I’ve always wanted to go on a tour of His Majesty’s Theatre (HMT) in Aberdeen because it’s such a gorgeous building. Today we got the opportunity as part of the Light the Blue festival which runs from 1st to 15th June.
The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in December 1906. It’s a category A listed building which thankfully means they can’t change it. There’s a bust of Frank in what was the original box office. This was used up until about 20 years ago when they built an extension for the new box office.
At the same time they lifted some old carpet in the original foyer and discovered this bonny floor.
It’s a wonderful theatre to sit in the audience as the sloped balconies along with the raked stage mean you get a good view from pretty much everywhere.
We also got to peek in the royal box. The last royal to sit in the audience was Prince Edward who chose not to sit in the royal box but rather in the dress circle where the view is better. As you can see the full stage is not visible from the royal box.
The best part was standing on stage. Billy Connolly once described it as like playing a gig inside a wedding cake and you can see why. What a thrilling experience it must be to perform here.
Elizabeth will be performing here on the 1st and 2nd August in Cats. Her excitement was palpable.
Full tours of the theatre run once a week on a Saturday and can be booked on the HMT website.
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