Miranda Lundskaer-Nielsen

Personal statement

I'm a Senior Lecturer in Drama and Musical Theatre within the Bath School of Music and Performing Arts where I lead and teach on the Musical Theatre Pathway and serve as the university’s link tutor for Musical Theatre courses at our partner colleges. 

I started my professional career as an Assistant Director in London on small and fringe productions of Marriage of Figaro, Macbeth, Ostrovsky's A Family Affair, a new adaptation of Alain Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes and as Associate Director on the world premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker's translation of Pelleas and Melisande.

In 1999, I moved to New York to take up a PhD Fellowship at Columbia University, studying with American theatre scholars and taking classes with Broadway and Off-Broadway producers; my PhD thesis included interviews with leading British and American musical theatre directors, writers and producers. While in New York, I also worked as a script reader for the New York Public Theater and a commercial producer; as literary manager for a writer-driven theatre company; and as a Founding Associate Producer of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF).

Back in London, I taught Drama and Musical Theatre at Goldsmiths College, University of London and at University of Greenwich; worked as Programme Coordinator for Mercury Musical Developments; and served on the initial steering committee of what became the current Musical Theatre Network, a UK networking organisation for musical theatre creatives.

On joining Bath Spa in 2007, I drew on my academic and industry background to build musical theatre into the curriculum - first through collaborative modules with the music department and then through designing, leading and co-teaching the current Musical Theatre Pathway within the Drama subject area. In summer 2024, I was invited to participate in the international MTEA musical theatre teaching conference to speak about our innovative approaches to collaborative and interdisciplinary musical theatre teaching at Bath Spa.

Since 2008, I have acted as the university’s Link Tutor for musical theatre courses at our partner colleges and I served for six years as the Educational Partnership Lead for the Bath School of Musical and Performing Arts. Together with my External Examiner roles, this has been a valuable opportunity to connect with and learn from colleagues in other institutions. I also regularly attend both academic and industry musical theatre conferences and events, ensuring that the musical theatre curriculum and teaching practices at Bath Spa are in dialogue with wider developments in the field both within and beyond the UK.

Alongside teaching and curriculum development, I engage in research within the field of musical theatre with a particular interest in contextual, dramaturgical and performance analysis of British and American musicals. My publications in the field include a book, book chapters and journal articles spanning a variety of British and American musical theatre practices and practitioners.

Academic qualifications

• PhD in Theatre, Columbia University, New York.
• MA Text and Performance, RADA/Kings College London
• BA (Hons) English Language and Literature, University College London
  
  

Professional qualifications

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
• PGCE English and Drama - Institute of Education, London.

External Examiner Roles (Musical Theatre)

• MA Musical Theatre, Liverpool John Moores University (2021-2024)
• PhD Thesis, University of Surrey (2024)
• PhD Thesis, University of Sydney, Australia (2022)
• MA Musical Theatre, Goldsmiths College, University of London (2010-2013).

Professional Roles and Memberships

• Serving member of the Editorial Board for Studies in Musical Theatre journal 
• Peer reviewer for book publishers including Bloomsbury and Methuen Drama
• Peer reviewer for academic journals including Contemporary Theatre and Studies in Musical Theatre.
• Member of Musical Theatre Network (MTN)
• Member of Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA)

Teaching specialism

• Musical Theatre dramaturgy
• Musical Theatre acting and staging
• Musical Theatre history
• Social politics and the musical.

Current scholarship

I am currently finalising a dramaturgical performance analysis of "Gypsy".