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Glamorous Laura Bradley is stepping into the world of make-believe as a perfect princess for children’s birthday parties.
She is being snapped up by parents to provide a royal touch of entertainment for little girls across the island seeking a touch of Disney-style magic on their special day.
“Hire a Princess has been popular because it’s magical, it makes an occasion special and to see the children smiling and enjoying themselves is proof of that magic. Life needs a touch of magic sometimes,” said the 23-year-old British model, actress and teacher of English as a foreign language.
She started ‘Hire a Princess’ in October of last year, resurrecting her dream of one day working at Disneyland. In 2004 she played the role of Cinderella in Manama Theatre Company’s pantomime production of Cinderella. After the show, she posed for pictures and signed autographs for children in the audience who stormed the stage.
Former St Christopher’s School pupil Laura, who lives in Saar, explained: “While posing as Cinderella in Bahrain it gave me such a wonderful feeling when I saw the joy I’d given the children.
“I grew up in Disney’s golden era, watching all the films and singing the songs. I’d had the costumes made for me over the years for fancy dress parties and amazingly they still fit me from when I was 15!
“I came back to Bahrain thinking that I would put them to good use by entertaining children and sharing with others the magic that Disney gave me.”
Laura was born and raised in Bahrain and went to England to study at university to gain a degree in music and film studies. It is not her first stint as an impersonator as she worked as an Avril Lavigne tribute act which received critical acclaim and was labelled ‘Best Damn Tribute’ in the UK. She said: “I had to dress up and sing as the Canadian pop/punk artist and also learn a Canadian accent. Avril Lavigne was particularly popular at the time for teenage birthday parties but I also performed at a Tesco Christmas party.
“I’m a trained EFL teacher, teaching both young children and adults but my passion has always been entertainment.”
She is now regularly booked to host parties for children between the ages of three and seven as the Little Mermaid, Snow White, Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty at BD30 an hour.
She said: “It really is great fun. Not only does it put a smile on the children’s little faces but it also gives the parents a break!
“I play the usual party games with the kids such as musical chairs, pass the parcel and a few others. We also sing and dance and there’s an opportunity for photographs.
“I always bring a small gift for the birthday boy or girl and I also supply the prizes for the games. I haven’t done any adult parties although I’ve been asked to do teenagers … but I stick with children’s parties.”
As everyone can imagine being a princess can be rather taxing with all the singing and dancing, as well as constantly spreading merry cheer. Also, they usually go through a lot of obstacles before finding true love. Snow White was poisoned by an apple, Cinderella endured her wicked step-sisters and Sleeping Beauty was put into a coma before being awakened by a handsome prince.
Laura, though, has skipped forward through all the ‘mumbo jumbo’ and found her Prince Charming in the shape of Zimbabwean Andrew Brooke. She said: “We’ve been together for three years and he finds it great that he’s dating a professional princess!”
But how does one conduct oneself as a perfect princess? Laura revealed: “Perseverance and kindness are the key. You must remember not to give up when things get difficult, to always think of others before yourself and to treat people how you wish to be treated.”
For more details visit www.lauraann.org
