They were there to publicise the single Iridescent, a cover of the Linkin Park classic, which was recorded at the school by singers, musicians and pupils to raise money for communities affected by last year’s riots.
Corrie’s Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies, from Chester), Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), Tommy Duckworth (Chris Fountain), Katy Armstrong (Georgia Foote) and Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) showed off their vocal talents alongside the starstruck girls.
The single is the brainchild of Crewe-based InScreen Records Chief Executive Jo Lloyd who put together Project Underdog, a band of unsigned artists and school pupils, to record the single before Christmas.
Howells School music teacher Morwen Murray said: “The song was recorded at the state-of-the-art recording studios at our school.
“To help promote the single we were invited to visit Coronation Street and to sing alongside some of the show’s stars. It was a brilliant experience for the girls and gave them a real insight into TV production.”
She added: “Being involved in Operation Underdog has been excellent. The girls got the chance to perform at the switching on of the Christmas lights in Chester and the opportunity to do something good for such a charitable cause has been brilliant.”
And for student Stephanie O’Hare, 16, of Afonwen, near Mold, the trip to Coronation Street also meant she got to talk to her one of her heroes, heartthrob actor Chris Fountain who plays Tommy Duckworth in the top soap.
Stephanie said: “It was a brilliant experience but very strange. It wasn’t what I thought it would be as it is not actually a real street but a film set built in a horseshoe shape.
“The actors we sang with were really good and put a great deal of effort into the song. They hadn’t sang it before yet picked it up so quickly.”
Chelsea Grimshaw, 15, of Chester agreed adding that she was surprised how laid back the actors were.
She said: “I expected them to be a bit stand-offish if I am honest but to the contrary they were so good and just real down-to-earth regular people.
“I have to admit I am a fan of Chris Fountain too although we also met Ryan Thomas, who plays Jason Grimshaw, Georgia Foote, who plays Katy Armstrong and Catherine Tyldesley who plays Eva Price.
“I was amazed they were able to pick up the song so quickly and knew the words from just looking briefly at the written lyrics.”
Abigail Gardner, 17, of Denbigh who is hoping to study music and drama at a college in Atlanta, Georgia, says it was a fabulous experience to see the Coronation Street set.
She said: “It was really interesting to have even a small insight into the set and production. We saw the Rovers return, the police station and the Underworld factory.
“The actors really gave it their all. Ian Puleston-Davies, who plays Owen Armstrong, probably had the best voice. But they all tried so hard and it was a great experience.”
Anastasia Calveley, 15, of Llanarmon-yn-Ial, also enjoyed spending time in Coronation Street.
She said: “I did expect it to be a real street and was so surprised to see it was actually just a film set. It was really interesting to see how it all comes together when filming takes place.
“I really enjoyed seeing The Rovers Return, I suppose it’s a venue that has a great deal of television history to its name.”
Kate Wordsworth, 13, of Betwys-y-Coed and Emily Davies, 12, of St Asaph, were pleased to have had the opportunity to get involved with Operation Underdog.
Kate said: “It has been so worthwhile and I hope we have the chance to get involved with something similar in the future.”
Emily added: “I agree it has been a really good experience performing and recording the CD and its so important that some good comes out of the riots last summer.”
Emily Hardwick, 15 of Chester added that it was really heart-warming that Coronation Street actors took time out of their busy schedule to sing the charity song alongside the Howell’s girls to help promote the single.
She said: “They were so enthusiastic and it was a really nice experience singing with them. They didn’t have to help but the fact they so readily gave up their time to do so speaks volumes.”
Chelsea Grimshaw added that, back at the Denbigh school, she tweeted actor Ryan Thomas to thank him and was thrilled to get a reply from Ryan in which he congratulated the girls for their efforts.
