We finish off the summer with a West End Week, welcoming guest performers from some brilliant shows to teach songs and choreography. Every day young people explore different material with a guest teacher. Over the last three years, students have worked with guest friends from the west end shows 'Heathers', 'Six', 'Bring It On', 'Dreamgirl's, '& Juliet', 'Hamilton', 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie', 'Wicked', 'We Will Rock You', 'Les MIserables', 'Hairspray', 'Be More Chill', 'Come From Away' and 'Six'. We will confirm this year's guest teachers later in the year.
Musical theatre is one of the most popular forms of entertainment. For over a century, it’s helped us to understand how the world works, generating stories of hope and optimism while considering the challenging issues at the heart of being human.
Develop vital stagecraft skills in movement, voice, acting, and devising on our Musical Theatre degree course and explore contemporary approaches to music and theatre. You’ll immerse yourself in all forms of practice, create new musicals. stage a full production in your first and final year, and produce a professional showreel for use in the industry.
You'll also examine musical theatre's significance in popular culture and society, exploring themes such as the representation of race, gender and politics on the local and global stage, and gain vital transferable skills for all kinds of career opportunities after you graduate.
Along the way, you’ll use specialist facilities, collaborate with students on other creative courses, work with professional composers, writers, and directors, and perform in many fantastic locations – in Portsmouth and beyond.
Course highlights:
- Enhance your creative collaboration by working alongside peers and new writers to create shows
- Boost your professional profile by developing a showreel to perform in front of agents, producers, and casting directors as part of your final-year career preparations
- Develop career-enhancing skills in mixed- and multi-media arts, including live and virtual practices
- Gain valuable industry experience by taking an optional placement
- Take advantage of pioneering research by studying at the home of Studies in Musical Theatre – the UK’s only international academic journal dedicated to musical theatre
- Get current professional insight by attending guest lectures from leading actors, producers, and authors – past guests include actor Sheila Hancock, Randy Adams (Tony award-winning producer of Memphis the Musical), Lyn Darnley (former Head of Voice and Text, Royal Shakespeare Company), and Ken Cerniglia (Hadestown dramaturg and Disney Theatricals’ literary director)
Accredited by Pearson
A two year course offering a qualification equivalent to 3 A-Levels, allowing progression to University or Drama School.
Over thirty tutor-led hours of training every week, leading to assessments and performance opportunities relating to your chosen pathway: Classical, Contemporary, Devised, Physical Theatre or full musicals. Highly qualified teachers deliver excellent training in purpose built premises.
This is a fully funded opportunity for committed and talented young people looking to develop their talent and creative potential.
Our ethos is really important to us; we are here as artists and practitioners, creators, thinkers and learners, here to encourage your development, understanding and appreciation of theatre and drama as powerful tools in the examination of human interaction, and to help you respond in a personal and creative way. We are a department of collaboration, creation and innovation and you will be involved in the lively artistic life of the College as a ClassAction practitioner. Everyone will always be encouraged to find their own unique artistic voice as a practitioner.
The course demands practical, creative and communication skills in equal measures. You will be expected to extend your ability to create drama and theatre, either in a performing or a production role. You will write about drama and develop your powers of analysis to become an informed critic. The course will involve taking part in productions as well as studying plays, playwrights and theatre practitioners.
The teaching is done using a variety of approaches designed to suit different abilities and learning styles. Our staff work closely together and operate a team-teaching approach for practical units to encourage the widest range of creativity.
