Alex Kirk - Royal Academy of Music - Musical Theatre

Watch my audition songs:

On The Street Where You Live - from My Fair Lady

The Life That You Wished For - from Chaplin

Stranger In This World - from Taboo

Hello!

I'm Alex Kirk, and after 11 drama school auditions, across 4 years, I'm unbelievably excited to say I've been offered a place at the Royal Academy of Music on their postgraduate 1-year Musical Theatre course. If you're in the industry in any capacity, you'll likely be aware of how difficult and expensive drama school can be at the best of times - and so I'm asking for your help, in whatever way you can.

I have been performing since I was 7, and after a short blip of hesitation at that very young age, I realized I desperately wanted - no, had - to do this as a career. I performed consistently from that age up until the pandemic hit, in both amateur and professional capacities - ranging from youth theatre musicals to professional performances in the children's chorus with opera companies including English National Opera and Glyndebourne. I left Sixth Form in 2017 and was frankly too scared to audition for drama school. In 2020, I finally plucked up the courage and did two auditions, just as the world was about to end. In hindsight, I'm glad it didn't happen for me then...!

I re-auditioned for some more colleges in 2021 via the wonderful world of self-tapes and Zoom and got offered a place on a 3-year course outside of London. However, I ended up leaving at the end of my first year as it wasn't working out for what I wanted out of my training. After a couple more attempts at auditioning for other 3-year courses whilst there, I realised I really just wanted to be working sooner rather than later. Consequently, I set my eyes on shorter courses, and RAM piqued my interest more than anywhere else. I auditioned in 2023 and was lucky enough to secure a recall, but didn't end up securing a place that year.

Since leaving my previous college, I've worked professionally as a creative on the fringe circuit, in Brighton and London. Most recently, I was Musical Director for 'Tinderella' at the Union Theatre, London/UK Tour across Winter 23/24, and when a cast member fell ill towards the end of the London run, I went on stage as an emergency understudy for the last 4 performances. I hadn't performed in a production since my last am-dram show in 2019, and while I knew I was thrilled to be suddenly performing again, I hadn't fully appreciated just how much I'd missed it. The curtain call at the final performance came around, and I was far more emotional than I let on, because a fire had been reignited inside of me that I'd not fully appreciated had dwindled quite so much in the first place. I knew from this experience alone that I had to give RAM another go.

I re-auditioned and was lucky enough to secure a recall again, and when I went in, the team could not have been lovelier; remembering me from the previous year and thanking me for re-applying, saying they were grateful to be able to see me again. I performed all my material for them and even played piano for them at a last-minute (but very welcome!) request, and a few weeks later, I got the email I'd been dreaming about for all these years: I'd got in.

This is where things get a little more complex: this course is a postgraduate course, primarily with the target of obtaining a Master's Degree. RAM very kindly offers an alternative path for students who cannot fulfill the academic requirements for a Master's course (i.e. an Undergraduate Degree or equivalent), but who have sufficient relevant industry experience - this path being the Postgraduate Certificate. The course and the intake are one and the same, and the distinction between the course names is solely in the paperwork - I've even been assured that I can complete the course in full, along with the portfolio at the end of the year, and could receive a Master's degree myself, despite not having an Undergraduate degree.

HOWEVER...

...Student Finance England don't offer any form of funding for Postgraduate Certificate loans, whereas they do for Master's Degrees. This means that I am trying to raise at LEAST my living costs for the year all by myself - my family home has just sold, and so I'm very lucky in that my course fees are more secure, although I would love to be able to handle them myself too.

We're in a cost of living crisis, and times are incredibly tight - but I promise, every tiny little amount will help me hugely. Please share this with anybody you know who may be able to help - and if anybody has any advice, too, please get in touch!

Thank you so much for reading. I can't tell you what this opportunity means to me, and I cannot wait for September.

Alex x