MEET OUR MANCHESTER FOUNDATION MUSICAL THEATRE COURSE LEADER

We are thrilled to be extending Mountview’s world-class Musical Theatre training to a new home in Manchester. We spoke to course leader Paul-Ryan Carberry about his journey, as well as what to look forward to in the new Manchester-based Foundation Musical Theatre programme.

Paul-Ryan Carberry | photo by Chris Mann

What was your route into musical theatre and why do you love to teach?

I’m originally from Eccles in Salford and found a passion for theatre in my late teens. Some amazing teachers along the way steered my thinking and opened up a route that I would have never considered – I’ll be eternally grateful to those individuals for giving me the confidence to follow my passion and my dream. After high school, I attended Pendleton College before training at Mountview in Musical Theatre, graduating in 2008. After my training, I was fortunate to go on to work as an actor across TV and theatre for several years before making the move into directing. I’ve been teaching and directing at Mountview for nearly 10 years now, it’s such a special place to be and the passion from students and staff alike is so inspiring to be involved with. My work has always focused on finding ways to support artists in their early-career – I love seeing people achieve their potential and find confidence in themselves – it’s one of the key reasons I do what I do.

Where is the course based?

Our brand new course will be based at Z-arts, just on the edge of Manchester City Centre (about 10 mins bus ride from Piccadilly). Z-arts is an incredible venue with an amazingly dedicated team and I’m so delighted Mountview will be making its home there from September. Z-arts is passionate about helping young people achieve their potential and so our two organisations share a lot of common goals and aims. The venue has brilliant facilities, including a 225 seater theatre space and it’s a kind and welcoming environment for all.

Why study in Manchester?

Z-arts | photo by husseyseatway.com

There is a buzz in Manchester like no other city! It has a great history for art, politics, music and football – making it an amazing place to live, work and study. I’m so excited that we are establishing this new Musical Theatre course here and even more excited to put together our very first northern cohort for 2022/23. With this course taking place in Manchester, it is also a brilliant opportunity for those people who are interested in developing and training for the theatre, but who might want to stay close to home and family in The North. There can be added pressure in having to move to London alone which for many can bring an extra layer of difficulty in accessing the training to help them reach their potential. Studying in Manchester will give Northerners a more immediate Mountview home and offer them a more achievable option to celebrate their passion and investigate their future steps.

What can graduates of the course potentially go on to next?

There is no set, fixed route for people and their journeys within the theatre industry and so will be the same for those who take part in this course. Some will decide that they would like to go on to continue their training at BA level – for those people, this course will give them an excellent foundation and a supportive springboard to achieve just that. Others will discover alternative pathways for their career, becoming aware of how they might prefer to utilise the skills they’ve gained and developed. Regardless, it’s our aim that, irrespective of the chosen route, all individuals will leave this course with confidence in who they are as a person, confidence in their ideas and in their voice, armed with a wide ranging tool kit that they can apply to a variety of universal experiences and situations throughout their lives.

What are your three top highlights of this course?

Photo by Steve Gregson

There is so much I’m looking forward to with this course! Hard to whittle down to just three highlights. We have put together an incredible pool of staff to deliver Mountview’s world-class training here in Manchester and I’m excited to be working closely alongside them. Their knowledge and professional experience will offer our cohort so much. I think my biggest highlights will be the project work the students take part in. At the end of Term 1 the cohort will rehearse and perform a Modern Book Musical which is a great opportunity for them to activate the skills they will have been gaining across dance, singing and acting in their classes. At the end of Term 2 we will also devise and create a brand-new musical, which will be shared in the Theatre at Z-Arts. A wonderful opportunity to celebrate each individual with family, friends and the general public.

Find out more about the course and book in for our FREE audition/taster day on 12 August here.