Congratulations, you’re applying for our Musical Theatre courses here at ArtsEd!

You’ve submitted your application, invitations to audition are beginning to land and you have taken the first step on your journey to becoming a professional performer, an ambition you’ve likely had for some time.

There’s a lot for you to get to grips with, including understanding all the different audition requirements, sorting out your travel so you get here in plenty of time, and of course being at your best for the audition panel!

We appreciate that the audition day can be daunting, but we also want you to have as much fun as possible.

There is a lot you can do to ensure you make the most of each opportunity. ArtsEd’s Director of the School of Musical Theatre, Jonathan O’Boyle, is here to help with some top tips for auditionees applying to our Musical Theatre Courses.

The audition day at a glance

The first thing I do is introduce myself and the team that will be auditioning you that day. We talk about the course and then walk you through the day ahead.

We then kick off the audition process with a group warm-up, after which you will be split into two groups. One group will head off to the dance section of the audition, whilst the other group will take part in the singing section, presenting their legit and/or contemporary songs to the panel. After that, the groups switch around.

Once everyone has sung their songs and completed their dance audition, we will let you all know who has been recalled to the afternoon 2nd round audition phase.

The second round of our Musical Theatre audition includes a further dance workshop, a further singing audition and your acting audition where you will work on your monologues. The final part of your day will be an interview with me and/or a senior member of the teaching staff from the School of Musical Theatre.

So that’s the overall shape of an ArtsEd Musical Theatre audition. Here’s what you need to know to best prepare you for your time with us.

Singing

For the singing round you will need to prepare and perform two songs. One should be a ‘legit’ ballad written no later than 1965 (e.g. ‘If I Loved You’ from Carousel, ‘Simple Little Things’ from 110 in the Shade or “On the Street Where You Live’ from My Fair Lady). The other song can be anything of your own choice, providing it’s a contrast to your legit song and it is something you enjoy singing. We always look forward to hearing people’s choices.

You must bring your own copy of the sheet music for the song. It makes sense to make it as easy as possible for the accompanist do the best job they can do for you during your audition. To that end, make sure the music is in the right key, clearly printed and firmly sellotaped at the seams.

For the first round you will be asked to sing a 1-minute cut of each song. Choose your favourite part of the song. This might be the first minute, it might be the last, choose the section that speaks to you the most and that best showcases your voice.

Remember to prepare both songs in full as you will need the full versions for the second round in the afternoon (if you are recalled).

It will help you if you understand the context of the song. Where does it sit within the musical? What happens before the song? What happens after? What is the environment, are you outside? Inside? Is it cold? Warm? What does the character want?

If your song is addressed to someone, imagine who you’re signing to, and place them in the room with you, to the left or right of the panel. If the character is singing to themselves, I recommend singing over the panel’s head. Try to avoid looking at the panel, as we will be taking notes and we don’t want to distract you.

Dance

On the morning of your audition, you will take part in a group jazz class. Don’t worry if you haven’t danced before, all movements will be explained and demonstrated on the day. We are looking for candidates who have potential, not just experience.

All 2nd round recalled candidates will participate in a second dance workshop in the afternoon. During this workshop you will be given more detailed and precise technical information that you will need to apply to a new piece of choreography. Again, don’t worry about lack of experience, if you have got through to the 2nd round, we think you have potential and will explain anything that needs explaining.

You should wear comfortable clothing that you can move freely in (not too tight or loose). You can wear jazz shoes or dance bare foot, but please don’t wear trainers.

Acting

You will need to have prepared two monologues in anticipation of getting through to the 2nd round of the auditions. Each monologue should be a maximum of three minutes long.

One should be from a modern play written after 1990, and the other from a classical play using heightened language. This could be Shakespeare, but we also welcome classical pieces from across the globe. Please choose material you relate to personally and which you find exciting.

As with your songs, you will benefit from having a clear understanding of what the character wants in that moment in time, and how that fits within the wider context of the play. We ask that you perform your monologues in your natural voice. We want to hear you!

Interview

The interview will be an opportunity for us to meet you and get to know you a little more. We are interested in getting to know you as a person, as well as getting to know your skills. I will be asking questions about your interests and aspirations. This will also be your chance to ask any questions that you might have for us about the course.

And remember…

• We want you to do your best, so we will make sure you walk into a warm, friendly, supportive and generous environment for your audition.
• We are not looking for perfection. It is okay to make mistakes.
• I know this is impossible but try not to be nervous! The audition, and your time with us on the day, is also an opportunity for you to find out if ArtsEd is the right place for you. We aim to do as much as we can to make sure you decide that it is!

What do we look for in a prospective student?

• Our students shape our future, what you bring to us is as important as what we can give to you, so we want to get to know YOU!
• We are looking for inquisitive, enquiring and curious minds. People with a hunger for knowledge and the passion to imagine and create on a daily basis.
• We are excited by conviction, go with your artistic choices and have the bravery to share them. We might not agree with everything that you do, but we love to see imagination and the desire to create something special.
• A joy in taking risks. One of the beauties of acting is using the things that don’t work to find the things that do.
• Attentiveness and thoughtfulness. We are interested in how you interpret material that you are given, how well you listen and how creatively you respond to redirection.

Calling all aspiring filmmakers!

We’re launching a brand new Sunday course just for you!

The Young Filmmakers course is perfect for all you budding creatives out there looking to get behind the camera, challenge yourself, and collaborate with others. We provide all the gear so all you need is the imagination and ideas.

The course is for ages 14 – 17+ and you can read all about it (and sign up!) here.

Today we were fortunate to be joined Ruth Cadbury MP, to deliver a chat to our year 12, A Level Politics students. 

They got the chance to have a Q&A session, at the end, to discuss the issues that most matter to them. 

For more information about our Sixth Form Curriculum, click here.

Check out Marianthe’s vlog!

Spend a typical day with a first year BA (Hons) Musical Theatre student.

ArtsEd’s Foundation Acting course students (led by Steven Kavuma) were treated to a brilliant workshop and Q&A session this Friday with actor, Dipo Ola.

Dipo made his screen debut in the critically acclaimed, and multi-award nominated Channel 4 Series, Baghdad Central. He has gone on to work with the BBC on the cult classic anthology show, Inside No.9 and is now in HBO’s true crime miniseries Landscapers, alongside Olivia Coleman.

For more information about our School of Acting, including the 1-year Foundation course, click here

ArtsEd Sixth Form graduate, Isabella Pappas, is currently filming a brand new sitcom for Disney+ called Meet the Mayhems, we are thrilled to report!

As announced in Hollywood’s Deadline last year, Meet the Mayhems is an original live-action comedy series from Lab Rats co-creators Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore. Production is underway in Los Angeles on the series about a family of raucous supervillains who recently ran afoul of the League of Villains and now must somehow beat a path to normalcy in a small Texas town.

The series is scheduled to premiere in summer 2022 on Disney Channel and Disney+ platforms worldwide. The plot focusses on Isabella’s character, teenager Havoc, who stands up against the leader of all villains, forcing her entire family to change their identities and relocate to a Texas suburb where she now goes by the name Amy. With the help of her effervescent new neighbour Hartley, she must somehow hide her superpowers and quell her villainous nature in favour of something she’s fought against all her life — being normal!

Isabella starred in the ITV drama Finding Alice last year, and is going from strength to strength since graduating from ArtsEd in 2020. We can’t wait to see her in action in this latest project!

PHOTO: Disney Branded Television

Applying to ArtsEd’s HE Courses couldn’t be simpler!

Watch this step-by-step video guide to our online application system and get started today on your drama school journey.

Visit our Courses page to explore our HE offering: BA (Hons) | Foundation | MA

Visit our Auditions page for all the information you need to apply.

Our SATURDAY ACADEMY is back in action THIS SATURDAY 8 January!

It’s the perfect time to join us as well – Musical Theatre students are working towards a studio performance, and Acting students will be working on a screen project.

We also give private lessons and tuition for LAMDA exams on Saturdays.

If you’re interested in checking out our weekend offering, see here for more info and to sign up!

We’re absolutely thrilled to see Musical Theatre alum Carly Mercedes Dyer feature in The Stage 25: Theatremakers to watch out for in 2022 and beyond!

Since graduating from ArtsEd’s School of Musical Theatre, Carly has added a string of West End shows to her CV – Rock of Ages, Dirty Dancing, Memphis, Chicago, The Lorax (at The Old Vic) and Hedestown at The National Theatre.

She starred as Anita in West Side Story at The Leicester Curve, and Erma in Anything Goes at The Barbican last year. She most recently played Cassie in A Chorus Line at Leicester Curve.

Carly was nominated for the award by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, who said:

“Carly Mercedes Dyer is a wonderful performer with an exceptional range of roles in her career to date. Indeed, she practically stole the show as Erma in our production of Anything Goes at London’s Barbican this summer – holding her own against hugely experienced performers like Sutton Foster and Robert Lindsay.

The critics agreed. The Times, Guardian and Evening Standard all praised her performance in the show. The Stage’s Tim Bano said she didn’t just steal the scenes, she “plunders and ransacks them”. Broadway World praised the “piercing comedy genius” throughout her performance, most notably in her number Buddie, Beware, which, according to the Financial Times “brings down the house”.

We have to say, we agree with the critics and can’t wait to see what the future holds for Carly!

Photo: The Stage / Will Haub

If you are auditioning for our School of Acting (BA Hons Acting, Foundation Acting, MA Acting) you’ll need to prepare and send a self-taped audition as part of your application.

Self-tapes are part of everyday life for a professional actor; they’ve been used in the TV and film industry for many years and are increasingly used for theatre auditions as well. But if you’re just starting out on your actor training journey, we understand that self-tapes can be a bit of a mystery, even quite daunting.

Don’t worry! We’ve got you.

ArtsEd’s Interim Principal and Director of the School of Acting, Dr Julie Spencer, has provided some top tips for auditionees applying to our School of Acting. Keep reading for her guide to a successful self-tape.

For details on what you need to present in your tapes, please visit our auditions page and select the course you are applying for.

Julie’s steps to self-tape success

You must record a brief ident to introduce yourself by stating your:

• Name
• Age
• Where you’re from
• The pieces you are presenting (name of character and play)

Your ident should be delivered straight to the camera, and my top tip is: don’t overthink this bit! Treat your ident as the equivalent of walking into a room and introducing yourself to the panel – show us a bit of your personality. Be enthusiastic about the characters you’ve chosen. If you’re engaging in your ident, we’ll be more engaged when watching you!

Let’s cover the technical aspects of filming your pieces:

For the classical piece, you should film yourself in a ‘wide’ shot (meaning we want to see you full-length or as much of your body as the space will allow). Your classical piece should be treated like a soliloquy, and be delivered straight to camera.

Your contemporary piece should be filmed as a close up of your face – but not too close! Head and shoulders are fine. The contemporary piece can be delivered in the same way as your classical, or it can be aimed just above the camera if that makes sense for the piece.

My main piece of advice regarding the positioning of the camera and body/face is that we don’t want to see the side of your face!

How to perform your monologues:

My first top tip is this: do not attempt to do ‘acting for camera’. We want to see a theatrical performance.

If you are recalled to the second round, which will be in-person, part of that audition will be a screen test. At the first self-tape stage we want to see how you would perform as if you were in the room with us.

Use your natural voice – don’t affect an accent or do a ‘voice’ to fit the character. We want to hear YOU.

Wear comfortable clothing. Don’t attempt to dress as the character or wear a costume.

No make-up, and hair should be tied back so that we can see your face.

Don’t use props.

Don’t use background music.

Please don’t overthink it or attempt to film multiple takes in order to choose the ‘best’ one. You should film each monologue no more than 3 times and choose the best one from the 3 to send to us.

Don’t copy a famous version of your chosen monologue from YouTube!

What are we looking for in our Acting auditionees?

This is one of the most common questions we are asked regarding applications and auditions, and the answer is actually very simple.

We want to see YOU and who you are!

We want to see your enthusiasm (for the piece and for the process).

We’re looking for your commitment to the choices you make. We may not agree with your choices, but that’s fine as long as you commit to them.

Be bold!

We’re interested in the decisions that you make as an actor and how you have interpreted the pieces. Make them your own.

There is only one of YOU – we are looking for the unique qualities that make you who you are, so show us. We want to see your individual creativity.

Here’s my final top tip, and it’s a very important one:

We are not looking for perfection or for the finished product, meaning we do not expect you to be a polished, trained actor – that’s what drama school is for! We are looking for potential.

Be brave, be bold and enjoy yourself. I look forward to seeing your tapes.