From the prestigious Royal Court Theatre in London to the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Bermudian actress Rebecca Faulkenberry is a shooting star across the international stage.

Last November, she took part in Atlanta's Theatre of the Stars smash hit, 'Disney's High School Musical II', as antagonist Sharpay Evans.

She also performed in the earlier 'Disney's High School Musical' at London's Hammersmith Apollo Theatre and has been on a show on the BBC in the UK.

Now based in London, 24-year-old Miss Faulkenberry was on vacation in Bermuda recently when The Royal Gazette caught up with her.

She said despite 2009 being a slow start for her, it has been a good year, so far. "I have been trying to be more picky in the things I choose to do," she said. "I did have some offers for some really good shows, but it wasn't a part that I wanted or it was for longer than I wanted. I wanted to explore more straight plays.

"My experience is mainly in musical theatre. I held out and turned down some jobs. That was difficult to do when I had no work in January and February."

But her choosiness led to a part on British soap opera 'Doctors' on British television channel BBC1.

"I played a cellist suffering from performance anxiety," she said. "It is a daytime soap opera. I hadn't done any television credits, so I was ready to do anything.

"It was really fun and incredibly different working in film."

She also found roles in two plays by well respected playwrights. She played Flora in 'Aunt Dan and Lemon' which opened at The Royal Court Theatre in June. British newspaperThe Guardian called the play, by Wallace Shawn, 'darkly mesmerising'.

"The Royal Court Theatre is known as one of the best theatres for new writing in the United Kingdom," said Miss Faulkenberry. "They get some really great actors, playwrights and directors to come in and work on their pieces. I was working with a really great cast.

"The Royal Court was such an incredible experience. If you were to look at the list of celebrities that have worked there, it is just endless.

"The lead in our show was Jane Horrocks. She played Bubbles in [the once popular British television show] 'Absolutely Fabulous'. It was amazing to work with people of that calibre.

"And we always have cool people to come and see the shows. Cate Blanchette came the second night. I love her, so that was fun.

"The work at the Royal Court is known to be provocative and generally pushing the bar in some way, as was the play that we did."

She said she particularly enjoyed playing a character from the 1950s.

"I had bright orange hair which was fun for two months and no longer than that," she said with a laugh.

"As soon as I started rehearsing for that I was auditioning for another play which was going on at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

"This play was called 'The Shape of Things' by Neil LaBute. He is a brilliant playwright, often very political."

'The Shape of Things' was smaller and only had four people in the cast.

"I got that. It was great to work with Neil LaBute. He is doing a lot of film and screenplays right now. They did a film version of 'The Shape of Things' a couple of years ago.

"All directors have a particular way that they like to work. Neil LaBute did very long improvisations, in order to help the character work. That was useful, but exhausting."

She said this year has proved to be a turning point for her.

"It is quite difficult to make a transition between musical theatre and film and television, because there is quite a prejudice or an assumed idea of the acting level of musical theatre people.

"So hopefully I have broadened my choices in terms of what I do from now on."

Miss Faulkenberry has been acting in Bermuda from a very young age. She received her first theatrical review mention at the age of seven.

The Royal Gazette reviewer for the Gilbert & Sullivan play 'Annie' wrote in 1992, "she looked as though she was born singing and dancing".

She also performed in Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Company'.

She earned a bachelor's degree in musical theatre and English from Indiana University and a master's in musical theatre from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

While a student, she won a number of scholarships including The Gilbert & Sullivan Scholarship.

"My ultimate goal is to get to a level where I feel I have even 10 percent control over my career," she said.

"You always have a choice in what you do or don't do, but hopefully the more success you gain with it, you have ability to gain work or turn down work.

"With the credits I gained this year, I have the ability to audition for film or television."