such a competitive industry.
Introduced by TiQ artistic director Matt Baker, Tom described himself as ‘unbelievably proud’ to be the company’s first ever patron, during the second half of a celebration show, entitled Ten Years.
The show included excerpts from the company’s award-winning award-winning Over By Christmas, performances by current Jigsaw and Quartz Youth Theatre members and songs from A Handbag of Harmonies.
Tom wasn’t the only member of the Hughes family on stage during the night as his mum Sue sings with the pink-feather boa clad choir.
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Jigsaw Music Theatre is now run by Matt Baker, under the Theatre in the Quarter umbrella, and Tom was happy to pose for pictures with current members.
