SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2009
10 Floosies attended The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton for a private backstage tour, ably conducted by our guide Bob Hickman. We were Angeline, Carolyne, Georgie, Jan, Janet, Janice, Joan, June, Karen and Maureen.
Here we are on the stage with the auditorium behind us.
Bob has worked at The Mayflower since the 1960s and was able to tell us some gossip about some of the acts who have appeared there, as well as a little about the live shows.
We first watched a short film which gave us background history of the theatre, which started life as The Empire, opening its doors back in November 1928 with a touring production of The Winona, which was destined for the West End but unfortunately flopped.
During the Second World War, the theatre stayed open as much as it could, with theatre-goers taking shelter under their seats if the sirens went off – and sometimes the theatre shook when the bombs landed so very close by.
In 1950, the theatre had a change of name to The Gaumont and was now owned by The Rank Organisation. The first West End Show performed there was Annie Get Your Gun. It was a huge success and so began an era of wonderful musicals, shows and live performances, including opera and ballet.
In the late 1950s, the theatre began it’s tradition of the annual pantomime and then, in the mid 1950s, the Gaumont continued to attract customers by doubling up as a cinema.
During the 1960s, the theatre became the place to be for the pop groups of the day and many famous bands performed there like Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Roy Orbison, The Rolling Stones and The Who – to name just a few.
In the 1970s, the groups became more sophisticated with starts like Queen, Genesis, Roxy Music, Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath.
In the early 1980s, the Rank Organisation allowed the theatre to run down and expressed their wish for it to be converted to a bingo hall. The residents of Southampton took up arms and protested against this change. Southampton City Council refused the application but it went to appeal. In the meantime, it was discovered that the standing areas were the only ones of their kind left in the country and the building became Grade II listed. Thankfully this, along with the hard work of the petitioners, saved the day and the theatre remained a place for live entertainment.
As The Gaumont was a trading name of The Rank Organisation, a new name needed to be found and a competition was set up. The winner chose the name The Mayflower and the theatre underwent massive refurbishment which took a year to complete. In February 1987 it re-opened with Peter Pan and in December of that year it began it’s pantomime tradition again, this time with Les Dawson in the starring role. Over the years, the pantomimes have become Christmas shows and are still very popular.
These are the costumes for the Sound of Music - they are
washed, dried and ironed after every performance.
In 1990, the West End and Broadway hit 42nd Street came to the theatre and thus began a long line of fabulous and fantastic shows including Joseph, Cats, Evita, Miss Saigon, Phantom of The Opera, Les Miserables, Starlight Express – and many more.
On our tour we were shown backstage areas for lighting, storage, props, costumes, laundry rooms, flying apparatus and technicians. Bob was very informative and we were astounded at how much goes on behind the scenes. We stood on the stage and felt what it would be like to “tread the boards” and looked out at the rows and rows of empty seats.
Here we are above the stage - the ropes behind us are
for lifting the backdrops etc.
Bob told us about the floor’s capability of being lowered to enlarge the orchestra pit and about the water table and the underground stream and the pump that works 365 days a year. He told us about the old methods for lifting and changing scenery and the advances made in that field. He showed us through the warren like corridors and regaled us with stories of famous visitors. He even told us about the ghost of the theatre that has been seen many times by many different people.
You can see, on the right of the picture, the levers, ropes
(some with weights for counter-balancing).
Only 2 or 3 people manage all
these during the shows.
Unfortunately, we were not able to see into any of the dressing rooms as the current show, The Sound of Music, uses them all for its large cast.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the tour and wished we could have stayed longer. However, we found comfort in a light lunch and chat in the hostelry nextdoor!
Juniper Berry June
Branch Manager
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