Musical Theatre: New Musical (ages 15-17)

Summer School for Children and Young People

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Overview

Musical Theatre: New Musical is an immersive one-week summer school designed for young performers aged 15–17 who are passionate about musical theatre and excited by the idea of creating something brand new. This course offers a unique opportunity to explore how new musicals are developed, rehearsed, and brought to life, all within a supportive and collaborative environment.

This year will see Short Courses present a new musical by Scottish composer and playwright, Shonagh Murray and directed by Scottish director David Wood.

Shonagh’s previous work includes Nessie (Pitlochry Festival Theatre & Capital Theatres); Armour: A Herstory of the Scottish Bard (A Play, A Pie and A Pint); Saturdays Doon the J.M. (Dundee Rep Theatre 2021); The Great Elf Escape: LIVE (The Ayr Gaiety 2020).

David Wood is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and West College Scotland. His practice specialises on collaborative exploration of big ideas, with a focus on new writing, queer work and work for young audiences. His most recent project, MEMBER, was selected for the San Francisco International Arts Festival in 2025 and recently completed a multi-award-winning run at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Across the week, students will work together as a company to rehearse and perform material from a newly created musical. From first read-through to final sharing, you’ll experience the creative journey of building a show from the ground up.

Unlike traditional musical theatre courses that focus on well-known shows, this summer school centres on original material. Students will engage with new songs, scenes, and characters, learning how performers contribute creatively to the development of a new musical.

Through practical workshops and rehearsals, you’ll explore storytelling, character development, and ensemble work, gaining insight into the creative process behind contemporary musical theatre.

By the end of this course students will have:

Developed vocal and acting techniques in a supportive environment
Participated in the unique process of premiering a new musical
Build their confidence in performing onstage in a new ensemble piece

If there are any questions with regards to content, please feel free to contact Short Courses.

If you have any questions in advance of booking, please contact us at summerschools@rcs.ac.uk

The important details

Age:
15 - 17

Cost:
£

Date:
20 - 24 July 2026

Time:
Monday - Friday, 10am - 6pm

Venue:
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G2 3DB

The course runs Monday, 20 July – Friday, 24 July from 10am to 6pm.

There will be a short sharing of the work students have been engaging with on the Friday in the afternoon for invited family and friends. Details about times and tickets will be made available nearer the time.

There are no formal entry requirements for this course, however we would highly recommend that students have previous musical theatre experience. Students should come to the course expecting to work hard, be challenged and enjoy contributing to the creative process.

No advance preparation is required for this course.

Students should wear comfortable clothing and footwear, suitable for movement and dance work.

Please also bring water, lunch and snacks for throughout the day as this course will be very physical.

All course information will be sent via email approximately two weeks before the course start date.

Summer Accommodation

We are pleased to welcome students from across the world to our Summer Schools. Our course fees do not include accommodation or food, and these should be organised by the student. Our campus is located in Glasgow city centre, and you can find the addresses below.

We recommend Base Glasgow, as purpose-built accommodation for Conservatoire students, with Rehearsal Rooms, Practice spaces and Dance Studios. Base Glasgow is perfectly suited for our summer school students; both safe and secure, with 24/7 staff presence and only 3 mins walk from our main Renfrew Street building, keeping travel costs to a minimum.

Classic En-Suite rooms come with a 3/4 bed, en-suite bathroom, ample storage, mirror, study desk and chair. The shared area includes a spacious lounge and kitchen area.

Please note that Short Courses staff are not affiliated with BASE or on site outwith the summer school teaching hours, and therefore cannot take responsibility for students outside of these hours.

For more information about booking accommodation at BASE Glasgow you can contact them directly via website BASE – Student Accommodation in Glasgow or email baseglasgow@herestudents.com.

Alternatively, there are plenty of hotels, hostels, and b’n’b options available. We are located close to transport links should you wish to stay outside the city centre. If you are travelling to Glasgow for a course, we strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance that covers course fees, travel, accommodation, and cancellations due to COVID-19 – as RCS will not refund in this circumstance. You can view the Cancellations and Refund policy for full information.

For students under 18 years old, we strongly advise travelling with a responsible adult should any emergency situations arise during class. Students are only monitored by staff during class times.

Renfrew Street Campus: 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G2 3DB
Wallace Studios Campus: 210 Garscube Road, Glasgow, G4 9RR

Further Information

We want to ensure as many children, young people and adult learners as possible can access the performing and production arts education that is offered through Short Courses at RCS. Financial support options available for Short Courses include:

Agnes Allan Bursary

Agnes Allan was a teacher, passionate about inclusion, and this bursary scheme exists to offer support to students to participate in the performing or production arts.

The Agnes Allan Bursary provides some support to students who may require financial assistance to take part in a short course in dance, drama, music, production or screen.

Anyone who wishes to take part in our Short Courses and faces a financial barrier can apply for bursary support to help meet the cost of tuition fees.

James McAvoy Drama Scholarships

BAFTA-winning and Golden Globe nominated actor James McAvoy is committed to nurturing the creative potential of young Scots who experience barriers to access and participate in drama at RCS Short Courses.

James is a graduate of the BA Acting programme at RCS and Patron of the Junior Conservatoire of Drama. The Glasgow-born actor has funded the new James McAvoy Drama Scholarships to enable young people to experience the world-class drama training at RCS as he did.

The scholarship aims to support applicants who would otherwise find meeting the cost of tuition fees at RCS a barrier to accessing pre-Higher Education drama training at the Royal Conservatoire.

You can find more information about these funds on our Financial Support page.

We run various promotional offers for our Short Courses and Summer Schools. You can view our current offers on our Promotional Offers page.

You should contact us at shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk to request your discount code before booking a course.

Please note, only one promotional offer can be applied per course and should be used at the time of booking as we are unable to apply a discounts retrospectively.

Please see our Short Course FAQs for more information about all aspects of choosing, booking and attending your course.

Please see our Short Courses – Terms and Conditions for more information about your contract with Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Cancellation and Refund policies.

Sign up to our mailing list to receive the latest updates of courses, offers and news from Short Courses. You can do this by completing this short online form found here.

Short Courses
shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk

Summer Schools
summerschools@rcs.ac.uk

Credit-Rated
credit-rated@rcs.ac.uk

Bursary and Scholarship
bursaryscholarship@rcs.ac.uk