Best of both-Acting and Musical Theatre at Italia Conti

One of the UK's leading performing arts institutions now offers a full-time three-year BA (Hons) Acting (Musical Theatre) course. Italia Conti's new course sits alongside its existing Acting and Musical Theatre courses but appeals to a different group of applicants.

‘We were seeing over 2000 people applying for our BA Musical Theatre course every year, but there were plenty who didn't really fit into that course or our Acting course,’ explains Dan Fulham, Head of School of Musical Theatre and Dance and the new course's co-leader. ‘We also often heard individuals expressing their love to be in a musical, with an equal passion to be a “straight” actor. The course was created to honour both areas credibly, providing expertise in both acting and musical theatre.’

This new BA is validated by the University of Chichester, designed to fully prepare students for the performance industry and encompasses acting, singing, voice, movement and dance. It has been designed to respond to current industry needs, as well as contemporary teaching and learning developments. It is co-taught by the school's Acting and Musical Theatre specialist teams, a combination not found in other drama schools where the teaching of musical theatre tends to be confined to the department's staff.

Nailing the fundamentals

The first year of the course focuses on the fundamentals of the core disciplines and skill integration, with specialist performance classes to support the development of students' technical performance skills. The focus on traditional musical theatre material allows appreciation of historical performance contexts, lyrical and traditional singing styles.

The year also provides a solid foundation in acting principles, with students introduced to Stanislavski's system as interpreted by contemporary practitioners, such as Uta Hagen and Meisner, alongside non-traditional processes. Through improvisation and text, students develop the skills and knowledge needed to create rounded characters.

These core skills come together in the Musical Theatre Performance Practice module in which students apply these skills holistically in a performance combining acting, singing and movement. Longer term assignments also form an integral part of the training, with two termly projects in the first year ranging from a Christmas carol concert to an abridged traditional book musical.

The application process

First round auditions (self-tape)

• One contemporary speech (post-1970)
• One classical speech (chosen from a list provided)
• One ‘Golden Age’ lyrical song (pre-1965)
• One contemporary Musical song (post-1965)

Recall

• Redirection of speeches and songs
• Interview

Applying the skills

In the second year, students apply their technical skills and knowledge in rehearsals and projects, with more advanced core skill classes in which students develop characters within more challenging performance opportunities. Non-naturalistic and advanced naturalistic texts are also introduced.

In the first two years, ‘contextual practice’ stimulates reflection and critical thinking while allowing the students to apply this contextual and historical study to their practical work. Integrating these principles of practice research in theatre-making prepares students for their independent performance project in final year.

The final frontier

The third year of study draws together all previous training, with the year built around several professionally directed public performances. These are accompanied by professional preparation workshops, lectures and discussions that aim to ease third year students into the performing arts industry. There are also opportunities to further develop their individual creative voices and storytelling styles through a practical dissertation.

Students perform in two staged productions – one musical, one play – and an industry showcase, while continuing to train in courses of Acting for Screen, Singing and Dance for Actors. An independent performance project sees students creating a practical piece of theatre from a stimulus. Wider skills for professional practitioners are also taught, such as membership of Spotlight and networking with agents and casting directors.

The perfect candidate

‘We look for a diverse range of students,’ says Dan Fulham. ‘We're interested in exciting young actors with a clear sense of personality, who possess a sense of play, and who don't take themselves too seriously. Displaying kindness and empathy towards one's peers, practitioners and the work is also key.’

First-year student April Davies has enjoyed the course so far. ‘There are only 24 in my year, so our training feels really individualized,’ she says. ‘We are well supported and can hone our skills independently alongside the more “traditional” musical theatre training. It makes the very long hours worth it, as sometimes we're in from 8am to 9.30pm.’

Italia Conti possesses an international reputation of providing vocational and conservatoire-style training opportunities, preparing students to become versatile and valuable members of the performance industry. This exciting course creates actors who can sing and feel confident about auditioning for a musical, allowing them to leave equipped with the skills necessary to embark upon a successful professional career.

italiaconti.com/courses/ba-hons-acting-musical-theatre