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Two of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars visited the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts this week. Purely by coincidence, both Paul McCartney and actor Woody Harrelson chose the same day to hold Q&A sessions with students.
McCartney, who is LIPA’s Lead Patron and a regular visitor to the university, has recently returned from a tour of Japan and is off out to tour the USA in July.
Paul held a series of one-to-one sessions in which he mentored seven third year singer-songwriters on the Music degree course, before attending a session open to all students, answering questions about the music industry and his illustrious career.
Paul then joined students for a screening of Woody Harrelson’s new film Lost in London in the Paul McCartney Auditorium.
The movie, starring Woody Harrelson, is also his first as a director, IT was shot in one continuous take back in January and was originally broadcast live as it was filmed – to 500 US cinemas.
Once the screening had finished, Woody answered students’ questions, discussing both the content of the movie, and its production method.
LIPA’s Founding Principal and CEO Mark Featherstone-Witty said: “We were energised by the whole day. This has never happened here before. What an experience for students, let alone staff.”
The visit was not a one-off, with LIPA regularly holding masterclasses with professionals at the top of their respective fields.
In the past year, there have been masterclass sessions with West End musical theatre icon Elaine Paige, double Ivor Novello Award winning songwriter and founding member of Squeeze Chris Difford and Olivier and Tony award winning lighting designer Neil Austin, who was part of the creative team behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.