FdA Musical Theatre

Program Overview

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Course Details

Within an ever-changing industry, it's vital to ensure you're fully equipped for a long, diverse career. A strong, professional skill set covering singing, dancing and acting is essential for a musical theatre performer. Our ambition is to help you become not only a triple threat but also nurture your individual identity and ability to create and produce your own innovative work. We want to foster your skills in creative entrepreneurship.

Delivered by Shockout Arts, our intensive 2-year FdA Musical Theatre course supports you to acquire, develop and refine the technical and artistic skills essential for success on stage through professional training at level 5. Additionally, we'll help you gain a clear contextual understanding of the wider industry, so this foundation degree provides aspiring musical theatre performers with an ideal springboard into employment and a sustainable career in entertainment. In addition, as a foundation degree graduate, you'll be able to continue your studies at an advanced level by completing a level 6 final year top-up course to gain a BA (Hons) qualification. Our BA (Hons) Musical Theatre (Top-Up), also delivered by Shockout Arts, offers a seamless continuation of your studies with us. We'll consider your application through assessment and interview.

Throughout your training, you'll explore the core techniques of acting, voice and dance. Our qualified and specialist professional practitioners will also support you in developing a breadth of knowledge in devising and developing production, musical theatre for stage and screen, and audition and casting techniques. Additionally, you'll have regular performance opportunities to help you build a diverse range of technical performance skills and prepare you for the industry.

The teaching staff at Shockout Arts are professional and world-renowned practitioners and choreographers. They are keen to make the time you spend with them as stimulating and rewarding as possible and enjoy a well-deserved reputation for being approachable and interested in your progress. As teaching often takes place in small groups, you'll have access to individual support and guidance at every stage.

For full details about Shockout Arts, their open days and accommodation, please visit http://www.weareshockout.com/.

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Highlights

You'll have regular classes with professional artists from the performing arts, film and TV and dance industries, such as professional actors and dancers, directors, producers and choreographers.

You can gain additional insights and knowledge of the performing arts industry by attending our ‘master class’ sessions and guest workshops given by renowned industry experts from the performing arts industry, including musical theatre, TV and film.

We aim to immerse you in the current performing arts, TV, film and live theatre/performance arenas so you can understand and prepare for the constant changes and innovations in the industry.

You'll be based at Shockout Arts in Manchester and train in their purpose-built, high-specification performing arts studios.

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Key Features

We'll focus on helping you gain a wide range of relevant knowledge and skills such as singing techniques, voice and speech, movement and acting techniques for actors, storytelling, improvisation, as well as jazz, ballet, tap and commercial dance techniques.

We'll guide you as you explore musical theatre so you gain experience of the history, traditions, practitioners and innovators that form the foundations of contemporary and future performing arts.

You'll have the chance to learn specialist techniques for performance, rehearsal and audition scenarios.

We'll help prepare you for the practicalities of paperwork and self-promotion that professional musical theatre artists face. We'll cover how to perfect your CV and job applications, deal with agencies, tackle the tax and self-assessment system, create showreels and develop your online and social media presence.

We’ll encourage you to develop essential transferable skills and attributes such as effective communication, creative problem solving, working collaboratively with other people, resilience, adaptability, self-awareness and confidence.

Program Outline

Our FdA Musical Theatre degree focuses on preparing you for a career in musical theatre, building excellent performance skills, musical versatility and adaptability, and a powerful understanding of musical theatre repertoire. The all-round knowledge and skills of performance this course offers also opens doors to many careers in the wider performing arts industry, such as live theatre, dance, TV, film and radio, as well as other related careers in the diverse artistic and entertainment industries.

Some of the key skills associated with this foundation degree include performance skills, confidence, self-presentation, teamwork, self-awareness, communication skills, and coping with criticism. Foundation degree graduates can also expect to possess the ability to work individually and collaboratively and demonstrate creative problem-solving skills, listening, clarifying, questioning and responding skills, and critical thinking skills.

What can I do with this qualification?

Foundation degree graduates can take advantage of opportunities in a wide range of careers relating to musical theatre, performance, creative producing, education, community, and arts administration. Opportunities exist within musical theatre, live theatre arts, TV and film, work on cruise ships and in the leisure industry, promotion and commercial events, and popular music performance.

A career in musical theatre is often complemented with employment in teaching or devising and performing your own work. Self-employment may be another option where you could establish your own performance-related business. Alternatively, you may choose to further your studies through our BA (Hons) top-up course and later progress to postgraduate level study or train to become a dance teacher in the education sector. If you wish to continue your education at the master's level, Shockout Arts also has a fast-growing postgraduate provision to accommodate your needs.

As a foundation degree graduate, you'll possess skills and expertise that span the production arena so you can take advantage of a diverse range of opportunities such as performer, choreographer, director, dance captain, swing roles, art production, and theatre and artist management. You could also explore opportunities in areas such as creative producing, education, community performance, and curatorial and arts administration.

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Alternative career options

Foundation degree graduates can also use the qualification to step into a range of other careers. Relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required for some of these roles. Some of these careers include:

Teaching and education

Community arts

Modelling

Journalism and writing

Dance, theatre, film or TV critic

Dance or drama therapy

Arts administration

Agent work

Casting

Marketing and PR