Backstage Theatre Tours

20 April 2009 No Comment

Have you ever wanted to take a peek at the back of a theatre to see a working theatre in action, where the dressing rooms are and more? Did you know that a number of theatre’s both in London and around the country offer backstage theatre tours just for that very purpose. Granted they’re not free (but you didn’t expect them to be did you?)

Theatre tours are normally organised by the theatre operators and as a result the content of each tour and what you will actually see can be very different theatre to theatre.

To this extent I thought I would put together a list of theatre tours that I have found and how you can book them. If you know of any others please feel free to add these to the comments and I will update the post as necessary.

London Theatre Tours

Theatre Royal Drury Lane – The tour around this theatre provides you with dramatised tour led by professional actors who will inform and entertain you taking you on a memorable journey through the theatre’s history. You will get to meet famous characters including Garrick, Sheridan, Grimaldi and Nell and Gwyne. The tour should last about one hour. You can find out more about this tour from the Really Useful Group’s website.

London Palladium – Tours of the London Palladium must be arranged in advance by prior appointment for groups of more than 5 by calling the theatre manager. You can find out more about this tour from the Really Useful Group website.

Her Majesty’s Theatre – This tour is operated by Red Letter Days and includes 2 tickets to a show at the theatre. During the tour you will learn about the show and its stars. You can find out more about this tour from the Red Letter Days website.

Arranging A Backstage Theatre Tour

The best way of finding out if a theatre offer’s a backstage tour is to contact them. My first point of call would be to check the theatre’s website, then search online to see if there are any organised tours for the theatre and if you can’t find anything drop the theatre an email or ring them up to see if they offer a backstage tour and to find out the associated costs.

Picture Source: Codepo8