Just Some Bloke Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I once went for some industry training at the Hippodrome in Birmingham where a very nice member of the in-house tech team offered us a backstage tour during a coffee break if we wanted. Needless to say we all love looking round each others' venues so we were very pleased to have a look around. We had a lovely tour of the backstage coridors, scene dock and loading bay but when the crew member asked the CSM, out of courtesy, for permission to take us on stage he was denied permission. It was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the time and Disney policy was that no-one was allowed on stage other than show crew so no-one saw how the car was done. We made the point that we all knew how it was done as we'd read a long and in depth article in LSI giving photographs, designs and all sorts. Nevertheless, we were still told our "backstage tour" of professional theatre technicians was not allowed on stage. Local crew member very embarrassed and not a great piece of marketing for the producers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicktaylor Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I have seen WWRY three times over its run. During those three random shows there has not been one sound or staging issue. A great show and to be honest I would watch it a lot more times, work permitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Sadly, I have seen the show far more times than is good for me. Just around the corner from the hotel, and all the other people say "let's go to a show..." So I have seen it perhaps 11 or even 12 times I guess. I've seen the screens mechanical control fail, so they're in the wrong places, I've seen the video on one fail. I've seen a handheld brought out twice I think, and I've heard odd things in the band mix - can't say if it's a track or a musician error. I've seen various swings, and plenty of key cast changes. I've heard changes to the script to make it topical, and I've seen the guitar reveal at the end look a bit like a bad magician with prop deficiency. I've heard it loud and I have heard it LOUD. I've seen costume malfunctions and late entrances. Even in the most troubled show the audience got their money's worth, and I can't fault the way these things were handled. These things happen - why are we worrying. Technical and performance things go wrong. No more in WWRY than in anything else. I had special tickets for Phantom when it first came out, I actually won them from American Express. People at that time were on waiting lists. I've never seen the chandelier fall - because I saw it once, and it didn't happen! I somehow get the feeling that amateur shows are expected to go wrong and pro shows aren't? If any of these problems could have been foreseen and prevented, they would have done that. Technical failures happen, and the more complex the technical, the more likely it is to fail. Having a plan B is all that can really be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I once went for some industry training at the Hippodrome in Birmingham where a very nice member of the in-house tech team offered us a backstage tour during a coffee break if we wanted. Needless to say we all love looking round each others' venues so we were very pleased to have a look around. We had a lovely tour of the backstage coridors, scene dock and loading bay but when the crew member asked the CSM, out of courtesy, for permission to take us on stage he was denied permission. It was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the time and Disney policy was that no-one was allowed on stage other than show crew As I cassy at the Hippo, and have a theatre oriented family at home, I try when I can to take advantage of the discounted tickets that are sometimes available to staff. And if it's a particularly interesting set, I'll occasionally see about getting them and/or guests a quick trip behind the scenes. Most times this has been fine. No surprise then that although we got backstage for Mary Poppins and I'd worked the get-in (and the lead automation guy is a Blue Roomer) there were some things that were indeed off limits. 2 or 3 years back I also talked nicely to the CSM for the BRB as I was working the run of Nutcracker and managed to get permission to take 3 friends around as they'd been at the matinee. That wasn't a foregone conclusion and I had to convince her... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Was at a Gabriel concert once when his headset RM went down during the duet "Don't Give Up", he made a theatrical swoop on the girl singing the Kate Bush part, sang into her headset for the rest of the number and changed out before the next number.Pure professionalism and noticed only by the technicians. The audience seemed to think he was smooching as an "artistic" device. I don't like the idea of backstage tours, suspension of disbelief is all in my book and if anyone wants know how something is achieved I reckon they need the truth. "It's magick!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumpersq Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 We never charge for tours be they offical or privately organised. What, you don't recharge for the hours worked? Why not? Why would I? As I said most of the tours I do are aftre the show and im already there waiting for the building to close up and the audience to clear. If I give a tour during the day then its just about organising my time correctly to give a tour. I actually like telling people about the building and the show. It breaks up my day and its nice to meet new people. As I said we dont give tours for large groups of people privately only one or two at a time so you normally get really interested people and its fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qewrty Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 not sure what you'd want to see backstage in dominion... not really much to see there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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