Musical Theatre Personal Statement

I am very eager to study musical theatre at university with likeminded people because I have a keen interest in the subject and I am hoping to persue a full career in the performing arts. I am hoping to gain a broad understanding of the industry from my university course; I hope to learn about all aspects of theatre and music from acting, singing and dancing to directing, writing, producing and PR. I am also looking forward to being surrounded by people with similar drives and aspirations as myself and I hope that the competitive and ambitiousness of my peers will help me to achieve my full potential as well as forming some close friends.

I feel that I am best suited to musical theatre above all else due to my inert interest in the subject. After being exposed to a lot of music in my early childhood (not only show tunes but pop music, classical and a variety of other genres) it was inevitable that I would be eager to sing along and perform my favourite songs. Then as I was exposed to theatre and dance as well I found that I was more drawn to musical theatre than any other interest. I have come a long way since playing the angel Gabriel in my primary school nativity having now performed in numerous musicals and plays with my local amateur dramatics societies and several larger scale productions. These include: Marta VonTrapp in The Sound of Music with Musical Theatre Salisbury; A part of the children's chorus in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dream coat in the Bournemouth Pavilion; and recently as a principal dancer in High school Musical with RARE productions at the Andover Lights. I have enjoyed performing on a variety of stages and I hope that with time and dedication to the course, I will be able to fulfil my greatest aspiration of performing on a west end stage. It has been my dream to perform on a large stage in front of a full audience ever since seeing Wicked at the Mayflower. It was my first real experience of seeing a live production with a professional company and I was overwhelmed. The amazing visuals of the emerald city costumes, the incredibly designed set that transported the audience to each magical location, the captivating dance of the winged monkeys and most of all the raw emotion that poured from each song, solo and harmony inspired me completely to want to recreate the emotional catharsis that I felt in that theatre in my every day life. Upon seeing the show again in the Apollo theatre I was reminded of the deep sense of fulfilment evoked within me as I sobbed for three hours in my seat, but this time all I wanted to do was leap up onto the stage and dance right on down to the Oz Dust Ballroom ( I would have been well rehearsed.)