Literature Review 1

I will be reviewing the following article written by Adrian Jeckells, principal of The London School of Musical Theatre. The article was written for the UK Performing Arts Website which aims to give guidance to those who want to train for a performance career. The article can be found at: http://www.ukperformingarts.co.uk/musicaltheatre/the_right_training.asp

As head of LSMT Adrian Jeckells has a lot of knowledge about the musical theatre industry and about what is required when training students. He should be considered an expert in the field and the article gives his expert opinion. It should however be noted that the article is only giving his opinion and is not substantiated.

In the article Jeckells argues that musical theatre performers need strong skills in singing, acting and dancing and that a good course will provide training in all three. He believes that a 'balanced curriculum' is the key to improving their employability (Jeckells, 2011). He gives advice on the more practical side of the industry and says that a good course should aid students in this. He discusses the different types of course available to those looking to train and gives guidance on how to check the track records of particular courses.

This article was written for those who want to train in musical theatre. These people will want as much practical information as possible and will be looking to this site and article to supply that for them. The writing style is helpfully clear and there are lots of facts and useful tips to guide the reader, such as looking at biographies in show programmes to see where cast members trained. I do think however that because of this upfront approach some opinion is passed off as fact and can therefore be misleading.

Jeckells has made certain assumptions when writing this article that should be discussed. His main argument that musical theatre 'requires people with a strong skill-base in singing, acting and dancing' is not substantiated. There are many people who work successfully as musical theatre performers and who can only do one or two of the three disciplines. His opinion on this matter however is stated as fact and means we should proceed with caution.

When discussing three year and one year courses Jeckells also makes assumptions about the type of person that would be right for each. He assumes that those training on a one year course will have more natural talent than those on a three year course. He writes, 'for some individuals three years of training at a reputable establishment is imperative as they may have potential but limited stagecraft or technical foundation... for others a three course is neither necessary or desirable.' He goes on to describe the type of person who would be right for a one year course '(the person) is naturally talented... a mature individual who may have extensive non-professional stage experience, has privately embarked on singing lessons and dance classes and now wishes to pursue a professional career.' A person reading this would naturally want to see themselves in the best possible light and would therefore more likely than not think themselves right for the one year course.

When considering these assumptions I think it is important for us to look at the bias of the author. He is the head of LSMT which is a one year course and he therefore has an allegiance with that type of course. Given that the audience of the article is people looking to train it is in his best interests to promote one year courses in a favourable light. This does however mean we get a skewed and misleading impression of the types of people who train on each course. It is my experience that people on a three course will have had as many private singing and dancing classes prior to professional training as those on a one year course. It is also my experience that they are no less naturally talented.

It should probably be noted here that I am aware that I most likely have my own bias with regards to the training of musical theatre students. I trained on a three course and am therefore inclined to defend the course and the talent of those who choose to train there.

Another bias that I believe the author has and does a good job at concealing is to do with the importance of singing. Jeckells says that it is important to be a 'triple threat' but he makes several comments about the importance of singing without making similar comments on the importance of the other disciplines. For example, 'the minimum requirement for an individual embarking on a career in musical theatre today is a strong singing voice' and 'the course should not be an acting course with some token singing classes.' He even list 'singing' first when discussing the three disciplines which I believe can be very telling.

All these things give us a more true picture of what the one year course at LSMT will be like. It may have the intention of being a well rounded course but in reality it may have a singing bias. Interestingly a friend of mine auditioned for LSMT last week. Unlike most musical theatre courses which see you do all three disciplines before they recall or offer a place, LSMT only hear people sing before they make a cut. It appears that singing is more important to Adrian Jeckells than acting and dancing.

The article is very interesting and very useful but as I have said before it is only an opinion (all be it from an expert) and it is weighted by an obvious bias towards one year courses. It would perhaps have been useful for the website to ask the head of three year course to give their opinions on the subject so that the readers were provided with a more rounded impression when facing the decision of where to train.


Jeckells, A. 2011, The right training [online]. Available from http://www.ukperformingarts.co.uk/musicaltheatre/the_right_training.asp [last accessed 22 April 2011]