Acting Through Song, Esther Winklehner, St Johns Leatherhead

By Esther Winklehner

Being a lover of performing arts and everything musical theatre, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to apply to a Musical Theatre Masterclass led by retired West End start Oliver White and travelled Organist and Pianist Alex Goodwin.

Upon partaking in this class, I was told that I would have to learn a song by memory so that we could focus on the ‘acting’ element of the performance, rather than the technical or the musical aspect. I found this even more enticing as I am not usually one who believes that ‘acting through song’ is a particular strong suit, so I was excited to build upon this skill.

There were a mere 5 people there, including me, who had learnt songs from a variety of different musicals. My chosen song was ‘Movie in My Mind’ from the renowned musical ‘Miss Saigon,’ written by Claude-Michael Schonberg, a stark contrast to other choices made. One girl, named Ruby Lavelle had chosen the song ‘Home’ from the musical ‘Beetlejuice’ and described it as being one of her ‘favourite musical theatre songs both to listen to and to sing.’

We were told to sit in chairs and watch as a mini audience for the performer, allowing them the chance to act in front of a small crowd. Oliver White was especially good at stopping the performer every so often and offering ideas that could help in developing the performance and strengthening it even further. He would ask each of us to try a number of different things, whilst taking into account the subliminal meanings of each of our songs.

After the masterclass had ended, I asked a girl Eva what she thought of it. She described it as something that ‘furthered her passion for the industry’ and the overall experience to be ‘immensely useful in developing my ability to act through song.’

I wholeheartedly back this statement, as I received abundant amounts of advice that I would be able to utilize when performing other songs in the future. I was also able to learn more about how important becoming a character rather than merely acting as one has on one’s performance.

I cannot wait to participate in another one of these masterclasses to help me become the best musical actresses I can be, especially under the guidance of Oliver White.