BA (Hons) Musical Theatre

Course Overview

Successful musicals can run for decades and a lot of people are needed to keep all that jazz on the road. As well as performers, musical theatre requires writers, composers, choreographers and directors to make it a success.

The Musical Theatre degree is designed for students with a passion for acting, music, and dance. You’ll gain an understanding of musical theatre forms such as revue, book, juke box and rock through practical exploration. You’ll do weekly intensive skills training in singing, dance and movement with industry professionals. There are multiple opportunities for public performances in our versatile 300 seat theatre and you’ll tour in a full-length musical directed and designed by industry professionals in the final year.

You'll be a member of The Actor's Wheel theatre company, learning about every stage of making and touring theatre from audition through to performance including marketing, production and financial management.

Why this course at Marjon?

Become a triple threat, develop your music and singing skills, dance techniques and acting under the guidance of industry professionals and directors.
Expand your musical theatre network through workshops with a wide range of musical industry contacts.
Tour your work regionally and nationally.
Perform in our 300-seat theatre and black box studio theatre.
Collaborate with a community of like-minded students across other performance-related courses.
Graduate with a piece of original musical theatre ready to tour, a business plan and marketing materials including headshots, show and voice reels, a CV full of experience and a strong alumni network of working professionals.

Perfect if you're curious about:

How do I become a triple threat?
How do I make a career out of musical theatre?
What is acting through song?
How do I develop my brand as a musical theatre performer?
How do I get an agent?
Jazz hands - love 'em or hate 'em?

Book an Open Day How to apply for this course

Course Snapshot

Sarah McAdam - Director of the School of Arts and Humanities

"During your first year you will explore approaches to acting on stage and learn how music interacts with performance in a practical environment. In the second year you will gain an understanding of the history behind musical theatre and further explore the theory behind music and singing in popular culture. You’ll bring these skills together in various performances across the year. Your third year focusses on preparing you for entering the industry with modules on building your portfolio, insider tips on getting job opportunities and a dissertation."

Modules

The following modules are compulsory:

1st Year

Theory and Practice 1
This module lays the foundation for thinking about musical theatre, providing the tools to communicate your ideas clearly, concisely and creatively whilst considering how the ideas of key practitioners might be used to influence or shape performance practice.
Craft and Discipline
Begin to develop your actor’s tool kit, with a foundation in core rehearsal techniques and skills in voice, movement, acting and improvisation that you can utilise and develop throughout the course and your career.
Dance Technique and Improvisation
Practical dance training focussing on a range of contemporary techniques and development of individual creativity through exploring the process of choreography from stimuli through to performance.
Naturalism
Practical training in script analysis, researching the world of the play, exploring subtext and character development, using the methods of Stanislavski to bring late nineteenth century scripts to life.
Singing and Music: Theory and Practice 1
Introduction to the core singing and music skills of the Actor Musician, focusing on developing the technical skills as both a solo and ensemble performer.
Ensemble Performance 1
Create, rehearse, and perform an original project, under the guidance of a creative team of experienced practitioners for public performance.

2nd Year

Popular Forms
A practical study of key popular theatre forms including forms such as Musical Theatre, Pantomime, Music Hall/Variety, Slapstick, Puppetry and Clowning leading to a performance.
Singing and Music: Theory and Practice 2
Intensive development of singing and music skills for performance, focusing on extending technical skills as both a solo and ensemble performer.
Dance and Musical Theatre styles
Practical dance training focussing on jazz and tap for musical theatre performance, and development of dance routines for performance.
Theory and Practice 2
This module provides the opportunity to choose an area of interest within musical theatre and develop this specialism, with supervision, for your own personal career development.
Ensemble Performance 2
As a company your will explore a range of musical theatre styles then rehearse musical theatre work for public performance under the guidance of a creative team of experienced practitioners.

3rd Year

The Freelance Artist
Gain the creative business skills and industry knowledge necessary to build your career as a working actor musician. Develop your brand, networking, audition, financial, and marketing skills. The module concludes with the creation of a portfolio of all the materials including cv, headshots, and audition material needed to launch your musical theatre career.
Acting through Song
Apply acting skills to the exploration of plot, character, context, relationships, and subtext to the development of songs and scenes for performance.
Festival Performance
Working within standard industry guidelines for festival performances create a self-directed small-scale musical theatre show. Take responsibility for every aspect of the performance from development through to marketing and liaising with technicians. The module concludes with a public performance festival.
Directed Production
Rehearse a full length musical theatre show under the guidance of a professional guest director. This module concludes your actor musician training with a national tour.

How will you be taught?

Every lecturer is a practicing professional in their field ensuring they are up to date with current industry practice, we also draw on an extensive network of visiting industry professionals and directors.

Students are taught through reflective praxis, which is a process of learning through doing and reflecting. This includes practical classes developing you as triple threat in singing, acting and dance, preparing you for all aspects of the production process from auditioning through rehearsal to performance and touring.

Students are taught through weekly classes alternated with blocks of intense daily rehearsals for productions.

How will you be assessed?

Students are assessed through practical work. This is supported by research and reflection which is assessed by presentations, written work including essays and blogs as well as discussion. There are no written exams.

Lecturers

Katy Morse

Visiting lecturer

Katy is a professional actor and has performed in many musicals on UK national tours, including at the Victoria Palace, London and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. She teaches Performing Arts in Education and Musical Theatre.

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Thomas Nicholls

Lecturer and Study Skills Librarian

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