Compiled by Mark Shenton with contributions from the Musicalitypanel, Bill Rosenfield (producer of original cast albums, RCA/BMG), Lynda Trapnell (editor, Musical Stages magazine), Gavin Barker (artists' agent) and Nikki Rose (co-ordinator of the London School of Musical Theatre).
Choosing a career path to become a musical theatre performer may well have been driven by your interest, ability and desire to sing and/or dance, but acting is equally as important as both of these skills, and the successful combination of all three disciplines is crucial.
Every theatrical performance, whether in a play or a musical, is about the performer becoming someone else; and to make that journey effectively and convincingly the performer needs first and foremost to be an accomplished actor.
Acting is like a muscle: you need to keep it fit and in shape. You can never stop learning or growing as an actor.
Don't limit yourself to aspiring to appear in musicals: remember that if you can act, you can do anything. Beware of narrowing your horizons, and getting yourself pigeonholed.
Listen, watch and learn: there's no better way to learn than seeing other actors doing the job well. You might be able to get a sense of good acting from watching movies and TV, but by going to the theatre as often as you can afford to you will experience and participate in something else: the uniqueness of the live show. No two performances are ever exactly the same: what's being done on one night is for that audience alone.
Try to work with as wide a range of directors as possible, to experience their different methods and get a feel for the variety of ways that new roles can be approached.
Be prepared to be completely uninhibited. You need to be both physically and emotionally brave enough to take risks in order to become exceptional as a musical theatre performer. Being in a long-running show can be a safe, comfortable thing to do, but to develop you have to be prepared to go out and bring something back for yourself, to try to do something different all the time.
Take it seriously: you should approach a musical theatre role as if it were a part in a Shakespeare play. It may not be as profound, but the audience still needs to believe that you are the character you are playing.
Be intelligent. You need to be able to demonstrate that you understand the text, but never be afraid to ask a question if you don't. You also need to be able to criticise your own work as an actor, but don't be too self-critical: leave it to the outside eye of the director to guide you.
Singing in musicals is just an extension of acting: it's acting through song – although, granted, the sounds you are making do need to be attractive and in tune.
You need to be able to hear the tune in your ear and then reproduce it in your mouth and throat. That may sound obvious, but if you can't hear the tune in the first place, you can't start making others hear it. This is the true essence of having musicality: to literally have a 'musical ear'.
If you do have a musical ear, it needs training to recognise the different demands that might be made of your voice. Although the voice is an endlessly flexible instrument and for many singing may be an innate gift, its abilities and boundaries need to be safely explored and stretched with a trained teacher.
Keep vocally fit and trained: it's not enough to learn how to sing properly; you have to work to maintain your voice in a healthy state. You must beware of overstretching yourself: it's possible to ruin your voice, particularly in a long-running show. You have to sustain your voice through a lot of wear and tear, so it's important to build up stamina and resilience.
If you're in a musical, you are acting a character. It's not enough to have character – you need to remain in character at all times. You need to believe in the role you're playing and you need to carry that through to what you're singing about.
Make sure that you practice singing in a variety of musical styles. If you're in a show, find the time to sing songs that contrast with the score you perform nightly. This will maintain your vocal flexibility and dexterity. If you only have a 'rock' voice you won't be able to do Sondheim; if you only sing show tunes, you may stick out in a classical choir.
You need to be technically in control of everything you sing. Techniques such as breath control, posture and the differences between 'head' and 'chest' voice registers all serve the purpose of expressing what you are singing, but they should be such that you don't have to think about them.
Be confident and sure of yourself.
It's helpful to be able to read music, but you can get away without doing so, if you have a good ear and can pick things up quickly.
Musical theatre isn't something that exists from the neck up: it's a physical medium, and you need to be able to move as well as sing and act. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to be a fully trained dancer, but formal training certainly helps.
Lots of people have an innate sense of rhythm and can bop around a bit, but there's a big difference between that and having style and line, being able to carry yourself properly as a dancer, and being adaptable to the many different styles of dance you might be called on to do.
Ballet training is a great starting point – it helps you to be graceful – but training in jazz and tap is invaluable, too. You may need to have ballet, tap, modern and contemporary skills – sometimes all at the same time – and though you may be better at some styles than others, to be able to do all of them will help you progress as a dancer much more quickly.
Being a dancer in musical theatre means being able to take what a choreographer gives you and reproduce it exactly as they want. You should resist adapting it to your own style unless you're specifically asked to do so.
You need to have a quick brain and develop the capacity to pick up routines fast; to be able to watch something being demonstrated and then reproduce it straight away. At an audition, you might get 10 minutes to learn an entire routine. It sounds daunting, but it gets easier with practice, so keep going to dance classes.
You need to be in tune to the attitude or vibe that is being asked for at an audition – it's not just about the steps, but about the whole projection of yourself.
Don't forget that you're still acting – however technically wonderful you are, this is more than just a demonstration of technique. Dance is another expression of character. When emotion becomes too overwhelming for words or music, characters often use dance to express themselves.
Flexibility and fitness are paramount so you need to keep going to dance classes or the gym, or both.
