Home Courses Stage and Screen BA (Hons) Teaching of Musical Theatre (TMT)
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Learn to teach musical theatre and audition to perform at local theatres

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W4X1
3 years Full Time
Bishop Otter Campus (Chichester)

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Overview

Learn to share your passion with others

This BA (Hons) Teaching of Musical Theatre (TMT) degree is delivered by highly experienced practitioners in musical theatre and in the specialist teaching of performance work, You will train in musical theatre dance, singing and stage acting. You will select your study focus to reflect your strengths in these different areas from the first year, and develop your practical skills in vocal or dance teaching throughout the degree.

You will have opportunities to perform in projects ranging from large scale musical theatre productions with full pit orchestra, set and costume, to straight plays, smaller ensemble projects and dance revues. In your second and third year you will have opportunities to audition for performance projects at the Alexandra Theatre, other regional theatres and in our own campus performance spaces.

You will study a range of topics with a specific focus on teaching others and be able to develop skills in technical theatre and arts management roles by supporting performance projects.

You will graduate with skills that will enable you to navigate the complexities of teaching within the musical theatre industry.

On this course you will:

  • Train in musical theatre dance, singing and stage acting.
  • Choose your focus to reflect your strengths.
  • Develop your practical teaching skills in vocal or dance teaching.
  • Have opportunities to perform in projects ranging from large scale musical theatre to straight plays, smaller ensemble projects and dance revues.
  • Be able to audition for performance projects at the Alexandra Theatre and other regional theatres.
  •  Study topics with a specific focus on teaching.
  • Learn from highly experienced practitioners in musical theatre and in teaching performance work.

Musical Theatre and Cabaret at Chichester

Teaching and Assessment

How you will learn

You will be taught by a core team of experienced and highly-qualified tutors together with a wide-ranging team of acting, dance and vocal coaches drawn from a team of more than 200 specialist staff.

You will be assessed by a range of assignments including essays, portfolios, examinations, performances, practical work, project work, presentations and seminar discussions.

The Course

What you will study

You will study a selection of core and optional modules in each year. Each module is worth a number of credits is delivered differently, depending on its content and focus of study.

This list is indicative and subject to change.

Select a year

Grades and Development in Playing, Singing or Dance

This module examines the connections between the measured progress of the young player, singer or dancer and the general creative development of the child.

Sessions are focused on graded development at early stages, with particular attention being paid to the acquisition of aural training and sight reading skills.

You will consider general aspects of repertoire and skill development and students are encouraged to focus at least part of your study on an elected specialist area.

Introduction to Musical Theatre

The module introduces you to key skills in examining repertoire drawn from succeeding periods of musical theatre history, supporting an examination of musical structure with a parallel focus on developments in dance and drama within the genre.

Musical Grammar 1

This module will introduce, reintroduce and familiarise you with a range of aspects of musical structure and its notation. Alongside this, you will present and discuss your work, both individually and in groups – enhancing skills in teamwork and presentation, and building confidence.

Musical Theatre Skills 1

This all year module focuses on the technical training in dance (jazz, ballet, tap) acting and singing which will form the foundation of your training for musical theatre. You will study a combination of dance technique and routines, acting techniques, vocal repertoire classes, musical styles and performance skills.

Performance Development

This includes your 1 to 1 tuition in your selected instrumental or vocal study.

Professional Resilience

This module will explore a range of different strategies designed to offer support to the emerging arts practitioner and will introduce students to a number of different models of successful self-development.

Technique for the Young Performer

You will explore sound approaches to technique and analyse a range of technique strategies as you draw upon your own experience as a learner.

Musical Theatre Skills 2

Building on the foundation of your first year of study this all year module focuses on further developing your technical training in dance (jazz, ballet, tap, commercial, body conditioning) acting and singing. You will study a combination of more advanced dance techniques and routines, acting techniques including duologues, vocal repertoire classes, musical style and performance skills.

Opera and Operetta

Available in two different delivery modes, this module can be followed as either a conventional weekly series of lectures during semester two, or as a week long intensive culminating in a staged performance outside the semester period.

Learning is focused on examples drawn from 19th century opera forms, seeking to develop a lively sense of the evolving performance context which came to be described as operetta.

Performance Anxiety

Examine the problem of performance anxiety and stage nerves and study the theoretical background and how to effectively deal with anxiety.

You will look at the performance itself and the surrounding physiological and psychological factors that lead to stage nerves during performance.

This module introduces a wide range of theories from relevant disciplines including cognitive behavioural therapy and neuro-linguistic programming.

Performance Development

This includes your 1 to 1 tuition in your selected instrumental or vocal study.

Preparing Young Musicians for Assessment and Performance

The practical, placement experience allows you to become a beginner all over again by learning a ‘new’ instrument during this term, recreating the feelings experienced by beginners.

Reflections on this experience will inform and shape your approach to teaching in placement contexts.

You will also observe school children in the early stages of learning to sing and will reflect on how the observations relate to their personal experience during the module. Various repertoire, aural tests, scales, and sight reading will be included in a broad exploration of assessment and discussions will cover the pressures or constraints that exams place on students.

Professional Resilience

This module will explore a range of different strategies designed to offer support to the emerging arts practitioner and will introduce students to a number of different models of successful self-development.

Psychology of Learning and Teaching

This module explores the psychology, or the internal processes, of both the teacher and student perspective during musical learning. You will develop a general understanding of the historical framework of learning theories and social frameworks with psychology.

Self-Employment, Employment and Visualising Success

This module explores the local and national marketplace and will introduce you to a number of different models of successful positioning within it.

A successful career as a music professional needs to be informed, alongside musical and communication skills, by an understanding of the nature of self employment in business.

This module will seek to develop this, and to encourage a confident approach to the world beyond university, enabling a tailored financial and business planning which encourages an awareness of local markets and circumstances.

The Movie Musical

The module will introduce students to key skills in examining repertoire drawn from succeeding periods of movie musical history, supporting an examination of musical structure with a parallel focus on developments in dance and drama within the genre.

The Musical Theatre Business

You will explore examples of different types of musical theatre performance and the function of a range of professional roles in commercial and publicly funded contexts.

Business Project

This module is taken by Arts Management students and aims to develop competency in business planning and imaginative use of physical and creative resources.

Communicating Music Through Movement & Gesture

This module explores the opportunities that exist for enhanced communication within the formal performance context, using the performer’s own physical projection of self and personal narrative of intention.

Work will also be developed in a broader context, allowing a deeper understanding of the semiotics of movement – the kinesic variables which impact upon the viewer – and the generic codes which attach to the music they play.

Group Teaching

You will engage in workshop activities to explore the potential of strategies and material that could be used in a range of teaching contexts.

You will reflect on relationships between this activity and your practical workshop experience and complete practical experience with a musical group/class/ensemble at the university, a school, or a performance centre where you will observe the methods, manner, and style of the teacher and then design a piece for that group.

Introduction to Fundraising in the Arts

The module will consider the third-sector in relation to the other two sectors, the legal structures for non-profit organisations and regional variations in regulation, alongside the charity model in at least one other country.

Musical Theatre Skills 3

This year-long module consolidates all the learning in level 4 and 5 with training in the musical theatre disciplines of dance, acting and singing with a focus on advancing your technical understanding in your final year of study.

One to One Teaching

This module introduces a range of techniques in structuring lessons, communicating expressive and performance based concepts and problem solving designed to create an exciting and stimulating learning experience for individual singers, dancers and actors embarking on the early stages of study.

You will set your own goals in teaching and develop skills in analysing and measuring the outcomes of lessons, using this information to inform planning for effective teaching practices.

Opera

This module takes a chronological approach to the study of the genre, beginning with the early Baroque and offering examples of differing musical styles up until the first half of the 20th century, with a particular focus on the late 18th to mid 19th centuries.

The relationship between narrative and the musical expression of dramatic tension will be explored.

Your lectures will make connections between the function of musical structure and form within individual works and the development of character and plot.

Personal Study (Written)

This module provides you with an opportunity to select an area of study of your choice, to research it and present your findings in written form, and to develop this over an extended period.

Professional Resilience

This module will explore a range of different strategies designed to offer support to the emerging arts practitioner and will introduce students to a number of different models of successful self-development.

Swing Project

This module allows you to enhance your contribution to ensemble performance and to develop your skills in solo work in the context of a large performance project.

Longer term planning, rehearsal and preparation strategies for performance techniques will be emphasised. The module will work towards, and culminate in, a semi-staged performance. You will be required to prepare effectively and thoroughly for this performance.

Facilities

Use industry standard spaces and equipment

This programme is mainly taught at our Chichester campus and is located in one of the largest music departments in the UK, with enviable teaching, performance and practice resources.

You will also use the 350-seater Alexandra Theatre in Bognor Regis, on campus recital and orchestral performance spaces and a range of external venues in the UK and overseas..

The Bognor Regis campus is seven miles from the Bishop Otter campus and is connected by frequent buses. Our students therefore have access to both an historic cathedral city and an iconic south-coast seaside resort!

Study Abroad

Explore the opportunity to study part of your course abroad

As a student at the University of Chichester, you can explore opportunities to study abroad during your studies as you enrich and broaden your educational experiences.

Students who have undertaken this in the past have found it to be an amazing experience to broaden their horizons, a great opportunity to meet new people, undertake further travelling and to immerse themselves within a new culture.

You will be fully supported throughout the process to help find the right destination institution for you and your course. We can take you through everything that you will need to consider, from visas to financial support, to help ensure that you can get the best out of your time studying abroad.

Careers

Where you could go after your studies

This BA (Hons) Teaching of Musical Theatre (TMT) degree will prepare you for your future career. You will have the opportunity to develop a broad range of skills to enhance your CV and your employability.

As performers, alumni have gone into:

  • West End productions
  • Major touring productions throughout Europe
  • Teaching in stage schools
  • Major cruise ships including Disney
  • UK and International small-scale touring theatre
  • ​Private singing teaching
  • Edinburgh Festival
  • Cabaret
  • Stage managers, arts managers and producers picking up contracts in the UK and around the world

Further Study

You could choose to continue your studies at postgraduate level.

Study options at the University of Chichester include:

  • MA Music Performance
  • MA Music Teaching
  • PGCE
  • PhD/MPhil

University of Chichester alumni who have completed a full undergraduate degree at the University will receive a 15% discount on their postgraduate fees.

Course Costs

Course Fees 2024/25

UK fee
£9,250
International fee
£15,840

For further details about fees, please see our Tuition Fee page.

For further details about international scholarships, please see our Scholarships page.

To find out about any additional costs on this course, please see our Additional Costs page.

Entry Requirements

Typical offers (individual offers may vary):

UCAS
104-120
tariff points from A levels or combination with AS / EPQ / BTEC/ Cambridge Technical.
BTEC
DDD-DMM
IB
28 points
IELTS
with no element lower than 5.5.

Auditions

You will need to demonstrate your ability in dance, acting and singing in a performance audition. Applicants with high levels of performance skills may be considered for a lower academic offer.

Interviews and Auditions

Auditions and interviews usually run from January until March/April.

We aim to offer you a genuine dialogue during your application process. This gives you a sense of worth and achievement from the audition process itself; a sense of ownership for you during the process and, ultimately, is an opportunity for us to get a clear understanding of who you are, what you need, and how we can best prepare you for your degree.

We judge you on your skills, your potential, and your personality, not your background.

Booking Your Audition

If you are invited to audition you will receive an email asking you to book your audition date on ChiView. If you are unsuccessful we will email you to let you know.

You can usually choose between multiple days on ChiView at one time. If none of the current dates suit you please contact admissions@chi.ac.uk.

Once you have booked your audition, you will be able to access the audition guidance document on ChiView – just log into the ChiView portal, click on ‘Events schedule’ and then ‘View details’ to access the document, which will tell you how to prepare for your audition, what to expect on the day, etc.

If your situation changes and you can no longer attend your audition date, you should cancel your booking in ChiView by visiting your ‘Event Schedule’ and clicking ‘Cancel Attendance’. You also need to inform the admissions team by emailing admissions@chi.ac.uk, so we can send you a new audition invitation.

Using ChiView 

Sometimes if you are viewing your ChiView portal on a phone you will not be able to see the page correctly. If this happens you should try again on another device.

You may need to clear your browser history. 

If you are still unable to see the ‘View details’ button, please check that you have successfully booked your audition by clicking ‘respond to interview invitation’.

If all else fails please email admissions@chi.ac.uk with your query and applicant number.

Your Audition Day

Once you have booked your audition, please log into the ChiView portal, click on ‘Events schedule’ and then ‘View details’ to access the audition guidance document, which will tell you (amongst other things) what will happen at the audition itself, a basic itinerary of the whole day, parking information, etc.

In brief, there should be an introductory talk by the department, the chance to meet lecturers and other applicants, as well as your opportunity to perform for the audition panel.

After Your Audition

After your audition, the panel will discuss your performance and pass our decision onto the admissions team, who will update UCAS and email you with the outcome, whatever it might be.

  • We make bespoke offers: Your offer is specifically for you. If we offer less than your predicted grades, this will reflect the potential and quality of your audition and we’d like to take a bit of pressure off of you heading into your exams.
  • We don’t do unconditional offers: Unless you already have your grades (you are a mature student), we will always insist on certain grade achievements because we want you to succeed in all aspects of your academic life including your A levels, BTEC, etc.
  • If you do not get the grades you wanted: Don’t panic. You received an offer because you were good enough for the department at audition. On Results Day, just ring us on the clearing hotline, so we can discuss things with you.
  • We may offer you a different course: We may offer you a place on an alternative, relevant course within the department, rather than offer you the course you applied for. If this is the case, we will state this in your offer letter/email and update your course on UCAS. We will explain our reasoning, which will revolve around placing you on the most appropriate course where we think you will thrive.

Charlie

BMus (Hons) Music Performance
“I remember sitting in a music A level lesson when I received my email offering me an audition to study at the University of Chichester. I was immediately terrified of having to choose a piece to perform and to then perform it in front of tutors and other applicants. In the end I needn’t have worried at all, the audition experience was extremely enjoyable and relaxed. I had the best time meeting other prospective students, some of whom became course mates and one even a future housemate! Meeting the Head of Music, Ben Hall, was invaluable as it meant that any questions that I had about the course could be answered. He even gave us a tour of the Chichester campus and the music block which helped put us all at ease before we performed to each other.”

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

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Click the ‘Apply now’ button to go to relevant UCAS page.

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How do I know what my UCAS tariff points are?

Head to the UCAS Tariff Points web page where you can find a tariff points calculator that can tell you how much your qualification and grades are worth.

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