West End standard training in the heart of the Midlands
SOTE Birmingham opened in 2012 and offers musical theatre training for ages 9-18. Students study an all round musical theatre package consisting of musical theatre ballet, jazz, tap, choral singing and acting. Alongside group sessions students receive regular 1 to 1 singing lessons. Performance classes also offer students the opportunity to perform solos in front of their peer group, parents and industry professionals. Many students come to SOTE Birmingham with no previous experience, which we very much encourage, to receive a level of training akin to a full time stage school. On Sundays we have four groups of talented students who train with us for four hours. Sundays run from 10am to 2.25pm & 12pm to 4.30pm
Next term begins on Sunday 8th September.
Book a free taster session for under 15s on Sunday 8th September
Our aim has always been to put The Midlands back on the map. The school has established a fantastic reputation within the industry, not only with leading casting directors (from theatre, television and film) but also leading West End Colleges, where many of our students have gone on to continue their training.
SOTE Birmingham were pleased to have two students in the original West End cast of the brand new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical School of Rock. In 2014 we supplied all the children for Miracle on 34th Street at the Alexandra Theatre and many of our students appeared in A Christmas Carol at The Rep. In 2015 we were asked to supply students for Cinderella at the Barclaycard Arena and in 2016 students appeared in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Birmingham Hippodrome. At Christmas 2017 our students performed in Peter Pan at the Birmingham Arena and then transferred with the show to Wembley Arena. In 2018 twenty eight of our students were chosen to appear in Evita at the Birmingham Hippodrome, as well as the UK tour of Nativity the Musical and in Macbeth at the RSC. This christmas you may have seen our students on tour in Elf, The Musical at Liverpool, Glasgow Arena, Wembley & Dublin Arena.
On Sunday 29th April 2018 SOTE produced a Variety Performance in aid of Molly Olly’s Wishes Charity at the New Alexandra Theatre. We were thrilled to have West End star Gary Wilmott and comedy legend Jimmy Cricket along with local comedian Nipper Thomas appearing. The gala raised over £10,500 for this great children’s charity. In June 2016 SOTE produced a Variety Performance in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity at the New Alexandra Theatre. Our reputation secured such West End stars as Marti Webb and Christopher Howard along with local comedians Barbara Nice and Steve Day were also thrilled to appear. We raised £10,500 for The Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity. Due to the success of our Gala we aim to put one on bi-annually raising money for local Midland charities. In 2015 a similar event we produced raised £7,800 for The Brain Tumour Charity.
2024 also saw us have 39 drama school offers for our students from top colleges including Mountview, Arts Ed, GSA, Bird College, Laine Theatre Arts, Studio Centre, Central, Brighton Academy & Arden.
The School and students are assessed each year. We invite in a leading specialist Children’s Casting Director, Verity Naughton and Head of Dance David Greenall. Students all have the opportunity to perform solo songs and monologues in front of the panel and receive professional feedback.
Have a look at our facebook page for footage of our weekly classes.
SOTE Sundays are based at:
SOTE Studios, Units 5-6 Progress works, Allcock Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B9 4AL
Public Transport:
A 10 minute walk from Birmingham’s main train stations.
Parking:
There is free parking on Sundays outside the studios.
