The National Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre
This course gives students a training in Dance, Singing and Acting with relevant supporting subjects. It is aimed at developing versatile performers with the necessary skills to pursue a successful career in the world of musical theatre and the performing arts.
Singing for Musical Theatre
Core Subjects:
Technique & Repertoire
The aim of the Singing course of study is to produce independent, self reliant vocal practitioners who have the knowledge and skills to fulfill their full potential as a singer and the versatility to meet the wide-ranging vocal demands of the professional musical theatre industry. The course will provide the student with a detailed physical understanding of the workings of the vocal mechanism and the technique and awareness required to achieve vocal performances of the highest possible standard, whilst using the voice in a safe consistent and healthy manner. The Estill method is taught.
Integrated Performance
The Integrated Performance course of study will address the practical issues related to marrying these three disciplines of acting, dancing and singing. Classes will explore the skills, procedures and expectations of a musical theatre rehearsal. The course includes a musical production and provides the student with an effective rehearsal process. The course of study will also enable the student to apply and contextualise learning from across the curriculum.
Supporting Subjects
Singing for Audition
Sessions will provide the students with the knowledge and skills needed to meet the wide ranging demands of a professional singing audition, including preparation of a portfolio of songs. They will be led by a tutor with experience of professional castings and supported by master classes from leading industry professionals who will demonstrate and advise on good audition practice. These will include casting and musical directors, agents and directors.
Agents Showcases for graduate year students are held at the Urdang
Performance
There are several opportunities each year for students to develop performance skills in preparation for professional employment after their graduation. This covers all three core disciplines of the Musical Theatre strand.
Professional Practice
In addition to striving for a strong technical and artistic standard the student must have an understanding of self-management and promotion relevant to the profession. This is covered by:
| Career Management, |
| The Healthier Performer |
| Health and Safety |
| Productions Skills. |
Development Skills
Students will learn about the history of the profession and how to use research as a tool both to gain employment and to give depth to their work. This covers:
| History of Dance and the History of Musical Theatre, |
| Reviews of Professional Production, |
| Music Theory for the Performer, |
| Third Year Project: to design and present their own concept for a new piece of theatre, musical theatre or dance. |
Singing for Musical Theatre
Core Subjects:
Acting
The aim is to produce flexible and articulate performers who are able to meet the acting demands of a variety of repertoires and genres, but particularly musical theatre. It will provide the studetn with the tools to formulate a personal and independent acting process that will allow them to prepare for and thrive within a professional rehearsal and performance situation.
Acting Through Song
Students learn to apply classical acting technique to songs. A key focus of the work will be how the actor frees themselves from self-consciousness whilst singing through concentration of attention.
Voice
The focus is the exploration of the craft of voice production as revolutionised by the leading voice teachers of recent years, Cicely Berry and Patsy Rodenburg. Through repetition of exercise and the development of physical awareness, the course of study will enable the students to discover an unrestricted, well-placed voice, powered by the breath and free of habitual tension: a voice able to meet the wide-ranging vocal demands of the professional theatre.
Acting for Audition
Providing students with the knowledge and skills needed, including sight reading and preparation of a portfolio of monologues, to meet the varied demands of a professional acting audition. Sessions will be lead by a tutor with experience of professional castings.
Accent Class
Sessions will be led by an expert voice tutor on the use of accents. The following accents will be explored:
| Received Pronunciation (R.P.) |
| Yorkshire |
| General London |
| Southern American |
| General American and New York |
Movement for Actors
Classes will look to extend the students' level of physcial awareness and observation and to widen their methods of exploration for developing and inhabiting physical characterisations. The workshops will look to develop the students' vocabulary of physical expression as they explore movement work beyond Naturalism.
Dance for Musical Theatre
Core Subjects:
| Classical Ballet |
| Contemporary |
| Jazz |
| Street Dance |
| Tap |
Supporting Subjects
