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Musical Theatre BA(Hons)

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

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Places available in clearing. Find out more.
Places available in clearing. Find out more.

Start date

16 September 2024

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years inc. placement year

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About the course

Reasons to study

  1. We’re ranked 27th in the world for 'Performing Arts' (QS World University Subject Rankings 2023).
  2. Opportunities to perform in front of public audiences each term in straight plays, musical showcases, and full musicals from the West End and Broadway stages.
  3. The University of Huddersfield was ranked in the top 10 in the UK for Music in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

Musical Theatre at Huddersfield is a practice-based course for those that wish to pursue a career as a musical theatre performer. While training with us, you'll benefit from one-to-one vocal training from experts in our music programme and acting and movement training from our Acting and Performance team.

You’ll investigate how musicals are constructed and learn to think critically about the form. You’ll also explore how to sing and move while acting, developing characters that are exciting to watch and hear.

Benefit, too, from opportunities to perform in front of public audiences each term you are here, in straight plays, musical showcases, and full musicals from the West End and Broadway stages. In our Creative Futures module, you’ll be given additional guidance on setting up your career after you graduate, providing you with a leg up as you enter the entertainment industry.

Why study Musical Theatre BA(Hons)

  • QS World University Subject Rankings 2023 ranked the University of Huddersfield 27th in the world for 'Performing Arts'.
  • Ranked in the top 10 in the UK for Music in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
  • Teaching by industry professionals and guest appearances from the likes of Professor Sir Patrick Stewart, Natalie Gavin, John Britton, Nicolás Núñez, Chloe Beale, Nicci Topping, Anna Helena McLean, and David Crowley.
  • Production-based programme along with visits from practitioners and residencies from internationally known companies like Slung Low, IOU Productions and Northern Broadsides.

Course detail

Core modules:

Text into Performance

You’ll have the opportunity to explore the ways in which a play script can form the basis for a live theatre production through working together as a company to stage a short text. Training in acting, voice, and the physical can be explored through the challenge of staging the work.

Making Performance 1

You will undertake a foundational training in approaches to making live performance. You will explore workshop practice, including aspects of performance training, as well as a range of techniques and starting points for creating work. The nature of group and individual creativity will be addressed, and you will engage in at least one major collaborative public performance project. You will keep logbooks and undertake contextual research and analysis.

Specialist Performance

You will work closely with an instrumental/vocal tutor throughout the year to develop your technical skills and musical insight to prepare you for solo and ensemble performance at intermediate and honours level. You will also be introduced to concepts of improvisation.

Performance Skills 1

You will gain hands-on experience of a variety of key musical skills: improvisation; aural awareness; ensemble performance; and evaluating your own and others' performances. A wide range of styles and genres will be explored, and you will work with musicians relevant to your specialism as a pop, classical, or jazz performer.

Entry requirements

To find out if you’re eligible to start this course in September 2024 and get more information on how to apply, please see our Clearing pages or call our Clearing Helpline on 0333 987 900001484 472777.

If you’re interested in studying this course in September 2025, please view the 2025-26 course information.

Placements

If you’re studying full-time, this course also offers an optional one-year (48 weeks) work placement after the second year, in the UK or abroad. This will give you the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience, insight into your chosen career and open up your graduate employment prospects.

A placement is a great opportunity to explore your chosen industry, to understand the sector, network and make valuable contacts, whilst developing your skills, knowledge and experience. A placement is a chance to get involved, to put theory into practice and to work alongside professionals.

Photo of Steph Bower, Placements officer for SAH

Stephanie Bower, Placements Officer

Your Career

Our graduates have gone on to work in the performing arts, award-winning films, television, touring theatre, teaching and running their own performance companies.

A selection of companies that have employed Huddersfield graduates in recent years include BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Lawrence Batley Theatre, BBC 6 Music, Royal National Theatre and Point Blanc Theatre Company. Some students have chosen postgraduate study or additional vocational training in specialist areas, whilst a significant number successfully gain teaching qualifications and enter the teaching profession.**

*Whilst this is a new course and therefore no graduate statistics for this specific course are available, 95% of graduates from courses in these subject areas at Huddersfield go on to work and/or further study fifteen months after graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 19/20, UK domiciled graduates).

**LinkedIn

95% Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Research excellence

Research plays an important role in informing all our teaching and learning activities. Through research our staff remain up-to-date with the latest developments in their field, which means you develop knowledge and skills that are current and highly relevant to industry. Our staff are recognised as leading figures in their fields, as evidenced by, publications and performances.

Over the past seven years, Drama, Theatre and Performance (DTP) at Huddersfield has gradually developed its research culture, attracting a range of internal and external funding for research projects and developing international contacts. DTP at Huddersfield is home to three peer-reviewed Open-Access academic journals: The Journal of Embodied Research(JER), Performance Magic, and Performance and Mindfulness and staff regularly contribute to a number of other journals including Theatre, Dance and Performance Training as well as various edited collections.These research outputs are firmly rooted in various the performance practices of the team which include, but aren’t restricted to,performance magic, psychophysical performance training, disability and performance, and performing aging, Over the past three years our staff and students have presented performances, workshops, and papers in the UK, Chile, Poland, Canada, USA, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, China, Malta, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Australia, Republic of Ireland.

For more information, please refer to our research pages.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules:

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes:

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment, or pandemics.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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