BA [HONS] MUSICAL THEATRE

BA [HONS] ACTING

2015 - 2016

Graduate Production 2014 Just So by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe

Watermans Theatre

Pre-Course Handbook
London College of Music
University of West London August 2015

WELCOME!
Welcome to University of West London as a member of this unique course,
which is well placed at the heart of London College of Music at Ealing
Broadway. We are delighted to have been able to accept you as a student
on this course and look forward to working with you over the next three
years to support you in developing the potential, which you demonstrated
at audition. Our twin aims are to do our best to enable you to obtain a
degree and to help you to position yourself effectively at the end of your
time with us to enter the performing arts industry as a skilled and
confident professional.
We are here because we are people who are excited about the
performance arts and the stage and fascinated by its processes, its history
and the ideas and practices linked with it. You are here because you have
felt this excitement as well. You need to take advantage of the many
opportunities, which the course will offer you, focusing always on making
yourself more aware and skilled as an actor-singer. The course is part of
the suite of performance-based courses offered by the London College of
Music (LCM), which is one of the schools at UWL. The LCM has a long and
distinguished history (over 100 years) of turning out top-class professional
performers. In recent years it has diversified to offer courses in musical
theatre, musical direction, new writing, theatre design and technology and
acting. This means that you are the inheritor of a long and proud academic
and professional tradition in a unique performance-based institution.
This course teaches all three related disciplines (movement/acting/vocal)
in a positive learning environment and is contributory to the creation of
what could be referred to as the total performer It is understood that
instinct and accident can be major forces in this field but this degree is
about technique and discipline, both in the practical and intellectual
aspects of performance. It is agreed that in this field it is through doing
that knowledge and intellectual skills are to be identified and developed.
In recognition of current trends within all aspects of performance media,
the course seeks to develop you as a reflective practitioner with the ability
to devise and reform original work. We believe it is essential to develop
these skills in order to prepare for employment in the 21 st century.
Resources include a new state-of-the-art performance space, rehearsal
studios, recording studios, video production suites plus use of external
venues such as, Ealing Town Hall, Questors Theatre, Soho Theatre, Actors
Centre, Watermans Theatre, Charing Cross Theatre and Leicester Square
Theatre.
David S K Henson
Revised: August 2015

Page 1

Musical Theatre studied from an acting perspective

University qualification whilst offering a distinctive vocational
flavour

Seeks to develop the self-thinking practitioner

Instinct and accident are major forces in performance
- we

challenge these in practical and intellectual

circumstances

ourse is unique by being based within a Musical

Conservatoire

Acting is at the heart of all the work undertaken

Learn through a variety of assessment strategies

The Code of Practice is an invaluable tool for the development of the

working performer

Heart of the course gives respect to movement, theatre and

music

Equipped purpose-built performance studios and lecture

theatres

Actions definitely speak louder than words

Technique and discipline at the heart of these studies in

order to provide
students with a good understanding of the nature of the
business

Recording studios and Blast! university radio station plus

additional relevant
facilities

Employment opportunities are varied

Page 2

BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Acting

Pathway
LEVEL 3:
Introdution to Acting

Introduction to Voice

Introduction to Movement

LEVEL 4:
development of the actorsinger. Techniques in
movement, acting, spoken
and sung voice

Performance Project

General Musicianhip

Additional studies in
dance and stage
combat plus Individual
singing tutorials and
theatre practice

LEVEL 5: creativity
encouraged by more
sophisticated technical
competecies in actor
movement, acting,
spoken and sung voice

musicianship, musical
theatre contexts and
detailed analysis as to
how a musical is
structured

interpretation of the
text/song lyric through
the use of sung voice,
body, acting and life
experience

Individual singing
tuition, rehearsal
process to help define
the text/song lyric scene studies

Advanced studies in
dance and professional
qualifications in stage
combat plus
performance workshops
from the industry

LEVEL 6: actor-singer
engages in an in-depth
study of musical theatre
material. New
interpretative choices to
be realised by the
performer

actor-singer uses
imagination and
research to fill-in the
missing details and the
reason why the
text/song lyric exists

performance becomes
shaped by external
factors - tutors,
individual singing
tutprial support, external
directors,
choreographers and
peers

success of public
production/performance
recognised in audience
reaction and predetermined artistic goals

marketing procedures,
tax, dealing with agents
and 'Showcase'
material to support the
professional actorsinger's tool box

Page 3

Information about your first year of study

at LCM...
LEVEL FOUR
Both Musical Theatre and Acting share the first year curriculum as this level of
study is focused on the individual. There will be no attempt to integrate these
skills until Level 5. It is essential to investigate slowly and thoroughly equip
students with a range of personal knowledge, understanding and relevant
performance skills in relation to Voice, Body, Acting and Singing. Vocal repertoire
(sung and spoken) will be concerned with personal interpretation rather than the
character as played within the scene or piece of musical theatre. This will enable
you to operate effectively as a flexible and creative performer and opportunities
to put these elements into practice in creative contexts will be evident within each
module guide. Level 4 will also concentrate on musicianship skills and techniques
of the actor-singer in order to provide a useful foundation upon which to develop
as a competent performer. The process of critical writing and relevant methods of
research in relation to reflective practice is an integral part of the delivery of this
curriculum at this level. Extra-curricular studies in dance and stage combat will be
considered part of the Movement Studies module.

LEVEL 4 STUDIES

ACTING 2 - SECOND
SEMESTER
MU 40164
E
MOVEMENT STUDIES 1 MU 40162 E

ACTING 1 - FIRST SEMESTER

MU 40163 E

VOICE STUDIES 1 MU 40158 E

ACTING THROUGH SONG 1 MU 40061 E
TEXTUAL STUDIES 1 MU 40181 E
DANCE STUDIES AND STAGE COMBAT

MODULE TITLES
Movement Studies1
Acting 1 - Improvisation
Voice Studies 1

SEMESTER 1

SEMESTER 2

ASSESSMEN
T
Week 27
Week 14
Week 27

Musical Theatre for Actors 1

Textual Studies 1 - Theatre
Acting 2 Self to Character

Week 27
Week 26
Week 28
Page 4

RESIDENT FACULTY AND STAFF

Sara Raybould - Director of the London College of Music
Email: sara.raybould@uwl.ac.uk
David Henson - Head of Studies: Performance, Composition and
Performing Arts
Email: david.henson@uwl.ac.uk
Marcia Carr (Acting) Course Leader for BA Musical Theatre
Email: marcia.carr@uwl.ac.uk
Dr Nick Phillips Course Leader for BA Acting
Email: nick.phillips@uwl.ac.uk
Emma Evans Course Leader for BA Musical Theatre with Foundation
Email: emma.evans@uwl.ac.uk
John Davey Course Leader for BA Theatre Production
Email: john.davey@uwl.ac.uk

IMPORTANT CONTACTS
Admission Tutor for Performing Arts

Emma Evans

Email: emma.evans@uwl.ac.uk

Admin Officer for Performing Arts

Lee Sparks

Email: lee.sparks@uwl.ac.uk

Head of Admissions

Dean Leow

Email: dean.leow@uwl.ac.uk

Deputy Head of Admissions

Ray Brown

Email: ray.brown@uwl.ac.uk
If you want to meet some of our staff click on the link below:
http://www.uwl.ac.uk/academic-schools/music/our-staff/meet-ourstaff

USEFUL COURSE INFORMATION

LCM web pages:

http://www.uwl.ac.uk/academic-schools/music
Page 5

LCM Live (upcoming events):

http://www.uwl.ac.uk/academic-schools/music/london-collegemusic-live
LCM on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/LCMLive
Facebook LCM photo gallery:
http://www.facebook.com/LondonCollegeofMusic?sk=photos
LCM Alumni:
http://www.uwl.ac.uk/academic-schools/music/lcm-alumni
Student Handbook:
http://www.uwl.ac.uk/students/current_students/Student_handboo
k.jsp
Student Welfare:
http://www.uwl.ac.uk/students/support-services-forstudents/student-welfare

Library:
http://www.uwl.ac.uk/library
Student Union:
http://www.uwlsu.com

ESSENTIAL READING
It is expected that each student MUST purchase or read a copy of
the following text before starting the course:
Henson, D & Pickering, K
Kayes, G
Walters, R [Ed]

Musical Theatre: A Workbook

Singing and the Actor
Singers Musical Theatre Anthology / CD Volume 1

Palgrave Macmillan 2013

AC Black 2004
Hal Leonard 2000

ESSENTIAL MATERIAL
Each student MUST purchase the following items of equipment
before starting the course:
Page 6

FEMALE:
Four plain natural fibre cap sleeved t-shirts, three black, one
coloured no logos
Black / white blouse
Natural fibre cropped trousers (floor length is unsuitable) for
movement
1 leotard
1 pair leggings
1 practice skirt black
Black/tan dance tights
Pashmina
Black socks
1 pair black jazz shoes or 1 pair of New Yorkers (2.5 heel)
Trainers with non-marking soles for combat
Yoga mat
1 pair of warm socks (with non-slip bottoms if possible)
Black smart dress, below the knee
Plain black hoodie
Towel
Baby wipes
Appropriate supportive underwear
Pocket Sized Dictionary
Selection of pens and pencils, eraser, sellotape and tippex
Selection of writing pads, folders and note books
Memory stick/personal data storage device
Loose clothes / shoes for any aspect of production work
MALE:
Four plain natural fibre cap sleeved t-shirts, three black, one
coloured no logos
Black / white shirt
Natural Fibre cropped trousers (floor length is unsuitable) for
movement
2 black vests
1 pair leggings
1 black suit or black smart jacket and black dress trousers
1 plain smart waistcoat
Black socks

1 pair black jazz shoes and lace up ballroom shoes

Trainers with non-marking soles for combat
Yoga mat
1 pair of warm socks (with non-slip bottoms if possible)
Plain black hoodie
Towel
Baby wipes
Dance support/jock strap
Pocket Sized Dictionary
Selection of pens and pencils, eraser, sellotape and tippex
Selection of writing pads, folders and note books
Memory stick/personal data storage devic
Loose clothes / shoes for any aspect of production work
Page 7

Page 8

ADVANCED THEATRE PRODUCTIONS 2014/2015

SPELLING BEE by WILLIAM FINN

SPRING AWAKENING by DUNCAN SHEIK

& STEVEN SATER (above)
SATURDAY NIGHT by STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Page 9

REVIEWS OF GRADUATE PRODUCTIONS 2014/15

Just So was performed by London College of Music

third-year students at Watermans Theatre, Brentford,
London.
This early Stiles and Drewe musical, a contemporary
take on Rudyard Kiplings much-loved Just So stories,
brought the best out of a particularly likeable bunch of
students from the musical theatre arm of the
University of West London, just as the same years
Alfie the Musical, with an entirely different cast, did
the previous week in Ealing.
First written in 1984 and much revised since, Just So has been a long-standing
success on both sides of the pond for the team that has gone on to give us Betty
Blue Eyes and Soho Cinders.
It follows the journey of the Elephants Child (Kevin Fagan, making the most of his
best Act II solo Does the Moment Ever Come?) and his fear-of-flying companion,
the Kolokolo Bird (the dainty Georgina Louise Jackson, with a deep, clear voice and
terrific poise).
They are guided and watched over by the Eldest Magician (Mikey Wooster,
confident from the outset), who acts as narrator. He takes them through many
adventures with some weird and wonderful creatures, a quest that takes them to
the banks of the great, grey-green Limpopo River and a dangerous
encounter with Jack Furssedon-Coates as a greedy Crocodile.
Although intended for children, the humanism and moral reasoning of the yarns
give them universal appeal in this charming, gently humorous piece directed with
pace and style by Judith Paris.
She certainly got everything out of her cast in which, apart from those already
mentioned, Justyn Huntley, as an extravagantly effeminate Leopard, and Naomi
Ellen, bang on with the accent as the Parsee Cook, particularly impressed.
Nobody was less than good and some were very good indeed, as were the Alfie
cast. There seems to be greater strength-in-depth among this years crop of
students.
Benny Bright made a fair-dinkum Kangaroo, Callum Rhys Griffiths a very Welsh
malfunctioning Cooking Stove, a sort of Aga Khant (sorry about that one), Zak
Hamdia a forceful East End Rhino and bouncy Ceirios Ann Davies Zebra made a
delightful double act with the taller Megan Yates Giraffe.
Costumes (Mike Leopold) and choreography (Marcia Carr) were top-notch and the
band of three under MD Richard Link gave strong back-up in a show that had
three or four spendid songs.
Does the Moment Ever Come? has already been praised; The Parsee Cake CakeWalk was a hoot and extremely well performed by the company; the witty and
innuendo-laden We Want to Take the Ladies Out, from Jaguar and the Leopard,
made stylish use of the stage; while the Kolokolo Birds Wait a Bit got the full
works from the delicious Miss Jackson. In a cast of 22 singing, dancing and acting
their hearts out, its impossible to mention everyone, but if there is one

particularly to watch out for, she would be my best tip for the top.
Jeremy Chapman

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Saturday Night was performed by London College of Music

students at the Watermans, Brentford, London.
Star rating: 4 stars
Not a year goes by without the London College of Music, the
musical theatre arm of the University of West London, giving
us a Sondheim, and here they really had to stretch
themselves to make the rarely-seen Saturday Night seem
vibrant and relevant 61 years after it was written.
The great mans first musical, written before he found fame and fortune as the lyricist
for West Side Story, is a reworking of Julius J and Philip G Epsteins play and book Front
Porch in Flatbush about New York life as lived by a bunch of Stock Exchange runners
from Brooklyn.
Frankly, it is a long way from being the masterpiece that Sweeney Todd, Follies and A
Little Night Music became but it does feature a raft of clever material that forewarned
of Stephen Sondheims exceptional gifts, both as lyricist and composer.
Whats not to enjoy about So Many People, What More Do I Need?, A Moment With You,
One Wonderful Day and the title song, three of which featured in the 1980 revue Marry
Me a Little long before being seen in their original context because Saturday lay
unperformed for 42 years.
Saturday Night has had an amazing history. The main backer died before its intended OffBroadway launch in 1955 and it remained unloved and unwanted until 1997 when the
Bridewell Theatre in Fleet Street, prodded by the Sondheim Society, gave the show its first
professional airing. Broadway had to wait even longer, until 2000.
Spanning three consecutive Saturdays in 1929, the plot follows Wall Street dreamer Gene
Gorman and his fellow Flatbush bachelors as they bid to breach the class divide between
Brooklyn and Manhattan society, with women and money-making schemes topping their
list.
As one song declares: Alive and alone on a Saturday night is dead, a theme Sondheim
further explored inCompany, but it looks as if poseur Gene has struck lucky when
he meets the seemingly wealthy Helen, apparently from rich Southern stock (but a
Brooklyn belle through and through), at the posh Plaza.
They get on like a house on fire, but in trying to convince her that hes the real deal, he
spends all his money, and some that isnt his, on renting a classy apartment for the two of
them.

But he cant pay the bills and foolishly sells his pals car to keep creditors at bay. Because
his pal is also a Eugene Gorman (how likely is that?), hes the one who gets into
trouble until Gene comes clean and it all ends happily ever after.
Its all rather dated, more than a bit clunky, and nowhere near as funny as it should be for a
musical comedy, but the energy and enthusiasm of LCMs talented cast wins the day.
Theres one hilarious moment when Laura Jane Baron brilliantly impersonates a record
stuck in a groove and the second half is a lot tighter than an overlong Act I which takes
time to get going.
Two casts were used for the six-performance run to give as many as possible the chance to
shine. Mikey Wooster was an instantly likeable juvenile lead in both teams with Sophie
Towns and Hannah Bailey playing opposite him in sharing the show-stealing Helen Fogel
role.

Page 11

Baileys fake Southern belle accent was spot-on and her pleasing voice and warm stage
presence made her solos Isnt It? and All For You highly enjoyable. Equally praiseworthy
were her duets with Wooster on So Many People and A Moment With You which vied with
Exhibit A a comic list song delivered with terrific flair and aplomb by Justyn Huntleys
livewire Bobby as the Act I highs.
Kieran Lawson as Hank, the married one in the Flatbush crowd, put his impressive baritone
to excellent use in I Remember That, while Emily Arnfields colourful, scatty Mildred kept
catching the eye.
While its well-nigh impossible to mention everyone in a large cast of 17, nobody
let director Graham Hubbard down and Thomas Michael Voss choreography delighted in
the ensemble numbers.
Credit to the four well-hidden musicians, MD Dan Smith on piano, Michael Baxter
(keyboards), Stuart Ness (bass) and Thomas Connor (drums), for handling Sondheims
tricky score so well in a well-schooled production that got as much out of the mixed
material as it possibly could.
As Sondheim himself said: Its not bad for a 23-year-old. There are some things that
embarrass me so much in the lyrics but I decided: Leave it. Its my baby picture. You dont
touch up baby pictures youre a baby.
So many thanks to LCM for rolling out this little baby, one who grew up to become arguably
the greatest of them all.

Jeremy Chapman

Page 12