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Post by david on May 27, 2018 14:14:56 GMT
The Palladium one is great, deffo do that I cant find any available dates for this, is it still operational? I’d love to do this one, personally. At present they don’t. This is confirmed by Theatre Monkey a few pages back on this thread as I asked the same question as it’s the one theatre I would love to go backstage on!
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2018 18:28:10 GMT
^ Thank you David, I’d missed that one! Hopefully it will be a possibility again at some time.
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Post by david on May 27, 2018 18:36:57 GMT
^ Thank you David, I’d missed that one! Hopefully it will be a possibility again at some time. I think they stopped doing tours because that it was due to health and safety issues because of the all different stuff going in and out if the theatre at the moment and the issue of moving equipment around the building.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2018 22:59:49 GMT
Ah I’m so sorry guys! I did it a few years back, 2015 I think, so I just presumed it was still going on! Used to be certain fridays of months I think. It was best I’ve been - 2+ hours, very informative. You got to go onto stage, sub stage, boxes etc and they had the original Tiller Girls guiding you round as guests too. Hopefully they bring it back, sorry to get hopes up
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Post by david on May 27, 2018 23:24:35 GMT
Ah I’m so sorry guys! I did it a few years back, 2015 I think, so I just presumed it was still going on! Used to be certain fridays of months I think. It was best I’ve been - 2+ hours, very informative. You got to go onto stage, sub stage, boxes etc and they had the original Tiller Girls guiding you round as guests too. Hopefully they bring it back, sorry to get hopes up The Palladium tour situation really is a funny one. One minute they offered tours, and then suddenly they just vanished. Being up north meant that when tours where scheduled it never matched up with my London theatre trips so I kept missing them. As you say hopefully they can bring them back in the future, even if it was only 1 day a month. I would be down there in a flash!
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Post by ensembleswings on Jun 17, 2018 15:09:41 GMT
Took advantage of Miss Saigon being in Bristol and went along to the Bristol Hippodrome tour this morning, they usually offer the tour on a Saturday but because of how much time Saigon want/need before the matinee performance they've offered it on a Sunday for Saigon's duration. It was a rather lengthy tour at just over two hours but we did get to see basically everything FOH and backstage with the only exception being the dressing rooms, very informative and fun way to spend a morning. I've visited the Hippodrome many, many times yet the amount I learned about the place was quite remarkable, there were also many features that I'd simply walked past and hadn't even noticed before. Standing on the stage you realise just how big the stage and auditorium are whilst the wing space is practically nonexistent, it's no surprise that most things have to be flown. Also lovely to go up and see how the fly system works, it's still all ropes/cables which are manually rigged rather than computerised (which many seem to be these days). For less than £10 I feel this tour was a real steal, definitely got far more than my moneys worth. Recommend to any of you that can get to Bristol.
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Post by TallPaul on Jul 12, 2018 12:57:51 GMT
Unless I've somehow missed it, I don't think there has been a post about tours of the Harold Pinter Theatre. Somewhere else to add to the list!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2018 13:14:25 GMT
I'd love to do that job. I always fancied myself as a tour guide. I used to think I'd love to be one of those guides with an umbrella and a microphone dragging people round the Rijksmuseum or Pompeii or Buckingham Palace but mincing around a theatre telling people stories about Edith Evans or Elaine Paige sounds delightful.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2018 14:15:38 GMT
^I fear "Lettice and Lovage" all over again... Oh yes, I'd make it all up of course. "And in here is where Elaine Paige ripped out Marti Webb's hair after Ms Webb received a particularly good review for one of her 'Evita' shows causing Ms Webb to have to wear a wig that she still needs to this day . . . . " "And in here is where Dame Judi Dench and Sir Derek Jacobi were caught playing naked Twister in a production of 'Whoops Vicar, There Go My Bloomers!' after eating brownies made by co-star Dame Peggy Ashcroft containing some of her best home grown marijuana. Showing themselves to be total professionals, they managed to finish the matinee and the evening show that day . . . "
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Post by Mr Snow on Jul 12, 2018 15:25:07 GMT
^I fear "Lettice and Lovage" all over again... Oh yes, I'd make it all up of course. "And in here is where Elaine Paige ripped out Marti Webb's hair after Ms Webb received a particularly good review for one of her 'Evita' shows causing Ms Webb to have to wear a wig that she still needs to this day . . . . " "And in here is where Dame Judi Dench and Sir Derek Jacobi were caught playing naked Twister in a production of 'Whoops Vicar, There Go My Bloomers!' after eating brownies made by co-star Dame Peggy Ashcroft containing some of her best home grown marijuana. Showing themselves to be total professionals, they managed to finish the matinee and the evening show that day . . . " Where can I book? I've checked TodayTix but you must have Sold Out?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2018 21:04:59 GMT
The backstage tours at the Festival/King's theatres in Edinburgh are amazing - Graham (the tour guide for the Festival theatre) is a lovely guy and is so passionate about the theatre. You learn so much about the theatre and see pretty much the whole building (FOH areas, auditorium, stage, backstage areas, dressing rooms, green room, stage door area, function rooms) at the very reasonable price of £10. They've stopped doing them just now but I will definitely be going on the Festival Theatre one again when Les Mis comes.
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Post by david on Jul 15, 2018 17:17:30 GMT
Did the Royal Albert Hall Tour today. Being my first time in the building, I really surprised on how large the actual auditorium is inside. At the time of the tour, they where busy setting up for tonight’s Prom concert so it was interesting to see the tech aspect on how they do that. Our tour guide Patrick really gave a good account of both the historical aspect of the building and how it operates on a daily basis. I never realised that there are actually two free standing dromes on the building. I always assumed it was a single structure. I found it interesting learning how they dealt with the acoustics issue within the auditorium by using those suspended mushroom structures. I always wondered what purpose they served. In all, a worthwhile hour spent for a Sunday morning.
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Post by emsworthian on Jul 15, 2018 18:27:07 GMT
Hello, David. I'm glad you enjoyed your tour. I did the Royal Albert Hall trip with my book group earlier this month. We had Patrick as well. He was good but, at the risk of sounding pompous, I already knew all the points you mentioned. What I didn't know was all the money raised for both the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall was spent on the former and the money for the RAH was then found by selling boxes at £100 a time (a huge amount of money then but an absolute bargain for anyone who did take advantage of it.)
My book group did the Royal Opera House tour a couple of years ago and all those who had been on both said they preferred the Opera House tour as you had more of a sense of being backstage with it.
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Post by david on Jul 15, 2018 22:54:35 GMT
Hello, David. I'm glad you enjoyed your tour. I did the Royal Albert Hall trip with my book group earlier this month. We had Patrick as well. He was good but, at the risk of sounding pompous, I already knew all the points you mentioned. What I didn't know was all the money raised for both the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall was spent on the former and the money for the RAH was then found by selling boxes at £100 a time (a huge amount of money then but an absolute bargain for wanyone who did take advantage of it.) My book group did the Royal Opera House tour a couple of years ago and all those who had been on both said they preferred the Opera House tour as you had more of a sense of being backstage with it. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do the RAH tour. It’s been on my list of things to do when visiting London, but I never seemed to get round to sorting it out. I had a basic understanding of of the history of the building but it was nice to get a bit more depth, particularly the economical aspects of the buildings construction and maintenance. The prices that Patrick quoted for the box seats really did bring a tear to my eye. Unfortunately, I have had to pass on purchasing a RAH box at present! What would of been nice would be to of had the opportunity to get into the pit area to get another perspective on the size of the auditorium from a performers POV. I must now admit a bit of ignorance to the fact that until today, I didn’t know about the Prince Albert memorial statue across the road. So after the tour I made a point of having a quick look. I have to say it was very impressive and you can definitely tell that there was a lot of money spent on it. It’s design and attention to detail up close is absolutely stunning. You mentioned the ROH tour. Again that’s one place along the London Coliseum that I still need to get tours sorted for. Having watched Chess there, I definitely wanted to get sorted this year, but it looks like it’s now going to be 2019 before that happens. I’ve heard very positive reviews about the ROH tour, so depending on my visits to London upto Xmas, I’ll try and fit it in.
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Post by theag on Jul 24, 2018 16:15:10 GMT
Having done a couple of different London theatre tours, the Royal Opera House backstage one is hands down my favourite. Getting to see ballet class/rehearsals and setting up for stage rehearsals as well as the massive backstage area was well worth the £12! Just a tip, if you’re particularly interested in seeing the dancers class/rehearsal don’t go in summer or their post Christmas break as they likely won’t be there!
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Post by londonmzfitz on Jul 24, 2018 16:26:28 GMT
I've got a week off next week and decided to "do" the Theatre Royal Drury Lane tour next Friday afternoon before I head to Southwark.
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Post by david on Aug 18, 2018 17:24:16 GMT
Finally managed to do the Old Vic tour this morning. I have to say Ned gave an absolutely fantastic account of the history of the building, regaling us for 2 hours with tales of the good, bad and sometimes ugly things that have gone on in that theatre. Though I didn’t know that the ENO and the royal ballet had their beginnings at the theatre. For me the highlight was having the opportunity to actually walk onto the theatre stage. That was an amazing experience and great to see the stage perspective that actors get. For £10 a great morning’s entertainment and certainly worth the money. Highly recommend doing the tour if you haven’t already done so.
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Post by robertb213 on Aug 18, 2018 17:26:55 GMT
Milton Keynes Theatre appears to be doing backstage tours in March and June next year. I doubt they'll be as exciting as London ones but I'll probably still check it out 😀
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2018 17:43:06 GMT
I'll be doing the RAH one this November! Has anyone tried their restaurant? They're offering a tour + set menu deal.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2018 17:46:39 GMT
Finally managed to do the Old Vic tour this morning. I have to say Ned gave an absolutely fantastic account of the history of the building, regaling us for 2 hours with tales of the good, bad and sometimes ugly things that have gone on in that theatre. Though I didn’t know that the ENO and the royal ballet had their beginnings at the theatre. For me the highlight was having the opportunity to actually walk onto the theatre stage. That was an amazing experience and great to see the stage perspective that actors get. For £10 a great morning’s entertainment and certainly worth the money. Highly recommend doing the tour if you haven’t already done so. How did you book? I found an e-mail address on their site, but not an online booking link.
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Post by david on Aug 18, 2018 17:54:00 GMT
Finally managed to do the Old Vic tour this morning. I have to say Ned gave an absolutely fantastic account of the history of the building, regaling us for 2 hours with tales of the good, bad and sometimes ugly things that have gone on in that theatre. Though I didn’t know that the ENO and the royal ballet had their beginnings at the theatre. For me the highlight was having the opportunity to actually walk onto the theatre stage. That was an amazing experience and great to see the stage perspective that actors get. For £10 a great morning’s entertainment and certainly worth the money. Highly recommend doing the tour if you haven’t already done so. How did you book? I found an e-mail address on their site, but not an online booking link. Hi On the what’s on page, there is normally a box with tours info. I’ve just checked now but it is currently not there. I would imagine it might reappear next month as they seem only do the tours once a month so it can be a bit hit or miss to book a tour. I’d probably email the box office and they might be able to offer you some future dates if you haven’t already done so.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2018 17:55:21 GMT
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Post by ruby on Aug 18, 2018 18:42:57 GMT
I'll be doing the RAH one this November! Has anyone tried their restaurant? They're offering a tour + set menu deal. I had afternoon tea after the tour a couple of years ago and it was excellent. Beautiful cakes and very good value.
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Post by itsemily on Aug 18, 2018 19:10:08 GMT
Richmond Theatre posted on instagram that they will be doing tours!
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Post by jaqs on Aug 19, 2018 11:04:29 GMT
I'll be doing the RAH one this November! Has anyone tried their restaurant? They're offering a tour + set menu deal. Went to Verdi before West side story with family and we had a lovely meal with great service.
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Post by demonbarber on Aug 21, 2018 15:14:28 GMT
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Post by david on Aug 21, 2018 17:14:00 GMT
Thanks for the info. I’m in Chichester that weekend, but I’ve got a free Sunday afternoon in London before I get my train back up North. Tempted to do the Colliseum or Young Vic tour. From scanning the list there does seem to be one glaring omission- @theatremonkey . HQ. Any particular reason why or are visits by invite only?
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Post by poster J on Aug 22, 2018 9:38:42 GMT
I booked for the Shaftesbury tour yesterday and it was already nearly sold out by then, so anyone who wants to do it should try to book now - I wouldn't be surprised if it has now sold out.
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Post by kathryn on Aug 22, 2018 11:09:48 GMT
I booked for the Shaftesbury tour yesterday and it was already nearly sold out by then, so anyone who wants to do it should try to book now - I wouldn't be surprised if it has now sold out. It looks like you can only book on the day for the Young Vic tour. The Shaftesbury tour is showing as sold out but only one time is listed, so I don't know what has happened there.
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Post by poster J on Aug 22, 2018 12:24:51 GMT
I booked for the Shaftesbury tour yesterday and it was already nearly sold out by then, so anyone who wants to do it should try to book now - I wouldn't be surprised if it has now sold out. It looks like you can only book on the day for the Young Vic tour. The Shaftesbury tour is showing as sold out but only one time is listed, so I don't know what has happened there. When it was available if you clicked on that one time it took you through to the whole list of slots - I'm booked for 10.30 I think.
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