World War II
The outbreak of war severely disrupted the running of the school, particularly as the wholesale evacuation of children meant the loss of many pupils. Rona left the everyday running of what was left of the school in the hands of her mother and two sisters, Hazel Malone and Muriel Knight, who continued right throughout the war to provide young trained singers and dancers for the entertainment of the public.
Rona, however, preferred to get more involved with the war effort, so she enlisted in the hospital section of ENSA using the stage name Rona Brandon. (She may have taken the surname from Gary Cooper's character in Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Michael Brandon). Rona became well known as a BBC and recording soprano, taking part in many shows arranged by ENSA. She even sang a solo in front of the King of Norway. Travelling around with ENSA during the war widened Rona's horizons and knowledge, making her increasingly aware of new techniques and training available. She was keen to improve her own teaching abilities in order to provide more extensive tuition for her pupils, and so she enrolled at the Paris School of Mime, Dance and Drama in 1950. By the end of that year she was advertising her school as "The Corona Academy of Stage Training".
Read more about this topic: Corona Stage Academy
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