Qualification | Foundation Degree (FdA) Musical Theatre
Programme Leader | Dan Fulham
Validated by | University of Chichester
Location | Italia Conti, Woking, UK
Programme Length | 2 Years (full-time), with option to transfer to 3rd Year BA
Starts | September of each year
Two Year training in Musical Theatre at Italia Conti (FdA Dance) is a full-time vocational combination of courses for anyone aged 16+ wishing to become a professional performer in musical theatre. Musical Theatre training is truly triple threat and encourages you to develop versatility and adaptability in your skillset, opening up broad opportunities for your future career.
Our Musical Theatre training is designed to nurture and develop innovative and individual musical theatre performers, who embody and apply specialist skills and techniques supported by grounded knowledge of industry practices, contexts, and the emerging requirements that empower graduates for a sustainable career in musical theatre.
Our students study a rigorous training programme and are co-taught across programme streams aligned to the intended qualification outcome.
FdA Musical Theatre
Our Musical Theatre training will fully prepare students for musical theatre performance, developing their practice and thinking in an integrated way. Through training in acting, singing and dance, students will have what it takes to become a Musical Theatre artist of the future. Consistency and creativity paired with the critical approach students need to study Musical Theatre will provide them with expertise applicable to a variety of careers in the field.
Training to be a professional performer in Musical Theatre requires many things:
Training to be a professional Musical Theatre performer is one of the most exciting and rewarding journeys that students will ever take and we believe that there is nowhere better to take it, than here at Italia Conti.
There is a reason why Italia Conti is one of the most recognised names in performing arts training. For over a century we have helped students to fulfil their potential as performers and to work at the very highest level in every aspect of the performing arts industry. We provide a programme of training that responds to industry needs and current teaching and learning developments.
Italia Conti has a proven track record of nurturing talent at the very highest level; Italia Conti graduates can be seen on stage and screen in the UK and internationally. We have graduates working in the West End and on Broadway in musicals and in plays, in national and international tours, in cabarets and on cruise ships. We have graduates working in Film and in Television. We have produced some of the UK’s top recording artists – solo artists and band members.
As an Associate College of The University of Chichester, Italia Conti delivers the FdA Musical Theatre programme. This two-year, full-time vocational course for anyone aged 16+. The course is organised into modules with various modes of assessment.
Full government funding is available through Student Finance England for Home students.
At Level 4, you focus on the fundamentals of the core disciplines and early skill integration. You develop the triple threat skills of Acting, Singing, Dance, and Voice, initially building each discipline in isolation to establish secure technical foundations as a musical theatre performer.
These skills are brought together through Musical Theatre Performance Practice workshops, where you apply them holistically in performance, with equal emphasis on acting, singing, and dance.
Within Contextual Practice, you explore health and safety as an emerging performer, including:
You also begin to understand the musical theatre landscape and contextualise material studied across the course.
You preare for industry through:
You also perform in the Italia Conti C hristmas Carol Concert.
At Level 5, core technical training continues at a more advanced and integrated level. Project work becomes more sustained and intensive, with the three disciplines working in full interdependence.
You are required to sustain character across longer and more demanding performance contexts, developing professional performance practice through:
Professional development continues through:
You will also continue with:
Within Contextual Practice, you study the history of musical theatre, focusing on:
Learning is consistently linked to performance material and studio practice.
Students on the FdA Musical Theatre are automatically offered the opportunity to complete their degree training with a third year of study at Italia Conti and will ultimately be awarded a BA (Hons) Musical Theatre qualification . No audition is required, but students must complete and pass the FdA. Students who do not adhere to the Student Code of Conduct may not be invited to transfer into a third year of study.
At Level 6, your training focuses on four key areas:
You perform:
You complete final skills assessments in Singing, Acting, and Dance.
Industry preparation continues through:
You also take additional classes, including:
You perform in the Italia Conti Christmas Carol Concert.
Professional Preparation and Employability workshops refine audition technique across all three disciplines and support wider professional practice, including:
Within Contextual Practice, you engage with two strands:
Research and Reflection develops the reflective practitioner. You draw on learning from Levels 4 and 5 and apply it within a professional context. This includes reflection on:
You complete an Independent Performance Project (dissertation). Through practice-research, you create an original piece of theatre in response to a defined research question, demonstrating independent professional practice.
The students’ focus at Year 3 / Level 6 shifts to three main areas: Professional Performance, Professional Preparation and Employability and Professional Technical Skills.
The courses draws together all previous training in preparing for a career as a well-rounded, versatile and highly employable professional Musical Theatre performer.
Students will perform in two fully staged musical theatre performances, and an Industry Showcase. For their independent performance project, students will be required to create a practical piece of Musical Theatre performance responding to a question, theme or stimulus.
Professional Preparation and Employability workshops will hone audition technique in the three core disciplines, to ensure that, when they leave, students have all the skills necessary to embark upon a successful professional career. This also extends to preparation for all wider soft-skills and supporting areas for professional practitioners including sourcing and choosing headshots, joining and populating Spotlight, creating personal showreel performance reels and meeting with leading industry creatives, agents and casting directors to begin networking.
Students will continue training in Acting, Singing and Dance to support them in implementing professional skills and performance in practice. Regular classes ensure that students graduate ‘match fit’ and ready to audition and perform in professional contracts.
Student Finance is available for the BA Hons Musical Theatre top-up year, and the course consists of 550 contact hours. Students may continue to study Advanced Vocational Training in third year.
Degree Tuition Fees | £9790 per academic year, (paid in advanced termly instalments). Student finance is available, which includes access to a Tuition Fee Loan and Student Maintenance Loan. These payments are made to directly to the University of Chichester.
Please note our courses currently do not have designation for student support from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales meaning that students ordinarily domiciled in Wales are not eligible for student loans.
Scholarships and Bursaries | Scholarships are awarded upon outcome of audition. You may apply for a bursary here by contact admissions@italiaconti.co.uk
Please note: DaDA funding is not available for the FdA coursers, it is only available across the sector for Level 6 Trinity Diploma Courses
Audition Fee | £45 (non-refundable) Deposit | £275 (The deposit is refundable within 14 calendar days of the payment being received by Italia Conti but will not be refunded thereafter for non-enrolment. It will be held by Italia Conti and will be refundable on completion of the course, without interest, less any outstanding sums owed by the student to Italia Conti.)
For further information, please see our International Applications page.
Italia Conti welcomes applications for audition fee waivers for those who are eligible.
Terms and conditions apply upon acceptance to Italia Conti.
HE Terms & Conditions
Evidence in hard copy of all the above must be provided at enrolment.
Applications to Italia Conti are made by direct application via the link below only.
Applicants DO NOT need to complete a UCAS application for Italia Conti.
Applicants must complete the application form and pay the audition fee (£45) in order to be considered.
Audition fees are non-refundable. These fees act as both an administration fee for processing your application as well as a non-refundable deposit for a place on an audition day.
Applicants are encouraged to express on the form interest in any other courses/streams they would like to be considered for e.g. Three Year Musical Theatre, in addition to the course directly being applied for.
All applicants are considered for the One Year Foundation Courses, by standard.
In line with our admissions policy, Italia Conti reserves the right to alter or withdraw offers at any point. Places on our courses are limited; it is usual for drama schools to make more offers than there are places. Acceptances are dealt with on a first come first serve basis and so early acceptance is advised.
After completing the application process, you will be invited to submit an audition tape where auditionees will be required to demonstrate a variety of skills. Successful applicants will be invited to a recall audition on site. Information about auditions can be found below.
If there’s something that might shape your experience with us – such as access requirements, a disability, being neurodivergent, something related to a protected characteristic, or anything else you’d like to share – please let us know. This kind of information isn’t always obvious from an application.
You can contact:
We’re here to listen and discuss what support or reasonable adjustments could help you feel confident and supported throughout the process.
First round applicants will receive the result from their audition submission within 3-4 weeks of receipt. This is to ensure that every submission deserves our full time and attention.
Auditionees should prepare one speech, no longer than one and a half minutes in length, from a Contemporary British Play written after 1990.
Auditionees should prepare a song, no longer than one and a half minutes in length, that they enjoy singing and can sing well.
Please ensure that the recording is a true reflection of your acoustic singing voice. Do not edit the audio or add any effects to the recording in any way. Please record the audio using the video camera device so you capture an accurate and unaltered recording of how the voice sounds in a room.
Please record yourself performing the following Kicks and Pirouette combination & Jump combination exercises as taught on the video.
Auditionees should prepare one dance piece in your preferred style, no longer than one minute. This should showcase your strengths and highlight any special skills.
Required Dress:
Please wear tight-fitting clothing to allow the panel to see your movement fully.
Recall auditions will take place at our Woking campus.
Auditionees should prepare an additional speech that is contrasting to their first audition piece. Both pieces will be seen at recall. This second speech could be contemporary (after 1990) or classical. Again, this speech should be no longer than one and a half minutes:
Auditionees should prepare two musical theatre songs, each cut to one and a half minutes in length, that they enjoy singing and can sing well:
Suggested composers/lyricists can include: Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Learner and Leowe, Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Frank Loesser, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin.
Suggested composers/lyricists can include; Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Alan Menken, Boubil and Schonberg, Jason Robert Brown, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Kander and Ebb, Jule Styne, Cy Coleman, Marvin Hamlisch, Tom Kitt, Laurence O’Keefe, Jerry Bock.
You will be required to participate in three dance classes at your recall; Ballet, Technical Centre Practice and a class where a set piece of Jazz choreography will be taught. Each class will last 30 minutes.
Required dress: Jazz shoes or trainers that are suitable for dance (i.e. no Converse or similar fashion shoes that are not designed for dance). No loose clothing or jewellery is permitted.
During the day you will be invited for a short interview with a member of the Senior Leadership/Course Management team.
“I cannot credit italia conti enough for taking a risk on me by giving me the opportunity to train in their establishment, building me into a successful performer and a better man. The level of versatility I posess is down to the variety of training italia conti put on their students. No words can describe my gratitude for each and every person that had involvement in my development.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a more understanding place to spend these crucial moments. The door is always open for us to come back ‘home’ for advice, or even for a cup of tea!”
“The influx of inspiring people flowing through the building creates an atmosphere for greatness and I am honoured to be a part of that.”
It’s fantastic. Showcases, shows, summer shows, carol concerts. It’s very full on but I don’t wake up regretting coming here. It is the best thing ever!
“Having the most supportive faculty (many of which are working professionals), who are always pushing you to be the best version of yourself has made my transition into the industry a seamless one.”
“The college provides you with a disciplined, yet family atmosphere that trains you to become the best of the best moving forwards into the performing arts industry.”