Musical Theatre and Arts Development
Musical theatre and arts development is a degree that takes the craft of musical theatre seriously while also preparing you to understand and contribute to the broader ecology of the arts. Musical theatre demands skill across three distinct but integrated disciplines: singing, acting, and dance, all of which must be developed to a high standard and brought together in performance. Arts development adds a different but complementary dimension, focusing on how the arts are resourced, organised, and sustained within communities and institutions, and how creative practitioners can engage with the wider cultural sector as producers, facilitators, and advocates as well as performers.
At the University of Chichester, this three-year, full-time programme develops your performance abilities alongside a genuine engagement with the arts sector and its development. You will receive training in vocal technique across musical theatre styles, acting and characterisation, and dance and movement relevant to the form, and you will develop these skills through a programme of productions, workshops, and collaborative projects. Alongside performance training, you will engage with the structures and practices of the arts world, exploring how organisations are led and funded, how community arts projects are designed and delivered, and how the arts create value for individuals and society.
Chichester has a strong relationship with the professional arts sector, including Chichester Festival Theatre, which is one of the UK's leading producing theatres.
Graduates from this programme go on to careers as performers in musical theatre and related fields, and also to roles in arts administration, arts education, community arts development, project management, and arts fundraising. The dual emphasis of the degree makes graduates particularly versatile within the arts sector, capable of both creating and sustaining the conditions in which creative work can flourish. Further training in performance, arts management, or education is also a natural pathway.