The second article I have chosen to review is taken from MThe:UK blog which is a record of the reports generated by MThe:UK conferences. MThe:UK is a collective of institutions and individuals who teach Musical Theatre in Higher Education in the UK and beyond. They facilitate open space conferences to address the question, "How are we shaping the future of musical theatre?"It is exactly this question that I was to focus my inquiry around.
I'm am still learning as a professional performer and I want to shape my own future in musical theatre in turn gaining a greater knowledge to use to pass on to others.
On this blog I came across an article entitled 'The New West End Pay Deal…Can MT be a long term career choice or is it a graduate stop-off before a 'real job' presents that pays the bills? ‘And it really made me stop and think again about my question "Do you value Musical Theatre performers as professionals and as a sustainable profession alone?"Taken from my blog http://rebeccajanegaskell24.blogspot.com/2011/04/6a-i-pilot-interviews-and-6b-critical.html.
This heading is very poignant to my on going investigation for my inquiry and is one of many discussions on this blog found through the following link:
http://mtheuk.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-west-end-pay-dealcan-mt-be-long.html
With these opinions coming from individuals who teach Musical theatre at a higher level I was extremely interested in reading their professional stance on this matter. The were strong statements and questions raised within this conference revolving around graduating students training and whether or not they were fully understanding what they were preparing themselves for in their chosen professions.
Many of these questions have led me to reassess and refine my inquiry topics now seeing how my theories are supported by other established HE professionals. The need for clarification and a sense of direction for graduates expected training out comes is very important. I can see from my own experiences when I graduated the knowledge I lacked then is still found to be lacking in new graduates so why is this? Even now institutions where musical theatre is taught question “Is there still a whiff of the amateur in the approach to being an MT practitioner? Is it seen on some level still as a bit of fun, an all consuming hobby, rather than a ‘proper job’… would a room full of architects or lawyers be as disinterested in what they can hope to achieve/earn? We believe not! None the less it is a ‘hobby’ that graduates will find needs to earn them a viable living…shouldn’t there be more attention in training to making your art work for you?"Even in these professional institutes they feel the perceptions of musical theatres reputability is questioned within society. The comment about making your art work you however is very close to my inquiry about trying to change misconceptions of musical theatre not being a viable/sustainable career path. If we can see where weaknesses lay then surely a need for change can be sought. Knowing I have added support with theses opinions voiced on the MThe:UK blog I have decided to ask a new inquiry question:
What do aspiring performers, teachers want and expect from their training and what can be done to ensure they are given the tools to facilitate this aspiration?
I also want to talk about another article taken from the same blog addressing the issue "Is there enough musical theatre training in government education?"This can be found through the following link: http://mtheuk.blogspot.com/2010/06/is-there-enough-musical-theatre.html
I have chosen to keep this part of my second literature review because it comes from the same source highlighting a similar topic related to my on going inquiry.
A subject questioning whether there is enough training in government education is just like my interview inquiry question- If Musical theatre were to disappear from the public domain/mainstream education/ how significantly would this affect you considering your career/everyday life? Clearly an issue which Mthe:Uk feel is important enough to address. I believe the earlier on people are introduced to musical theatre the better perception and understanding could be had. My view is the earlier musical theatre is introduced the longer the experience, room for development and more informed youngsters can be. Having the best possible preparation to decide which training path is right for them.
MThe:UK said “If the curriculum was developed to include musical theatre that would mean more youngsters would want to do musical theatre in the future rather than make the decision at age of further education when often students join courses thinking they want to do musical theatre but then discover it isn’t quite what they thought it was going to be which is due to lack of previous training in the schools."
I know this is a somewhat biased statement but this reaffirms my views and in all honesty I believe if this were implemented then the perceptions of musical theatre would become more positive and future performers could become stronger and more successful because of it. The outcome of this could have positive effect on all areas of musical theatre and bring aspiring performers longer time to prepare them for the industry. Rather than just limiting themselves to 1-3 year courses where everything is thrown at them they would have more time to digest their career decisions and hopefully have a sense of direction beyond graduation.
Reading various blog on Mthe:Uk has been essential for focussing the direction of my inquiry and given me a substantial amount of informed opinions to strengthen my inquiry ideas.
MThe:UK:http://mtheuk.blogspot.com/ accessed 26.4.11
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