Do you often find yourself clicking and dancing along to the scenes in West Side Story, rapping along to songs from Hamilton, taking on the impressive notes in Wicked, and acting alongside the cast of Mamma Mia?
Whilst children are encouraged to engage with musical theatre holiday workshops and lessons as a way to help them to come out of their shells, adults often seem to disregard musical theatre as a mere hobby. Whether or not you did it as a child, the same benefits still apply when you’re learning as an adult!
Musical Theatre is a genre that combines acting, singing and dancing to tell a stylised story. So alongside increasing your versatility as a performer, musical theatre singing lessons and classes can help you develop your physicality, stamina, musicality and collaboration skills.
Let’s take a closer look at why musical theatre classes can be extremely beneficial for students of all ages.
The working day can often be exhausting, repetitive and mundane. Musical theatre classes can be a great outlet for individual expression and a way to step out of your comfort zone. It is a comprehensive art form so it lets you explore different ways of creative storytelling – whether that be through drama, singing or acting. By studying with a musical theatre vocal coach, or discovering movement and artistry, you will learn valuable creative skills. This includes vocal technique, dance choreography and emotional storytelling. Musical theatre classes also encourage critical thinking and thinking outside of the box. Using your imagination, you’ll get to develop your own narratives and characters in response to your understanding of a text. No matter your age, you’ll be able to apply this creative way of thinking to your working life.
So if you’re thinking about getting your creative juices flowing, then why not ask yourself – ‘are there any musical theatre groups near me?’
Musical theatre classes will provide a safe and fun environment where students are free to explore different performing techniques. You’ll also get to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds. An experienced tutor or musical theatre vocal coach will be there to help create a supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere. By surrounding yourself with a group of like-minded people from all walks of life and collaborating with them, you’ll not be embarrassed to push yourself out of your comfort zone. This ability to try new things, inhibit different characters and use your voice will build your confidence. Having this trust in your own abilities to stand up and talk in front of others will definitely have a positive impact on other areas of your life – from participating more in debates, to actively taking on additional responsibilities.
When taking part in musical theatre singing lessons and classes, your empathy will increase and communication skills will improve. As a performer, you’ll need to be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see things from their point of view. You’ll learn to communicate with an audience through stories, ideas and characters. And by attending musical theatre holiday workshops, musical theatre singing lessons or drama classes, you’ll learn vocal communication skills. This includes clarity, pace, pitch and tone to convey meaning and emotion, as well as how to project your voice enough to fill a room. Alongside this, students will focus on a character’s physicality and their non-verbal communication – the way a character moves, their gestures and facial expressions. These essential communication skills can be transferred to your working life, in presentations and speeches.
Musical theatre is at its very essence a collaborative activity. Working as a team is something that every performer must learn if they are to be successful. From learning choreography as a group or tackling a piece of dialogue with a scene partner, you’ll have to be able to work with others. Taking part in musical theatre lessons requires good listening skills and discipline to ensure that all the group are heard and feel valued and included. You’ll need to support each other whilst working towards a shared goal. And this will inevitably help with the success of a project. So children and grown-ups alike, taking part in musical theatre singing lessons, or musical theatre holiday workshops is a powerful team-building activity.
No matter your age or background, musical theatre can provide you with skills that can be useful in everyday life as well as in your career. It can also be a lot of fun and a great way to socialise. So what are you waiting for? There are plenty of musical theatre singing lessons in London.
Stage & the City offers musical theatre evening classes for adults. Whether you’re a complete beginner or you have some experience, we have a course for you. For more information on fees and timings, please click here.
Or if you know a younger person that would like to engage with musical theatre, the Anna Fiorentini Theatre & Film School would be a great place to start. We have branches in Camden, Docklands, Hackney and Greenwich. You can join us on the first day of term for a Taster Day. This is a great way to try out the school and see if it’s the right fit for you before signing up for a full term. Or we offer musical theatre holiday workshops in the school holidays. For more information, please click here.