BA (Hons) Musical Theatre
Take centre stage at university by perfecting your stage technique with internationally experienced academics and build your professional networks with established theatre companies.
Biography
Michael has a BA in Drama from Aberystwyth University, a Post Graduate Certificate in Further Education (Performance) from the University of Greenwich and a PhD awarded by the University of Winchester in 2014. The title of his thesis is ‘Respectable Capers’ – Class, Respectability and the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company 1877-1909. It investigates ways in which the cultural values of the ‘respectable’ Victorian bourgeoisie affected spoken and sung performance styles and production values in the musical theatre of the late Victorian West End. A book, based on this thesis, entitled Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Respectable Capers’ has been published by Palgrave.
Michael began his professional life as an actor and director. Repertory seasons include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ghosts, Romeo and Juliet, and numerous commercial comedies, thrillers, and musicals for Canalcrest Productions at the Royal Hippodrome, Eastbourne, The Birmingham Stage Company at the Birmingham Old Rep Theatre, Falcon Productions at the Tivoli Theatre, Eastbourne, and Theatr Y Werin, Aberystwyth.
Non-commercial theatre and fringe include British premieres of The Man Outside by Wolfgang Borchert (Manchester Festival of Expressionism) Brecht’s adaptation of The Duchess of Malfi, (Chelsea Centre Theatre), The Tragedy of Jane Shore (Duke of Cambridge), The Signalman, Dracula (Jekyll and Hyde), a West Midlands tour of The Chairs (The 5&9 Company), and a South East tour of Strindberg: The Man (Falcon Productions).
Theatre for children includes pantomimes and Christmas shows at The Fortune Theatre (West End), Buxton Opera House, The Royal Hippodrome, Eastbourne and The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch. Directing - Miss Julie (Falcon Productions, South East Tour) Dial M for Murder, Falcon Productions, La Ronde, Strippers and Dracula (The 5&9 Company), Leonardo’s Last Supper (Castle Theatre, Aberystwyth).
Having left the professional theatre and after a variety of other jobs, Michael returned to higher education in 2007. He has worked as a lecturer at Winchester University, Portsmouth University, and Solent University since 2009.
Further information
Prior to working as a lecturer, Michael worked extensively in professional theatre. He has also worked in local government, for a prominent trade union, and for market research and promotional organisations.
Taught courses
BA (Hons) Acting and Performance
Whether it’s treading the boards, or taking your mark in front of a camera, our acting and performance degree gives you the freedom to follow your dream, with real-world experience in the industry.
