Corona Theatre School

Rona Knight was born on 22 June 1911, the daughter of Leonard and Ellen Edith Speck Knight. She made her first stage appearance at age 11, at a Sunday School benefit. At the age of fourteen, Knight opened the Corona Dancing School, which proved successful. The dancing and singing group became known as the "Corona Babes" (later known as the "Corona Kids"), and in the early 1930s, began to perform professionally, all around the country. During the Second World War, Knight joined the hospital section of ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association). She chose the stage name Rona Brandon, and became well known as a BBC and recording soprano.[1]

After World War II, Knight attended the Paris school of mime, dance and drama, and in 1950, opened the Corona Academy of Stage Training, in Sutton Lane, Chiswick. In 1955, the Corona Academy moved to larger facilities at 16 Ravenscourt Avenue, Hammersmith, whilst retaining its former premises in Chiswick. The school supplied the young cast for Lionel Bart's Oliver.[1] The Corona Academy of Stage Training closed in 1989, following Miss Knight's retirement.

Ravenscourt Theatre School was a stage school in London, for children aged 7 to 19 years old. The school was founded in 1989 by Robin Phillips, following the closure of the Corona Stage Academy, and the retirement of its principal, Rona Knight.

Robin ran the Corona agency for many years, and most of the traditions of Corona were incorporated into the Ravenscourt Theatre School, including the uniform and the teaching format, which had full academic studies in the morning, and vocational training in the afternoon. For much of its life, the school was situated near to Ravenscourt Park Underground station, in what is now the Ravenscourt Park Preparatory School. A similar school opened in Kew in 2009, and in 2010, became the Corona Theatre School, partially taking the name of the former school.