There is an ever-increasing demand for performers who combine first-rate acting ability with a high level of musicianship.

Mountview’s Actor Musician course develops these dual skills to the highest level, creating graduates who combine skills in acting and music in their professional lives.

Whilst a high level of prior musical experience is a pre-requisite, it is not necessary to have achieved formal music qualifications.

There are limited places available each year and students are taught in small groups. Teaching mirrors Mountview’s actor training but with specialised music elements and you’ll receive over 30 hours of direct teaching time each week including one-to-one singing and instrumental lessons.

The course develops technical skills through workshops and performance opportunities. During the course you’ll engage in a range of actor musician projects, working on Shakespeare, contemporary plays, and musicals as well as devising original work. Students engage with a range of classic and contemporary texts for example If You Don’t Let Us Dram, We Won’t Let You Sleep by Anders Lustgarten, Colder Than Here by Laura Wade, His Dark Materials adaptation by Nicholas Wright, Flora the Red Menace by George Abbott, Kander and Ebb, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau.

Study takes place over three 12-week terms a year.

The first half of each term is devoted to skills classes whilst in the second half of each term you will work on performance projects which are presented in-house to fellow students and staff.

In the second year you apply your skills in collaboration classes which include peer integration and team teaching to enhance your creativity and help you to make connections between subjects. Additionally, there is time given to tailored ‘surgeries’ to focus on detail and help you to develop your independence and confidence in your practice.

You’ll also work closely with Mountview’s Industry Liaison Manager to understand and prepare for life as a working actor.

The focus of the third year is film, recorded voice, public performances and reflecting on acting practice. You’ll work with professional directors to present a range of productions and an industry showcase and create a voice and film showreel. Audiences include agents, casting directors and other industry figures as well as the general public.

MOUNTVIEW’S PART TIME FOUNDATION IN MUSICAL THEATRE COVERS THE CORE ELEMENTS OF TRIPLE THREAT TRAINING: ACTING, SINGING AND DANCE.
With classes taking place three evenings per week students are able to work alongside their studies to support themselves financially. This ability to work combined with competitive course fees makes this one of the most accessible Musical Theatre Foundation courses in the UK.

The course promises a rigorous introduction to the performance skills required in the musical theatre discipline. The training is equally focussed on acting, singing and dance with a balance of 40% skills, 35% audition preparation and 25% performance-based work.

Demands on the students are high and the course will develop core technique and creativity and prepare students for further training and auditions.

The training includes a focused audition preparation module allowing students to develop technique and repertoire for future drama school auditions.

The course is taught from September to April, with 9 hours each week over three evenings.

The Millennium Performing Arts Diploma is a private training course that may lead to the Level 4 ATCL Diploma through enrolment onto The Performance Course ToTheCore at the end of the year, or to an internally awarded professional qualification following the successful completion of the full three year course.

The level 4 ATCL is a separate enrolment and adds a further course fee to your costs.

Students elect to follow either musical theatre or dance pathways.

The diploma course focuses on professional-level, work-based, practice designed to ensure graduates are fully prepared for their chosen career. The key subject elements are taught by highly-experienced industry professionals who are also experts in teaching and learning.

Students who wish to pursue an educational qualification may join, in their final year and if their assessment results allow for this pathway, the Trinity College London Level 6 Professional Diploma.

What makes Musical Theatre BA (Hons) with Millennium Performing Arts special?

Our Musical Theatre curriculum will provide a complete practical training experience for students interested in performance. Based at the Millennium Studios in London, the course’s core disciplines are dance, singing and acting, with a focus on excellence in Musical Theatre practice.

Graduates gain immediate eligibility for membership of Equity (the actors’ and dancers’ union) and immediate eligibility for inclusion in Spotlight (the industry casting service).

This course is vocational and practice-based, using our state-of-the-art workshops, studios and theatres, and making use of the extensive opportunities to work on our many public productions and showcases.

Choosing from one or two areas of technical theatre or stage management, you will build on your skills and experience from your foundation degree to gain specialist knowledge and replicate working at high-level industry standards. Alongside our experienced teaching faculty, you will be introduced to practitioners from across the industry who provide additional insights into the variety of careers open to you and the skills and experience your future employers will be looking for.

You will graduate from the course ready to take on a range of roles across theatre, film, television, radio and live events.

You will also benefit from a professional development programme, as well as the RADA Buddy mentoring scheme, which supports your transition from student to professional with graduate ‘buddies’ providing professional advice, feedback and networking opportunities.

Students who successfully complete the FdA in Technical Theatre and Stage Management with a Merit or above at RADA will now automatically be considered for the BA (Hons) progression year. We also welcome applicants with a foundation degree or equivalent from elsewhere to apply for this course.

Places are available in a number of subject areas:

- Costume supervision
- Lighting (design and/or production lighting)
- Production management
- Sound (design and/or production sound)
- Property making
- Scenic art
- Scenic construction
- Stage management
- Technical management
- Video (design and/or production video)

Combinations of subjects may also be considered, for example:

- Property making and stage management
- Technical and production management
- Scenic construction and technical management
- Scenic art and property making

Reasons to study Stage and Events Management
• Experience a variety of roles on a range of productions and events both in College and in London venues.
• Develop relationships with, and an understanding of, other disciplines; including lighting, sound, set construction, costume and prop-making, marketing, outreach, venue and site management, administration and finance.
• Sharpen your creativity and management skills whilst collaborating with students from other programmes to deliver diverse performances and events.
• Extend your learning through research, secondments, work placements in the industry or a period of study abroad.
• Share classes and projects with students from other programmes to learn about the cultural, performance, arts and events industries and how to use experimentation, enquiry and creative research in your work as you prepare to build a successful career.

Career opportunities
Adaptable and creative practitioners, graduates from the Stage Management Programme, from which this programme has been developed, have gone on to work in a wide range of fields: theatre, dance, opera, television, festivals and corporate events. They have also moved into sound and video for live performance alongside arts and venue management roles.

“It prepares you very much for the industry and the way they’ve built it as a technical course, your level of training is like no other.” Anthony Norris-Watson
Deputy Production Manager, The Old Vic Theatre

Location: Sidcup