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Post by marob on Apr 12, 2023 10:38:20 GMT
I’ve only ever been there a few times, but I went on one of the tours of the Royal Opera House yesterday afternoon. Pretty interesting, even just exploring some of the public areas I wouldn’t normally go in like the Crush room or the bar upstairs in the glass part, or the terrace overlooking Covent Garden. Got to see an opera being rehearsed on the stage from up in the top section, where the sound is far better than I ever would have expected.
Also saw the ballet rehearsal room through a window. While we were there and everyone was looking at the tour guide, Matthew Ball came out and was waiting for a lift, closet followed by David Donnelly and a few others I didn’t recognise. I think I was the only one who noticed. Thought that was quite funny that you’ve got half the stars of the Royal Ballet right there but everyone else was looking at old ballet shoes.
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Post by Dawnstar on Apr 12, 2023 13:08:06 GMT
Also saw the ballet rehearsal room through a window. While we were there and everyone was looking at the tour guide, Matthew Ball came out and was waiting for a lift, closet followed by David Donnelly and a few others I didn’t recognise. I think I was the only one who noticed. Thought that was quite funny that you’ve got half the stars of the Royal Ballet right there but everyone else was looking at old ballet shoes. I regret that the only time I did an ROH tour it was a Saturday & there weren't any ballet rehearsals going on. I should do another one on a weekday some time but they get sold out so far in advance that whenever I think of it there's never any tickets still available. |
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Post by marob on Apr 12, 2023 14:57:47 GMT
Also saw the ballet rehearsal room through a window. While we were there and everyone was looking at the tour guide, Matthew Ball came out and was waiting for a lift, closet followed by David Donnelly and a few others I didn’t recognise. I think I was the only one who noticed. Thought that was quite funny that you’ve got half the stars of the Royal Ballet right there but everyone else was looking at old ballet shoes. I regret that the only time I did an ROH tour it was a Saturday & there weren't any ballet rehearsals going on. I should do another one on a weekday some time but they get sold out so far in advance that whenever I think of it there's never any tickets still available. I only booked a couple of weeks ago. There’s lots of availability for the next few weeks too, only the odd date showing sold out. You’re only outside the room a few minutes though. |
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Post by shady23 on Apr 12, 2023 17:44:58 GMT
The Sunderland Empire tour on selected Saturday mornings is very interesting. Depending on the production you can go into the backstage areas and see props and costumes.
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641 posts
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Post by jek on May 21, 2024 14:54:06 GMT
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Post by Jan on May 22, 2024 6:33:03 GMT
I did a backstage tour of Hackney Empire a couple of years ago. What was most striking were the very large modern en-suite dressing rooms in what looked like an entirely new backstage annexe, part of the £17m restoration project in the early 2000's which left the auditorium and stage looking little changed.
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Post by kate8 on May 22, 2024 8:38:35 GMT
I did a backstage tour of Hackney Empire a couple of years ago. What was most striking were the very large modern en-suite dressing rooms in what looked like an entirely new backstage annexe, part of the £17m restoration project in the early 2000's which left the auditorium and stage looking little changed. I went on a tour of the Royal Court recently and was surprised by how grotty the dressing rooms were - only 2 and very basic, just a few school chairs and a scruffy thin folding mattress on the floor. I was surprised that lead actors have to share dressing rooms and don’t even get a cheap sofa. I’ve read various interviews and autobiographies where actors talk about how they prepare before going onstage and I wonder how they’d do that without minimal privacy and comfort. I think Hackney Empire is a different set up - mostly a venue for touring bands, comedians etc, so maybe those facilities are an investment to attract bigger names? |
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Post by mistressjojo on May 23, 2024 7:30:27 GMT
I did a backstage tour of Hackney Empire a couple of years ago. What was most striking were the very large modern en-suite dressing rooms in what looked like an entirely new backstage annexe, part of the £17m restoration project in the early 2000's which left the auditorium and stage looking little changed. I went on a tour of the Royal Court recently and was surprised by how grotty the dressing rooms were - only 2 and very basic, just a few school chairs and a scruffy thin folding mattress on the floor. I was surprised that lead actors have to share dressing rooms and don’t even get a cheap sofa. I’ve read various interviews and autobiographies where actors talk about how they prepare before going onstage and I wonder how they’d do that without minimal privacy and comfort. I think Hackney Empire is a different set up - mostly a venue for touring bands, comedians etc, so maybe those facilities are an investment to attract bigger names? Shared dressing rooms at the Donmar too. |
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Post by Jan on May 23, 2024 7:48:40 GMT
I did a backstage tour of Hackney Empire a couple of years ago. What was most striking were the very large modern en-suite dressing rooms in what looked like an entirely new backstage annexe, part of the £17m restoration project in the early 2000's which left the auditorium and stage looking little changed. I think Hackney Empire is a different set up - mostly a venue for touring bands, comedians etc, so maybe those facilities are an investment to attract bigger names? Don't know. They host English Touring Opera too. I think the dressing rooms were shared but there were several and each one was big with a big shower area etc., all in a brand new block. I don't think they were a standard part of the tour but one persistent tour member kept asking to see them. |
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Post by jek on May 23, 2024 8:10:48 GMT
Stratford East are starting to do free monthly tours as of May 29th. I've been a few time when Murray Melvin was alive and led them. Obviously it's a very small theatre. If anyone was to be making the trip to Stratford for this I would recommend combining it with a walk around the Olympic Park and a visit to the East Bank (the already open London College of Fashion and the almost completed Sadlers Wells East, V&A East and BBC Music). www.stratfordeast.com/whats-on/all-shows/tour-of-stratford-east |
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Post by cavocado on May 23, 2024 10:31:03 GMT
I went on a tour of the Royal Court recently and was surprised by how grotty the dressing rooms were - only 2 and very basic, just a few school chairs and a scruffy thin folding mattress on the floor. I was surprised that lead actors have to share dressing rooms and don’t even get a cheap sofa. I’ve read various interviews and autobiographies where actors talk about how they prepare before going onstage and I wonder how they’d do that without minimal privacy and comfort. I think Hackney Empire is a different set up - mostly a venue for touring bands, comedians etc, so maybe those facilities are an investment to attract bigger names? Shared dressing rooms at the Donmar too. This suprises me. I assumed that at least the starry lead actors wouldn't have to share, but I'm probably influenced by carefully curated backstage pics on instagram. Do the leads get their own dressing rooms in larger theatres (RSC, NT, West End) does anyone know? Or maybe some actors prefer sharing and not being alone before/after a show? |
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Post by david on Oct 25, 2024 23:08:06 GMT
Just spotted that Stratford East theatre are running 3 tours -11.15am, 1 and 3pm as part of their open day today (26/10). No booking required and they are free as far as I can see on the theatre’s website.
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3,316 posts
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Post by david on Oct 26, 2024 12:15:19 GMT
Just spotted that Stratford East theatre are running 3 tours -11.15am, 1 and 3pm as part of their open day today (26/10). No booking required and they are free as far as I can see on the theatre’s website. Well, for what was an unplanned extra on my London trip, that was very much worth the trip up to the Stratford East theatre this morning. With the theatre having an open day for their 140th birthday I got lucky and managed to tag onto a free hour tour of the theatre. A very informative tour given by a group of lovely local volunteers. Looking at the history of the building as well as backstage areas such as the original entrance used by the poorer folk to watch shows which still has the original artwork on the walls as the green room, look at some of the auditorium architecture and having the opportunity to go on stage and look at some props and costumes at the end. |
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Post by david on Nov 16, 2024 12:30:04 GMT
An excellent 90 minute tour of the Liverpool Empire this morning. A very interesting blend of the history, creative / technical side of putting on shows as well as the business operations of the theatre delivered by our wonderful and enthusiastic guide Rosie. There was an opportunity to go on stage and see both the DEH set up close as well as the back stage area with all the props from the show.
As a tour, it was certainly one of the best I’ve done and was worth the £15 price. I would certainly recommend it to others to go on if they ever became available again.
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