'You Will Have to Forge Your Own Path': Sir Tim Rice on His New BBC Maestro's WRITING AND PERFORMING MUSICAL THEATRE Course

Do you have a love for musical theatre? Have you ever wanted to learn how to write your own show? Well, look no further. Sir Tim Rice, the iconic lyricist and author behind hits like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast has released a 23-lesson-long course with BBC Maestro to teach you how!

Sir Tim Rice is one of the most successful and celebrated lyricists of all time. For his incredible body of work, including much-loved productions Evita, Chess, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aladdin, and The Lion King, Tim has won numerous awards. With three Oscars, five Grammys, two Oliviers, three Golden Globes, three Tonys and even an Emmy under his belt, there are few people better placed to help guide you to achieve your showbiz dreams.

Recently, BroadwayWorld had the chance to speak with Sir Tim about this exciting online course. We discussed what he hopes students take away from the course, his partnerships with theatre legends like Alan Menken and Andrew Lloyd Webber, some of Sir Tim’s own influences including Michael Flanders and Don Swann and even some advice in advance of the course.

When asked about what prospective students can learn from his course, Sir Tim stated that “it’s really drawing from whatever experience I’ve had over half a century of being involved in musical theatre, initially by accident!” Of course, the course is not going to be your way to instantly write a hit show, as Sir Tim says, “No people who’ve had any sort of good fortune in theatre at all, musical theatre or otherwise, have followed the same path.” Advice will be offered, but you will have to forge your own path!

Along with advice from Sir Tim, there will be special guests joining the course including composer Alan Menken, casting director Jane Deitch and theatrical producer Nick Allott. No one is able to do everything alone. As Sir Tim says, “Musical theatre is probably the area of theatre where you need more experts and more people good at their job than almost any other form of theatre!” You have to learn how to find the right balance of the number of people working on a show.

Even for those who have no plans on creating their own musicals, the BBC Maestro course is a way to gain some fascinating insight into the life of a living legend, hearing stories behind some of the greatest musicals of all time. Through just an hour of listening to Sir Tim talk about his course, I was able to learn more about the theatre world and heard some stories behind some fantastic songs like “Hakuna Matata” and “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.”

And finally, when asked how to describe his course in one word? To quote Sir Tim himself, “Intriguing!”

Sir Tim Rice’s BBC Maestro course on Writing and Performing Musical Theatre is available now. The course is priced at £79, with a 40% discount available until 31 October-use code OCTOBER40.

Photo Credit: Gareth Iwan Jones

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