Drama (Musical Theatre)

On the Musical Theatre degree course, your learning journey is structured around core, required, and optional modules that combine practical work with creative and critical engagement.

You'll build on your existing experience and enthusiasm for musicals through a process of skills development, creative exploration and engagement with ideas and debates that will prepare you to take your place in the professional world.

Your learning experience includes:

• Ensemble and solo performance opportunities
• Workshops with guest artists and industry specialists
• Creative projects and public performances
• Critical analysis and reflection on performance and theatre-making

Beyond the course, the Bath Spa Student Union Societies offer a host of exciting opportunities to get involved, try out new skills, meet people from other disciplines who share your interests, and make useful connections for post-graduation – not least as part of the dynamic Musical Theatre, Dance, Theatre and Music societies.

Year one: foundations
This is where you start your degree journey through building safe and individualised vocal practice, exploring musical theatre vocal techniques, and developing your skills in musical staging and Acting through Song. You'll explore a wide range of musical theatre repertoire and practitioners, and work with Drama peers on Ensemble Theatre, Contemporary Theatre and a collaborative performance project.

Year two: exploration
You'll sharpen and extend your vocal, acting and staging skills through study of different styles of musicals and their demands of performers - both through class ensemble work and through detailed individualised work within duets or trios supported by specialist vocal and staging tutors. You will learn about new musical theatre development processes and work as part of a company to create an original musical theatre performance piece. Typically, Extended Theatre Practice option modules include areas such as Applied Theatre (including schools-based work), Visual and Physical Theatres, Puppetry and / or movement-based Physical Theatre.

Year three: professionalisation
Your performance, interpretive and creative skills development builds to public performances and exploration of current cultural debates around musical theatre; you also receive industry and employability-focused guidance on audition and interview processes, digital self-promotion and networking. ETP modules typically include Staging Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama, Theatre for Social Engagement (including community theatre work) and a research project into an area of particular interest to you.

Across the course, we employ a variety of assessment tasks, including: 

• Skills workshops and tutoring
• Performance work (in-class, internal and public-facing)
• Collaborative rehearsals and devising
• Presentations
• Critical reflection
• Script, song and show analysis 
• Research 
• Professional Development portfolios.

You'll be taught through a range of activities including:

• Exploratory workshops
• Skills classes and tutoring
• Interactive lectures and seminars
• Rehearsals
• Visiting Practitioners
• Theatre visits
• Directed Study

You can find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn at Bath Spa at Your Learning and Teaching at BSU.

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

As a Drama student, you’ll benefit from our partnerships with local performance venues, schools and community groups as well as visits from industry professionals. Previous visitors have covered a range of specialisms including playwriting, directing, acting, television production, theatre in education, and children’s theatre.

Recent visiting professionals include:

• Baz Taylor - Television director (Bergerac, Eastenders, Shine on Harvey Moon, Lovejoy)
• Neil D’Souza - Actor and writer
• Kylie Walsh - Paper Birds Theatre Company
• Mark Wilson - Natural Theatre Company
• Geese Theatre Company - Internationally renowned applied theatre company
• Local professional theatre companies - The Misfits, Travelling Light Theatre Company, Up In Arms Theatre Company.

We equip you with creative, collaborative, writing, presentational and communication skills that are invaluable in many professional and vocational areas.

Many of our graduates pursue careers in the creative industries and teaching. Others use it as the basis for specialised postgraduate study - either academic or vocational training.

Recent graduates have won places at Central School of Speech and Drama, Yale Theatre School, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Guildford School of Acting and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

You'll benefit from use of teaching and rehearsal facilities at Newton Park campus.

Facilities include:

• University Theatre
• University Theatre studios
• Ashton Drama studio
• Commons lecture and seminar rooms
• Michael Tippett Centre: auditorium/practice rooms
• Library
• TV studios.