Youth Arts Gallery
Music Theatre 4 Youth
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1. Open Access “Musicals in a Weekend”
Music Theatre 4 Youth (MT4Uth) set-up in February 2005 based around the concept of creating a “Musical in a Weekend” with 80 young people from Ireland.
MT4Uth brings top level theatre professionals from the West End and across Europe to Ireland to provide top level theatre training to as many young people as possible.
“MT4Uth extremely useful and beneficial to the up and coming young performers in Northern Ireland. It gives them the chance to work with top directors, choreographers and Musical Directors, in order to produce high quality musical theatre performance.
When I was younger I had to constantly fly to England in search of training courses such as the National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT), which I learned so much from, but now that MT4Uth has formed, there isn't really a need to leave Northern Ireland at such a young age.
I believe MT4Uth is the key to a lot more successful performers coming out of Northern Ireland.”
Conleth Kane (24) Lurgan
MT4Uth Young People’s Representative 2005/06
The “Musicals in a Weekend” are open access projects, i.e. there are no auditions prior to the projects, and young people sign up because they are interested in Music Theatre.
In the first year MT4Uth ran 3 “Musicals in a Weekend” – “Oliver” in the on-site theatre at Stranmillis University College, Belfast; “My Fair Lady” in The Millennium Forum, Derry and “Oklahoma!” in the Market Place Theatre, Armagh.
To date MT4Uth have run 11 “Musicals in a Weekend”, providing access to the best quality musical theatre training to 600 young people in Ireland and providing them with an opportunity to gain performance experience in theatres throughout the province (Armagh, Belfast, Coleraine, Derry, Enniskillen, and Newry).
Specialist Projects
2. “Bugsy Malone”
Music Theatre 4 Youth developed their first ever specialist “Musical in a Weekend” in May 2007. “Bugsy Malone” which was funded by the Arts Council Lottery Project Fund provided the younger members of the company (11 – 16 years old) with an opportunity to take on bigger roles and gain new experiences. By reducing the cast size participants were able to receive a greater level of individual tuition from the international artistic team.
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After 3 days of rehearsals in Queen’s University Drama Department a performance of “Bugsy Malone” took place in Belvoir Players rehearsal Studio.
3. “Sweet Charity”
Music Theatre 4 Youth (MT4Uth) deliver programmes and performances of a very high standard. Over the past 3 years, working throughout the province, MT4Uth have uncovered a large number of young people interested in Music Theatre. They have also demonstrated that there is an abundance of local talent which needs to be nurtured.
In October 2007 MT4Uth developed their second specialist project – a “Musical in a Weekend” for 35 of the most talented 15 – 22 year olds. The Musical “Sweet Charity” was chosen specifically to challenge the older participants and once again provide a platform for them to develop and perform.
In 2007 MT4Uth developed links with three of the top UK performing arts colleges – Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Guildford School of Acting and Arts Educational. The three colleges worked in conjunction with MT4Uth on this project sending over students from their colleges to work with the group for three and a half days.
“MT4UTH never surprise me. The weekend was everything I thought it would be - professional, challenging, fun and non stop! What I found really exciting was the standard of talent in MT4Uth. While studying in London you start to forget about the 'outside world' and I found it a breath of fresh air coming home and witnessing girls AND boys completely dedicated and not only good at one aspect of Musical theatre.
MT4Uth are setting a very high standard for Northern Ireland - I'm glad that I could be a small part in that.”
Orla Gormley (19) Belfast
2nd Year – Arts Educational School London
Playing the lead role of Charity was MT4Uth member Niamh Perry (17) from Bangor. Niamh has been a member of MT4Uth since the company was set-up in 2005 and has taken part in all projects / training weekends and was a member of “Footlighters” – MT4Uth’s show case mini-company. After a nationwide search for someone to play Nancy in the West End production of Oliver, Niamh made it down to the final 12 in March 2008 and is currently appearing live on Andrew Lloyd Webbers new programme “I’d Do Anything”.
“I couldn’t have got here without the top level training I received from the world class artistic team with MT4Uth based here in Northern Ireland. It provided me with the technical training, skills and confidence to cope with the last few weeks in London.”
Niamh Perry (17), Bangor
Support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland enabled us to develop this project ensuring that MT4Uth continues to offer the very best professional training to those interested in pursuing a career in the field.
4. “Aim High” – A pilot project with St. Patrick’s College ‘Bearnageeha’ and Belfast Boys’ Model School
“Aim High” was a specifically designed project intended to develop MT4Uth’s Bursary Scheme which was set-up in 2005 to provide financial assistance to those young people who might otherwise not have the opportunity to take part.
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Following presentations to both schools, 30 boys were selected to participate in the project. For two days in Belvoir Players Rehearsal Studio the students had the opportunity to work with a professional director and choreographer from London’s West End.
The boys worked on excerpts from “West Side Story” – the musical which explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The project introduced the boys to the world of music theatre, built their skills in acting, dancing and singing and developed their confidence as performers.
From the project 4 boys were selected to receive Annual Bursary Places in 2008 with MT4Uth, enabling them to receive training on 2 “Musicals in a Weekend” and a summer project and maximise the benefits.
5. Dance Studio
For the past 3 years MT4Uth’s internationally renowned artistic team have worked on developing the acting, dancing and singing skills of young people in Ireland. While MT4Uth’s “Musicals in a Weekend” cover all areas, MT4Uth wanted to do more to encourage artistic excellence in the weakest area overall – dance.
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With support from First Trust Bank and Arts & Business NI MT4Uth developed the Dance Studio – a project that gives a wide range of participants the opportunity to develop their skills.
30 young people were selected by Audition in January 2008 to take part in the training. For some this was their first experience of dance, whilst others were able to polish existing skills. For 6 Sundays between February – May young people from Newry to Donegal met in Belvoir Players Rehearsal Studio. Working with top choreographers Ryan Jenkins (London) and Stefan Umhey (Germany), they were exposed to different forms and styles of dance.
On each day the group worked on a different staged routine from a well known Musical, these included: Chorus Line, Cabaret, Fosse, Cats and Saturday Night Fever. On the final evening the group put on a performance to show case what they had achieved.
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