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Biography

I am currently Reader in Vocal Theatres in the School of Art, Design and Performance at ´óÏó´«Ã½, having previously worked at the University of Winchester, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and various further education colleges in the UK. Between 2014 - 2023 I have led the BA (Hons) Musical Theatre course, and since 2020 have been academic link tutor for ´óÏó´«Ã½'s collaborative partnership with Laine Theatre Arts. Between 2017 - 2019 I was interim Section Lead for the Performance department, leading the team through a major curriculum framework review.

As a scholar, my research interests span the intersection of interdisciplinary voice studies and musical theatre scholarship, with a particular interest in the vocal aesthetics of musical theatre, cultural identity in the British musical, alternative music(al) and vocal theatre practices (composed theatre, extended voice, actor-musicianship), and new methods for exploring musical theatre dramaturgy.

In partnership with the National Science and Media Museum, I am Principal Investigator for the , exploring musical theatre on record as sonic heritage, and recipient of a 2022 British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant to explore musical theate recordings 1900 - 1940.

I am founding co-convenor of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Voice Studies (with Konstantinos Thomaidis), and founding co-editor of the  (Intellect, since 2015) and the  book series, which began with the edited collection  (with Konstantinos Thomaidis, 2015). Since 2012 I have also been part of the steering group for the British Musical Theatre Research Institute. As a result of my association with this group, my first monograph - (Palgrave) - was published in 2018. My second book, Singing Utopia: Voice in Musical Theatre, is forthcoming with Oxford University Press.

As a composer/lyricist, my interest resides in music theatre that challenges or explores different narrative or dramaturgical forms. In 2020, with colleagues Erika Hughes and Alison Habens, I was awarded funding from the 'Being Human Festival' to create a telling the story of Virginia Dare - the first child born in America, whose family sailed to the 'new world' from ´óÏó´«Ã½ in 1587. Other projects include regular composition and performance work with the DV Mission 48 Hour Film Festival Awards, the musical Love and Kisses from Omaha (2016, Minghella Studio New Theatre Royal; Music and Lyrics); Fools and Idols (under the title All That's Left, commissioned by the New Theatre Royal ´óÏó´«Ã½, 2014); original compositions for Wet Picnic Theatre Company’s installation Depth Charge (´óÏó´«Ã½, 2012); and a flash-mob at St. Pancras Station (London, 2011).

Research interests

• Interdisciplinary approach to voice in performance (including listening, sound and silence)
• Musical theatre vocality
• British musical theatre, 1900 - Present
• Musical theatre on record 1900 - Present
• Embodiment, cognition and somatic theory
• Site-specific theatre practices
• Visual and schematic approaches to analysing theatre performance

Teaching responsibilities

Level 4:

• Voice and the Actor
• Devised Project
• Making Theatre

Level 5:

• Musical Theatre Laboratory
• A Voice and So Much More (Optional module)

Level 6 (inclusive of year tutor responsibility):

• Alternative Theatres
• Major Academic Project
• Musical Theatre: Special Topic

Level 7:

• Supervisor for Masters by Research projects (various)