Get Technical with Moulin Rouge is a wonderful initiative designed to give people a look at the different careers backstage.
It’s the second year the team at Moulin Rouge and Piccadilly Theatre have hosted the masterclass.
Budding theatre professionals were welcomed to the Piccadilly theatre on a lovely sunny Tuesday afternoon. Once everyone had taken their seats in the stalls they were first treated to a performance of the opening number from the show by the very talented cast. It also gave a first look at just what goes in to seamlessly putting on a show this big.
Stage Manager Natasha and Deputy Stage Manager Kirsty was first up to showcase their job. First by going through all the roles within the stage management team and then describing the job and what the basic day to day role entailed. Before giving a demonstration of how they call the show every night and the ques needed to get what we as the audience to happen. Then assistant stage managers Jo and Rowan who explained their roles while giving a masterclass in how they set up and look after some of key props used in the show.
It really set the tone for a fun and informative afternoon of learning.
We heard from Lighting, Sound, including the wonderful band which was led by co-musical director Gemma. It was fascinating to gain incite to learn how lighting, sound and sometimes the automation crew work together to make the ques for sets and scene changes work.
The automation team and the stage crew do a fantastic job making the set move and change, while insuring the safety of cast and crew. Seeing how two iconic pieces of Moulin Rouge set were brought to life such as Satine’s swing and Satine’s bedroom set was very special, it was jaw dropping to see how quickly the stage crew worked to get the set in to place with all the props, all why the audience is unaware.
Then we heard from wardrobe, dressers and the wigs, hair and make up teams who are responsible for all the wonderful wigs and costumes on the show. Seeing how the wigs are put on so they don’t fall off and how organised the dressers and wig assistants have to be during some of the quick changes which have to be done in mere seconds sometimes.
One of the things that is so impressive about many of the backstage roles for shows like Moulin Rouge is how everyone learns their tracks and ques which are needed to make sure the production is the wonderful show we all adore. It was also fascinating to hear from the company management team about how they care for the cast and crew making sure they have everything they need on a business and pastoral level so they can do their job.
You can find out more about Moulin Rouge: Get Technical and book tickets to see the show here!
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