GMTA

Greenwich Theatre has become renowned for a high quality, ambitious programme of training opportunities for young people, and our work has been covered by the Times Educational Supplement, Channel 4 Learning, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph, with more recent work contributing to Channel 4's Dispatches and BBC1's The Big Question. Five years in the making and now led by a new director, the programme is still going strong.

2003 - THE FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY

In September 2003, in a press conference at the London Palladium, Greenwich Theatre joined together with the then Minister for the Arts, Estelle Morris, to launch the acclaimed Greenwich Musical Theatre Academy (GMTA), a unique initiative funded by the Learning & Skills Council which used theatre professionals to provide high quality musical theatre training for young people who had struggled to access mainstream training provision through traditional routes. GMTA attracted patrons from across the industry including musical theatre stars Clive Rowe and Graham Bickley, West End casting director David Grindrod and founder of the black-led arts festival Push, Josette Bushell-Mingo.

Under the banner of GMTA, the Theatre took the unprecedented step of creating a full-time two year course in Musical Theatre, the first course of its kind in the country, and securing accreditation at Levels 2 and 3 from the London Open College Network. Alongside the course the Theatre also delivered a year-round programme of taster sessions and workshops to introduce young people from south and east London to the training opportunities available.

2005 - THE ACADEMY MEETS THE PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME

In December 2005, with the support of Equity, we launched our performance apprenticeship programme with two GMTA students, Donna Marsh and Tony Dinh Le, taking to the stage as part of the professional cast of Aladdin, written by Andrew Pollard and directed by Fiona Laird. The apprenticeship programme generated two paid performance places in the cast, with the young performers also receiving their student membership of Equity and making their first steps on the way to a professional career.

2005 also saw the creation of three training bursaries, sponsored by Thamesmead based property developer Tilfen Land, designed to help graduating GMTA students with their further training.

The following year, as part of the annual Musical Theatre festival Musical Futures, we commissioned Taking Stock, a new one-hour musical written for a cast of GMTA students and workshop participants.

In 2006 the full-time course was mainstreamed at Greenwich Community College, where it is still delivered by a range of Musical Theatre professionals. Young aspiring performers interested in joining the course should contact www.gcc.ac.uk.

2007 - A NEW PRIORITY

In 2007, with further support from the Learning + Skills Council, GMTA moved in a new direction. The Theatre is now one partner in the delivery of the London East Vocational Entry Route (LEVER) project; the Theatre's contribution to the programme is a rolling timetable of informal 10 week theatre apprenticeships available free of charge to anyone aged 16-19 from south or east London with less than 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C. The change is aligned with director James Haddrell's commitment to the use of theatre as a tool for broad vocational training, creating transferable skills, building self-confidence and self-esteem, enhancing communication skills and opening up new routes into employment or training.

In November 2007 the Theatre was named the Best Small Business Provider of Vocational Training in London by the Edge Foundation for our work in this sector.

For more information about training opportunities at Greenwich Theatre, please contact Susan Winter at s.winter@greenwichtheatre.org.uk.

GMTA partners

NEGUS Sixth Form Centre
Greenwich Dance Agency
Trinity College of Music
GSA Conservatoire
Greenwich Community College

GMTA supporters

Learning + Skills Council
European Social Fund
Youth Music
Tilfen Land, Arts & Business

LEVER partners

Landmark Training
City Gateway
Chelmer Training
Rathbone
Springboard Hackney
Springboard Hackney
Reynolds Performing Arts