Theatre Tours

I'm going on the RSC backstage tour in two weeks time

If you're heading to NYC, there are tours of the Hudson Theatre available: www.show-score.com/promotions/the-hudson-theatre-tour

It’s worth keeping an eye on the Heritage Open Days. Interesting buildings throughout the country are open for the public to view, and there are usually a few theatres involved, different ones each year , and not just in London . Last year I visited the delightful Plaza Theatre in Stockport . You could walk on the stage, view the dressing rooms, back stage, projection room, have a go with a follow spot , as well as view the beautiful Art Deco auditorium and foyer . There were talks at certain times in the auditorium , and volunteers giving short talks at different areas . A wonderful visit , and all for free. This year the Heritage Open Days are over two weekends : 6-9th and 13-16th September, but not all venues will be open both weekends or every day, so it’s worth checking out their site which will give details of venues from July.
www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting

Recently did the FOH & BTS tours. Really enjoyed both tours. It was nice to go backstage & other areas that you don't normally get access to

I cant find any available dates for this, is it still operational? I’d love to do this one, personally.

^ Thank you David, I’d missed that one! Hopefully it will be a possibility again at some time.

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

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.

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.

Where can I book? I've checked TodayTix but you must have Sold Out?

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.

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.