Singing club Annie trip
‘It’s an amazing life for us!’
Today singing club had the privilege of visiting the Mayflower Theatre for an amazing behind the scenes at Annie the Musical! The theatre was beautiful, painted with 11 different shades of red. It is also a special theatre because every seat has an unblocked view of the stage. Did you know that Mayflower Theatre is now classified as a Grade II listed building! This means it cannot ever be taken over as another business and must always be a theatre, how special is that! Most theatres have pillars blocking peoples view to support the building but the Mayflower uses steel beams underneath the seats to support so that every seat is the best seat in the house! Our day started off by sitting in different locations in the auditorium: we sat in the balcony, the circle and right at the front in the stalls! We were amazed to hear that the Mayflower Theatre is one of the biggest Theatres in the UK and that despite the popularity of the West End, Mayflower Theatre is able to host a variety of these shows here in our home town!
We got to sit in the ‘very front rows’, these chairs have ‘trap-like’ doors underneath them that they pack into when shows need more space for performance or the orchestra. Take a look at the photos to see if you can spot how they are packed away! We also peered into ‘the pit’ where the orchestra sit! The orchestra support the shows, as most shows will have an element of music or accompaniment to support the ‘experience’ of the show. Behind the scenes we saw an unexpected piece of history… every musician who has played in an orchestra piece for a show has signed their name on one of the bricks of the Mayflower walls behind the scenes. Some musicians have returned and added their return dates and the shows they showcased in! We learnt that this wasn’t expected and started as a graffiti but has now become part of the Mayflower’s history and legacy to the shows it hosts.
We then went backstage to view wardrobe, the costumes and the dressing rooms. Did you know that after every show someone has to clean all of the costumes from every character
including their socks!? They have one person who washes, dries and organises everything for each show. The dressing rooms were what we expected… they had the special mirror lights that you see in films so that the cast can do their own makeup ready for stage… we didn’t expect to have to climb so many stairs in order to reach them! Cast members must be very physically fit to put on such an interactive show and navigate backstage too! We found it fascinating that some rooms in theatres are turned into classrooms where the children who are performing can do their school work whilst touring with their teachers! We learnt about how the backdrops and the ‘fly floor’ are used and changed during the performance. The team use ropes and weights to drop backdrops relevant for the performance. They have a really important job of making sure they get the timings right. We then headed to the wings where we saw all of the props ready for stage as well as the quick change area (this is where all the actors will stage during the performance ready to go on stage). Whilst we were on the side of the stage, we noticed that the building had two different types of brickwork. We found out that the sides of the Mayflower have been extended in order to accommodate a larger ‘wing’ space to store and change large props which means that the larger shows (with larger scale scenery) can tour at the Mayflower! One brick was missing in the brickwork… we were perplexed in discovering that it had to be taken out when a full sized helicopter was crane lifted into the stage for a show and the only barrier was a single brick, which still hasn’t been replaced to this day!
We finally got to go on stage and see what it was like to be a performer. It was electrifying and the view of the theatre was breathtaking!
We then headed over to the MAST Studios to brush up on our acting skills. We explored: freeze frames, choreography to some of our favourite Annie musical moments and the ‘bean’ game. Finally, our day ended with the full matinee performance. It was amazing to see that children the same age as us were performing in a musical! We saw the famous dame Craig Revel Horwood and we all sang the song ‘Tomorrow’ which we had been learning in singing club. We hope the audience around us enjoyed our performance and vocals as we couldn’t resist singing along too! It was an amazing day out that we will treasure in our memories forever.
