Drama (Musical Theatre)

BA Drama (Musical Theatre) takes you on a learning journey that helps you to 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. You will have opportunities to explore, reflect, analyse, rehearse and perform a wide range of repertoire under the guidance of experienced professionals in the fields of performance skills development, scholarship, industry trends and performance making.

Each year, you will benefit from working alongside BA Drama students on Extended Theatre Practice modules that will broaden your skills and understanding of the performing arts. 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
This is where you will lay the foundations for your degree work through building safe vocal practice, exploring vocal techniques, developing strategies for characterisation and staging, exploring repertoire and practitioners, and participating in ensemble-based performance work. Alongside this, you will build skills and confidence as a communicator and critical thinker through engagement with a range of readings, viewing tasks and listening exercises tailored to support and deepen your development as an informed practitioner.

Year two
This involves further exploration of repertoire and will help you to sharpen your vocal and staging skills through study of different styles of musical and their demands of performers - both through class ensemble work and through detailed individualised work within duets or trios supported by vocal and staging tutors. You will learn about new musical theatre development processes and work as part of a company to create a new musical theatre performance piece. Meanwhile, your Extended Theatre Practice options will enable you to explore related areas of performance and approaches to performance-making, broadening your skillsets and knowledge of the performing arts.

Year three
The focus here is on professionalisation, helping you to set and pursue individual goals in preparation for your chosen career path. Your performance, interpretive and creative skills development on the course so far will culminate in public performance work, alongside engagement with current debates around musical theatre. Meanwhile, Extended Theatre Practice modules will strengthen your employment options post-university through study of related specialist skills areas.

Across the course, we assess your engagement with and understanding of the work we are doing through a variety of assessment tasks, including:

• In-class, workshop and formal performance work
• 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.