Spotlight on: Musical Theatre

What makes Musical Theatre so popular?
Many reasons!
It's fun.
It's energetic.
It's wild.
It gives you the chance to take on a new persona, and offers escapism from our daily lives.
Being part of a musical takes you into a giant bubble of good vibes, surrounded by your tribe.
And let's not forget the boppy tunes that create oh so many ear worms.

So let's look at some ways that AMEB can help you get even more out of the great time you're already having!

Syllabuses and exams

Our syllabuses exist to offer structured and staged learning goals that cover essential skills for your chosen passion, and to help you improve and challenge yourself to achieve new heights. Exams are the capstone to each learning grade and provide a chance for you to test your knowledge, practice performing, and receive feedback to fuel your ongoing development. And let's not forget that there's an officially-recognised qualification that comes with the exam, as well as the chance to earn bonus TCE Points (see below). There are also great resources that support your learning along the way that fit neatly with the syllabus goals.

What syllabuses are available?

We actually have two syllabuses directly related to musical theatre. But, if you're looking to be the real-deal, triple-threat, check out the other syllabuses we have that will help you expand your specific skill areas.

Musical Theatre (Stageschool)
Doing a staged musical production? You could earn yourself a qualification at the same time! In fact, your whole cast could earn their own qualification. The Examiner comes to you and can assess everyone on stage, even if they're working toward different grades. And it doesn't even have to be a fully staged musical production. You might be working on a soiree or variety show - the syllabus is super flexible in supporting your learning goals.

Musical Theatre (Voice)
Love the songs but not the other stuff? Or maybe want to focus on your singing? We have a syllabus for that. You'll find the syllabus under our "Classical" family but don't worry - the syllabus is all about MT. With foundational skills based in classical vocal technique to set you up for success, our Musical Theatre syllabus has all the great tunes to learn and love. The songs are graded to support your development and progression through the Grades, encompassing everything from absolute beginner (Preliminary) through to Diploma (LMusA). Singing is the focus area but in the context of the role - you'll learn tools for performing the pieces in the context of the plot and bringing your character to life. Exams are available in two formats: Comprehensive (which includes pieces, technical work, sight reading, aural tests, and a general knowledge discussion) and Repertoire (which is more of a recital style including more pieces but none of the other tests). Read more about Repertoire exams in our Spotlight here.

Want to act up?
We have SIX different syllabuses to choose from! They each have their own area of focus so you can choose whichever best supports your learning goals. Here's the list but stay tuned for a future Spotlight to explore these fantastic syllabuses more thoroughly...

• Acting (Stageschool): Prepare a scene and get assessed across a range of communication, interpretative and technical skills.
• Drama and Communication: Take inspiration from a dramatic focus and develop and present a program involving character development and clear communication.
• Speech and Performance: Develop vocal technique and interpretation of a variety of prose.
• Screen Acting (Stageschool):  Develop practical knowledge for the film and television industries.
• Voice and Communication: Interact with the examiner and your audience to develop your reading techniques and ability to engage diverse audiences.
• Public Speaking (Stageschool): Communicate effectively and grow your confidence.

Care to dance?
To round out the triple threat, we have two dance syllabuses that are designed to safely build skills and strength. They come with technical exercises and set moves but the choreography is super flexible:

• Jazz Dance (Stageschool): Based on the Fossy style, this is the popular and accessible starting point for pretty much every other style of dance - "A Chorus Line" anyone?
• Street Dance (Stageschool): Learn all your favourite hip hop moves and more - perfect for "In the Heights".

What's Stageschool?

Stageschool is one of a few different umbrella categories of syllabuses we have that describe the genres or families of instruments that sit within them. The other syllabuses that we've mentioned in today's Spotlight live within our Classical or Speech and Drama categories.

What other resources are available?

Loads. And it really depends on which syllabus you want to focus on first. All Stageschool Syllabuses are completely free to download and get started. For Musical Theatre (Stageschool), you can access customised and accessibly-priced musicals that are designed with school students in mind. The parts cover a variety of standards and align perfectly to the Stageschool grades. The dance syllabuses come with their own music tracks to accompany exercises and you can watch examples of nearly every step. Our Musical Theatre (voice) syllabus is supported by a technical work book, plus Grade books with compilations of pieces for each grade (Preliminary to Grade 4. Most of these have recorded accompaniments available, and there's even a book to help you develop sight-reading skills. You can get those resources from our AMEB Online Shop or your favourite local music retailer. If you're looking to enhance your knowledge even further, why not check out our Speech and Performance Theory Syllabus. It aligns perfectly to the Speech and Performance practical exams and equips you with really useful knowledge about how your body produces sound and the inner workings of text.

Can I get TCE Points for any of these exams?

Yes you can! And that goes for any AMEB syllabus. In fact, all practical exams are eligible for TCE bonus points from Grade 4 onwards, as well as Theory Grade 2+.

I have more questions.

That's great! We'd love to help with those. Please feel free to browse the other great sources of information on our website or get in touch to find out more.