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Live performances and professional venues

Perform in front of live audiences in amazing professional venues. Sing, dance, act, and take on a production role in our annual musical theatre show. Attend live shows at local venues.

A group of students dressed in Victorian costumes performing a scene from A Christmas Carol at Beamish museum

Live performances

You’ll get many opportunities to perform live at each stage of the BA (Hons) Performing Arts course, including:

Year 1: A pantomime, a variety show, and Final Showcase
Year 2: ‘A Christmas Carol’, a full-scale musical theatre production, a cabaret show
Year 3: A full-scale musical theatre production, Final Showcase, LearningBods touring theatre (depending on the modules you choose).

Through these performances, you'll gain experience of working in an ensemble and performing in a professional setting for a live audience.

A group of students rehearsing a performance of Sister Act in the Fire Station Auditorium

Professional venues

You'll have access to excellent local venues to perform for assessments.

The Fire Station is Sunderland’s new live music and performance venue which is a short walk from City Campus. This is where you'll perform the musical theatre production and final showcase.

We also have a residency with Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne. Here, you'll take part in industry-relevant modules and employability workshops.

There's even the possibility of performing in professional productions. In previous years, our students have appeared in ‘Cilla The Musical’ and ‘Evita’ in venues such as Sunderland Empire and Newcastle Theatre Royal.

Every year we plan and produce a full-scale musical theatre production. In March 2023 our second and third year students performed 'Spring Awakening' in the Fire Station auditorium.

Our Stage 2 Performing Arts students performed a cabaret to a public audience in The Peacock in the cultural quarter of Sunderland. They devised, created, choreographed, and composed these original pieces.

In the final year of their course, Performing Arts students can create a piece and lead their peers to bring it to life. The piece can be anything, from a script or an experimental performance, to a musical or an opera.

In December 2022 our stage 2 Performing Arts students performed 'A Christmas Carol' in Beamish Museum's Masonic Hall. The students got the opportunity to demonstrate their acting, singing, and dancing skills as part of the performance.

In March 2022 our second and third year students performed ‘Sister Act’ the musical in the Fire Station auditorium, the first musical production to be performed in Sunderland's new multi-million-pound entertainment venue.

Our 2021 production of ‘Fame!’ combined online and in-person rehearsals and warm-ups during the Covid-19 pandemic. The final performance was a Covid-friendly, socially distanced performance to a live audience. Watch our dress rehearsal and hear how it all came together.

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Live performances and professional venues