ACCESS ALL AREAS
One of my favourite things of my job is following people around to see what they do and hear all their stories. I’ve been very lucky to have been into a lot of dressing rooms, but I’m taking it to the next step.
ACCESS ALL AREAS by Danny With A (Backstage) Camera is an online Instagram series where I follow people working in the theatre industry. From performers to stage managers to lighting designers, I want to showcase the incredible work done by literally everyone who makes a show possible!
So excited to start sharing some of the pics and to hear more and more stories.
NICOLE RAQUEL DENNIS
I’m SO excited that Nicole is the first person who I followed around for this project because she is A STAR! She’s currently playing Effie in Dreamgirls (UK tour) and I don’t think there are enough words in this world to describe how good she is.
Last week they were in Wimbledon so I took the chance to follow Nicole around for a matinee performance from make up prep up till the the bows and I have so so so much respect for everything she has to do during the show.
Some things I took away from the shoot are that she has 8 wig changes and 16 costume changes during the show and the quickest one was only 5 seconds, CRAZY!! During the first half I mainly stayed in her dressing room cause it was too busy in the wings and every time when she came in there was another costume change and not even time for a little break. Just after ‘And I’m Telling You’ (before the interval) she came back to her dressing room and I thought she would have a break then (as that’s a BEAST of a performance), but no, she had another wig and costume change straight after the song and then she had her break.
It’s so special to see Nicole being a well deserved leading lady and mostly enjoy every second of it. The joy she has doing the part and with the other 2 girls is so special to see!
1. Shot from the wings during ‘And I’m Telling You’
2. Wig and costume change in the wings just before the finale
3. Finishing touches in the dressing room with the other girls
4. Shot from the wings during ‘I’m Changing’
5. Shot from the wings during ‘It’s All Over’
6. In the wings supporting the other girls during the finale
7. Shot from the wings during ‘I’m Changing’
ROHAN MCDERMOTT
Next up is Rohan who is the LX No.1 at SIX the Musical in the West End. It was the first time for me to follow someone around who works backstage in a theatre and it was so cool to see what he gets up to before and during the show.
In all honesty I had no idea what LX No.1 stands for, so I asked him to explain it to me in very easy English haha:
"As LX 1, I'm responsible for the day to day lighting duties at SIX the Musical. It's my job to make sure Tim Deiling's design remains consistent and exactly the same as it was when we first rehearsed the show at the Vaudeville in September 2021. This involves checking all of the lighting fixtures and carrying out maintenance on lights to keep them clean and fix any faults."
I actually followed him around on a double show day, so I came in as soon as the matinee finished because he had to check all the lights after the show, to make sure they're all working for the evening performance. In total there are over 450 lighting fixtures and he has over 1300 cues during the show. When everything was checked he had a little break before the evening show and then we went up to the lighting desk. It's based above the stage, which felt so weird as the girls were literally performing underneath us haha. During the show he has about 1200 automatic cues and all the others are manual which we could follow on the screen. It was so interesting to see how the whole system works and I even got to press one button at the end, wooohooo!
Rohan graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and SIX is his first full-time professional job and he has been here now for over 2 years!
1. Top rail light check before the show
2. Back track light check before the show
3. Screens for cues and follow spot
4. Front lights check before the show
5. Operating the show
6. Checking back lights full exposure
7. Walking backstage to his desk upstairs
CARRIE HOPE FLETCHER
Since I've done backstage photoshoots I've always wanted to follow Carrie around and now it finally happened, woohoo!!! I've admired Carrie for YEARS and she was actually one of the first people to share my pictures on her Instagram (years ago) and it gave me a massive confidence boost so this was a full circle moment.
With Cinderella coming to an end this week I wanted to showcase what Carrie gets up to before and during the show (and selfishly I just wanted to see the quick change from bad cinderella to the princess Cinderella). When I came into her dressing room she told me she had actually done her make up already because she is always early (and I am not) but she took it all off as she realised I was coming in to capture the process. What a queen!
I loved to see how much fun she had with her colleagues, not just the ones on stage, but also everyone off stage! It was so great to follow her around during all the silly moments she and the rest of the team get up to. Costumes and wig wise this is quite an easy show as she only has 2 of each that are used throughout the show, but there is one quick change from just under a minute and she literally had 5 people helping her get out of the costume, wig and make up.
Some of my favourite moments were when Carrie closed herself from the world and went through the ENTIRE song before she had to go on. She told me she does this for every song for every performance which I find SO SO SO interesting!
1. Quick change from Bad Cinderella to Princess Cinderella
2. In between scenes hugs with Lauren Byrne
3. Fun with stage management before first appearance
4. Walking off stage to her dressing room for the interval
5. Quick change from Bad Cinderella to Princess Cinderella with 5(!) people helping
6. First entrance for the song Bad Cinderella
7. Going over the lines after the interval
8. Dressing room fun with the team
JENNY O'LEARY
We Will Rock You was the first musical ever that I saw more than once and I love the music so so much. And now with this new production of the show (with different costumes, wigs, set design AND additional songs) I just knew I wanted to follow Jenny around!
Let’s just start with her vocals. They are UNBELIEVABLE. She’s the youngest person to every play Killer Queen (how amazing) and the way how she walks the stage is as a BOSS. I asked her about the audition process and she actually auditioned in front of Brian May???? I then asked her about the rehearsal process and additional riffs/vocal choices (this was before the show so I hadn’t hear her sing just yet) and she said that everything she vocally does, needs to be approved. And then she walked on stage and the VOCALS that came out of her mouth. WOOWWWW!
Because it’s a newer version there are lots of new costumes and wigs, which actually makes it easier for Jenny. She has only 1 wig during the entire show and (if you know the show) most of the Killer Queen parts are a bunch of songs, leaving the stage (have a tiny little break), another bunch of songs, little break again- and that for the entire show. So she has more than enough time to change costumes whenever it’s needed.
For this version they changed the opening (I won’t spoil) and they added an extra song before the interval, which gives her more (well deserved) stage time, but also, which i found SO interesting is that during ‘Somebody To Love’ (by Scaramouche) Jenny goes up to the wings and does backing vocals for the song.
1. Shot from the wings during ‘Fat Bottomed Girls
2. In the wings doing backing vocals for ‘Somebody To Love’
3. Final touches with hairspray in the quick change area
4. Shot from the wings before ‘A Kind Of Magic’
5. Dressing room costume change
6. In the wings getting the final mic check
7. Costume change
8. Shot from the wings during ‘The Show Must Go On’
9. Final touches with the wig
10. Waiting in the wings to go on stage for the Finale
MEELIE TRAILL
Meelie is the bass guitarist, double bassist & fretless bassist at Legally Blonde the musical at Regents Park, which means that I followed her around in the orchestra pit! SO mega cool because I had never experienced a show before from a musician’s point of view.
She plays 3 different instruments during the show:The main instrument I play is my Overwater custom J5 for this show which is a standard 5 string bass guitar which I play in most of the big numbers like Omigod You Guys, What You Want and Whipped Into Shape. There’s also loads of double bass (a giant violin) in this show (arco and pizz) for songs like Harvard Variations, Blood In The Water and Legally Blonde as well as a cheeky feature of my Ernie Ball Stingray Fretless bass guitar for the song Serious. I’ve also got my Stingray 5 as a spare bass if anything were to go wrong! She has 21 instrument changes during the show. Isn't that crazy! She also plays in every song of the show so no break for Meelie!
Most of the band members store their instruments in the dressing rooms so they don't get cold in the night, so before every show she needs to bring her instruments from the dressing room to the pit to set up. Everyone did their own little warm up and then it was time for the show. So everyone (including me woohoo) had their own little sound mixer where you could individually turn the volume up and down for every band member and vocals.
Meelie went to LIPA in Liverpool for her music degree and since finishing last summer she has ‘depped’ at SIX The musical (both in town and on tour) and the Dreamgirls UK tour. She was also part of the band for Bring It On in London and the Collabro UK tour. She is now on Legally Blonde for the summer and she's only 22.
1. Playing Brenda during the show
2. Setting up the bass guitar before the show
3. Walking Brenda from the dressing room to the orchestra pit
4. The little sound mixer
5. Focussing on the musical director
6. Her sheet music for Legally Blonde Remix
7. Playing fretless bass during the show
8. Bringing both the bass guitar & fretless bass to the orchestra pit
9. Playing the play off at the show
10. Show done!
ARAN CHERKEZ
I had the pleasure of following Aran around for the day on their West End directing debut! Last week ATG produced 'THE PRIDE' At the Fortune Theatre: a play proudly representing our beautiful queer community. The show was: 100% LGBTQIA+, represents non-binary creatives and cultural diversity in both the cast AND creative team.
They only had 2 days of rehearsals (which I sadly missed) where they worked quickly to direct a script in hand performance. On the day of the show they all had a very long day from early morning till after show time. They where able to tech and run through the whole show as well as Aran being able to give notes.
I've been in a rehearsal room many times and have seen lots of directors do their job, but I've never seen a full tech run in a theatre. So for me it was very interesting to see how Aran thought of the stage lighting, sound volume and how they wanted to make the right decisions for the directing.
Aran trained at Rose Bruford College and is the current Artistic Director of Haringey Shed as well as a freelance director and DJ.
1. Aran giving notes to the cast
2. Watching the tech run
3. Finding the right place for the chairs on stage
4. Showcasing how to do the next transition
5. Checking on the next scene
6. Watching the tech run
NICK BARSTOW
Nick is the person who everyone should have around in their lives. The kindest human being who’s always there to help with anything. And I’m so grateful he gave me the opportunity to follow him around at the start of the last week for Bonnie & Clyde in the West End.
Nick is the musical director and conductor for the show and means he’s in control of the band and music during the show. He organises the vocal warm up before the show, does extra mini rehearsals with the cast (when necessary) and makes sure the band plays on time and in sync during the show.
As soon as Nick walked in the building he joined the physical warm up with the entire cast and after that a recording (of his) started playing with the vocal warm up. During that he walked around and spoke to all cast members who had questions about their voice or songs. After the warm up there was an extra rehearsal where they did 2 songs. Interesting about this was that the piano is underneath the stage and obviously during the rehearsal there are no microphones so Nick started playing from the orchestra pit but we couldn’t hear any vocals or piano, so just had to guess (and watch the stage screen) to see if it works out.
During the show he has a screen where he can watch the show and see what happens on stage and he has his little sound box where he can turn every microphone on and off, so he knows exactly what goes on during the show. My main question was: how do you know when to start the song? And the answer is so easy: in rehearsals you decide where it sounds best to start the song, and write in your cue on the sheet music. That line from the actor is the moment you get the band to start playing’.
Nick has worked on a million projects, like rearranging older musicals for new productions, like Zorro, Rags and The Last Five Years. He also runs his own project called ‘RE:arrangement’ where he gets West End Stars to sing musical theatre songs in totally different styles to the original. His next show is From Here To Eternity, which starts at the Charing Cross Theatre in October.
1. Nick taking his bow at the end of the show (just before they bring on the full band)
2. Conducing the show (view from assistant musical director seat)
3. Joining the physical warm up
4. Announcement to band to start the last week of shows
5. The screens that the band members see
6. Working on vocal tips with Jordan
7. View from conductor (his) seat
8. Tuning the ukulele (the one they use on stage during the show) in the interval
9. Extra mini rehearsal just before the show
EVELYN HOSKINS
Waitress is a musical that is SO special to me. I’ve seen it so many times in London, on Broadway and a couple of times on tour in the UK. The last time I saw it was Lucie’s last show as Jenna and I had the opportunity to photograph it from the wings. I had THE best time and during that day I saw how much fun Evie had during the show, so I knew I wanted to do this again so asked her if I could follow her around.
Waitress is currently on tour in the UK and stopped by in Dartford last week. Evie plays Dawn in the show…. And in all honesty she very much is like Dawn in person as well. She is the loveliest person EVER but also VERY organised. The make up in her dressing room was all sorted and located in the correct place.
What I love about Waitress is that before every show the entire cast comes on stage to do a little chat and whoop. I haven’t seen that anywhere else yet, but it always happens at Waitress. The show is very much on stage, off stage, on stage, off stage for Evie. She has a couple of scenes, goes off, couple of scenes and off again. Which is nice because it gives her some time to chill but also change costumes in a normal speed.
In the interval some of the cast members organised a little quiz. Apparently this happens every Friday evening and it the quiz was the length of the entire interval, so cute!!
I think the pictures say enough and Evie’s face is just the most joyful face to photograph ever. You can just see how much fun she has playing this character and being in the show. She told me that she saw the show on Broadway (the original cast omg) and from that moment knew she wanted to do the show. How special is that!! She’s the only girl who’s played Dawn in town and on tour and has done it for the longest time.
1. Shot from the wings just before ‘Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me’
2. Waiting in the wings just before the stage entrance
3. Shot from the wings during ‘Take It From An Old Man’
4. In the wings getting ready for ‘Bad Idea Reprise’ (we all know what happens here 👀)
5. The bows
6. Shot from the wings during ‘Everything Changes’
7. Cast whoop just before the show starts
8. Shot from the wings during ‘Opening Up’
9. Interval quiz break
10. Shot from the wings during ‘When He Sees Me’
AIMIE ATKINSON
I’ve actually wanted to do this photoshoot with Aimie since the moment I knew she was going into Pretty Woman and here we are, 2 West End theatres and a pandemic later but it happened!
Aimie is playing Vivian and I loved following her around for the day and see all the quick changes and backstage fun. The transformation the character makes it’s so beautiful and there are so many dressers and wig ladies helping her during the changes.
The cutest moments were when she went back to her dressing room. And let me tell you, during the show, she has NO time to go back. There is one moment when she goes back (just before she changes into the red Pretty Woman dress) and obviously in the interval, but there’s no time at any other moment. But, there are some days where she has to take the dogs to the theatre and she leaves them in a separate room and it’s just adorable.
She has 8 quick changes in the show and one even happens on stage (behind a curtain) but I was counting and it wasn’t even 20 seconds for an entire outfit change. HOW crazy! Oh and also, it’s done by 2 cast members!
1. Getting ready for the show
2. Waiting in the wings to go on
3. Spending time with the dogs just before the show
4. Shot from the wings during the first scene with Danny (plays Edward)
5. Bathroom scene where she sings from the wings
6. Walking down the stairs for the lift
7. Quick change before ‘I can’t go back’
8. Shot from the wings at the Opera
9. Quick change on stage (done by cast members)
10. Shot from the wings during the finale scene
ALICE FEARN
The day after the hottest day in the UK ever I decided to follow Alice Fearn around for a show at Come From Away. Not knowing that there’s no air conditioning in the theatre and with realising she’s on stage for almost the entire show it was a sweaty night haha.
Not just for me 😂 but for the entire cast. It was SO warm in de building and all the stage lights made it even hotter. I already had so much respect for the cast members for doing a 100 minute show straight through with barely having a second off stage, but in the weather like this it’s even more.
Alice gets her wig on around 30min. before the show but only puts on the costume just a couple minutes before the show. So in the mean time it was time to chill and laugh with cast members in dressing rooms on the same floor (read: Mark Dugdale).
As I said before (and as we all know) in Come From Away the cast members are on stage for the entire show, mainly because it’s an ensemble piece of theatre so everyone plays multiple roles and has to move chairs and tables around and being characters on stage. I think Alice had 6 or 7 moments where she came off stage with the longest not even being a minute. In the longest break she took some time to chill underneath a fan hahaha (was needed).
Just before Me And The Sky (her big number in the show) she gets off stage to take some props with her and her wig get resorted. Again, that all happens in like 30 seconds so it’s a quick one. I’ve seen the show a couple of times but never realised how many props are going on and off stage. They all have so much to remember to bring on and off at the right time, so so so interesting and cool to see.
Come From Away is one of the most, if not the most, beautiful piece of theatre and I wish everyone could go and see it. Seeing it from & in the wings made me realise how much joy it brings to the cast members to tell this amazing and wonderful story.
1. Shot from the wings during ‘38 Planes (reprise)
2. 10 seconds break in the wings
3. Shot from the wings during ‘Me And The Sky’
4. Chilling in Mark’s dressing room before the show
5. Shot grom the wings during ‘Somewhere In The Middle Of Nowhere’
6. Shot in the wings just before ‘Me And The Sky’
7. Dressing room shot getting the wig on
8. Shot from the wings during ‘Screech In’
9. Shot from the wings during ‘Darkness & Trees’
10. First water break (off stage)
MATTHEW SPALDING
A couple of weeks ago the UK tour of Singin’ in the Rain played the New Wimbledon Theatre and it gave me the opportunity to follow Matthew, the Assistant Musical Director around. I could only follow him around on the Wednesday evening and by pure chance he was conducting that performance.
Seven out of eight shows every week, Matthew plays the second keyboard chair and for one show he conducts and plays the first keyboard chair. The Musical Director will watch the show out front while a deputy musician comes in to play the second keyboard pad. This is normal for the Assistant to learn both keyboard chairs in case they need to cover, much a like an understudy or swing on stage.
Additional duties include sharing vocal warm up with the Musical Director, accompanying cover calls/runs and alongside the musical supervisor/director ensuring that the music sounds consistent and remains at a high level from venue to venue, whilst on tour.
Singin’ in the Rain is a music heavy show with a lot of underscore and long dance numbers. The Ballet in the second act is 12 minutes of continuous music. The show has a 10 piece band who are usually on show at the back of the stage. However, the majority of venues on tour do not have the space on stage and so the band are, sadly, substage and unseen.
Matthew studied music at the University of York and completed an MA at Mountview. Recent theatre credits include Camelot (London Palladium), A Chorus Line (Curve Leicester), Curtains (Wyndhams Theatre and U.K. Tour) and The Phase (The Other Palace Studio).
1. Playing keys 1 during the show
2. Talking to the stage managers before the show
3. Warm up with the cast
4. Taking his bow (all the way on the right on the screen)
5. Warm up with the cast
6. Getting the sheet music ready for act 2
7. Playing keys 1 during the show
8. Conducting the show
MAZZ MURRAY
Mazz and I crossed paths 2 years ago and since the moment I met her I became obsessed. Every time Mazz and I worked together I saw how open and kind she was to everyone and I really wanted to showcase that, so I’m very happy she wanted to be involved in this serie.
I followed Mazz around on a double show day, but came in for the evening performance so straight from the moment she did her make up and finished her hair. She then put on the iconic Donna costume and walked to the stage.
During the show there are a couple of moments where she is off stage (and let me tell you, the wings in the Novelle Theatre are SO small), but in stead of going back to her dressing room she chills with the entire cast. There are moments she sits on the floor chatting about Love Island, moments she makes jokes behind the set and hanging out in the girls dressing room. I absolutely LOVED seeing how much fun she had with everyone. As soon as Mazz was around people started laughing and you can see in every moment how much fun she has doing the show.
One moment I just HAVE to mention: just before the wedding scene (spoiler alert) she goes back to her dressing room and put sweets in her hat. We then walked back down the stairs to the stage and at the bottom of the stare case were some cast members waiting for the sweets and they do this every show. Like, isn’t this the most adorable thing ever?!
1. Waiting to go on for the first time
2. Putting on the tool belt
3. Chilling in the corridor in between scenes
4. Shot from the wings during the finale (mega mix)
5. Getting ready before the show
6. Waiting in the wings for the bows
7. Shot from the wings during ‘Mamma Mia’
8. Giving treats just before the wedding scene
9. Shot from the wings during ‘Money, Money, Money’
10. Getting ready in the quick change area
JOCASTA ALMGILL
Last week I got the chance to follow Jocasta around for as show as Rizzo in Grease. And before I go into further detail (I sadly haven’t seen the show yet) I had nooooo idea she was going to be on stage for as much as she actually was. Wow! She was running around from scene to scene and barely had a moment off stage.
For the first time in an Access All Areas shoot there was a different wig room where we went up to. At all the other shoots the performer got their wig in their dressing room, but this time we went up to the wig room.
Jocasta has the nicest and most colourful dressing room ever, it’s very cosy and colourful and literally perfect for the time she spends there. She puts on her own costume and then goes downstairs to the wings. Before the show starts she goes up to the sound person and gets her microphone checked and then does the show.
She has a couple of quick changes where her dressers help her change, i think the quickest one was just under 15/20seconds. Crazy! The wings in the Domion Theatre are massive, never seen anything like it before! So they’ve made a girls side where just girls change costumes and have some time to chill in between scenes.
In this version of Grease there are very big dance numbers and Jocasta takes part in almost all of them and it was so cool to see how much fun she has doing them. The chemistry she has with the other cast members is so cool and fun to observe.
1. Shot from the wings during ‘there are worse things I can do’
2. Getting her wig on before the show
3. Shot from the wings during ‘we go together’
4. Walking down the stairs before show
5. Shot from the wings to the car
6. Shot from the wings during the dance battle
7. Getting ready in the quick change area
8. Waiting before going on stage
9. Getting ready in the wings
10. Waiting to go on for ‘Beauty School Dropout’
BRADLEY JADEN
Bradley was one of the first people I got to photograph when I moved to London, and luckily over the years we keep crossing paths. So being able to follow him around for a show that has been such a big part of his life was very special. He has been in Les Miserables on and off for the last 8 years, in a variety of productions and roles, so it was lovely to catch up with him at the Sondheim Theatre as he prepares to play Javert. He said to me that being in Les Mis was the number 1 thing on his bucket list, and Javert has always been his dream role.
Even though Javert and Jean Valjean don’t always see eye to eye on stage, backstage Bradley and Jon have an amazing friendship. They each have their own dressing room right next to each other, and it was so sweet getting to see how often they catch up throughout the show
The role of Javert, like many characters in Les Mis, goes on quite a heavy emotional journey throughout the show. ‘Javert’s Soliloquy’ in Act 2 reaches a huge dramatic point in his story, and I could physically see Bradley himself going on this journey with his character. The way his mood changed before and after performing this scene was incredible to see.
He’s leaving the show in a couple of weeks and if you can I’d highly recommend to go and see him as his talent is just unbelievable and the effort he puts into this role is outrageous.
1. Last Minute check in the mirror off stage before his first appearance
2. Walking on the stairs after ‘The Confrontation’ with Jean Valjean
3. Waiting in the wings before opening second act
4. Coming off stage after ‘Javert’s Soliloquy’
5. Getting ready in his dressing room
6. Chatting with Jon in the corridors
7. Costume change in his dressing room
8. Bows at the end of the show
SISTER ACT THE MUSICAL (SPECIAL EDITION)
It is an absolute dream to write this caption and share these images, but for the last 1.5 months Sister Act The Musical performed at the Hammersmith Apollo (and yes I went to see it a COUPLE of times because I’m obsessed). I really really really wanted to do some behind the scenes shoots and I’m very grateful that it all worked out!
The Hammersmith Apollo is mostly a concert venue and not really built for musicals, which means that the wings are very tight and there are only a couple of dressing rooms. Because of this the boys dressing rooms and the quick change area were all built outside the venue. Oh, and the ‘chill’ space was also built outside. In between scenes the cast would go outside for some fresh air and wait for the nest scene.
I could really see that cast and crew were having the time of their lives. It was the last show day (I photographed the matinee) and everyone was going for it. The songs are SO catchy and fun, and whenever somebody was off stage they were singing and dancing their hearts out in the wings (or outside).
Almost everyone in the cast plays multiple characters and there are so many costume and wig changes happening, and the amount of times I saw nuns changing into other costumes was insane. Some of the girls kept changing from nun to bar tender, back to nun, then to backing dancer, and also a police officer. It was a lot and wonderful to see.
My favourite moment was just after the interval when all the nuns walk to front of house for the opening of the second act. Again, because it’s not a normal theatre, there was no way from backstage to front of house indoors, so all the nuns had to walk outside. Here I learnt that for every different performance they would pick a random song to all sing to get ready to go back on.
I honestly had the best time and can’t thank the stage managers enough for guiding and moving me around this complex show with nuns and church pieces flying everywhere :-)
1. Beverley Knight in the wings doing a quick change before Fabulous, Baby (Reprise)
2. All the nuns walking to front of house for the opening second act
3. Jennifer Saunders waiting in the wings
4. Lizzie Bea walking to the stage
5. Shot from the wings during ‘Raise Your Voice’
6. Some of the costume and wig team dancing along during ‘Take Me To Heaven (Reprise)
7. The changing area (outdoors)
8. Clive Rowe waiting in the wings
9. Hugging in the wings before the opening of the show
10. Beverley Knight waiting in the wings before first entrance as a nun
SAM EDGINGTON
After being backstage at Legally Blonde at Regents Park Theatre I knew I had to come back and do it at another show. Just before 101 Dalmatians closed I had the chance to follow Sam around who was the bass player for the show.
Very exciting because the show allowed the band to be on stage for the entire show. Not just at the back, but they also make appearances front stage during the show. Sam actually dressed up as well and plays a whole number dressed as a dog on stage.
Before the show Sam checks his instruments and does his own little sound check, including preparing the wireless equipment on both instruments. He then goes into costume and gets ready for the show.
In the second half of the show there is a moment where Sam has to change into his dog costume but during the moment he still has to play music so he brings his bass guitar with him to the ‘quick change’ area and keeps playing while changing.
Sam currently deps (like an understudy) on Grease and Jersey Boys in the West End (as well as the Jersey Boys Tour). He played bass on two hit National Theatre Productions in the West End - 'This House' and 'One Man Two Guvnors'. He also depped on Waitress and played bass for the Bodyguard International and UK tours (including China and Japan) and the Jersey Boys UK Tour. And has done so much more, so check out his profile!
1. Playing the bass guitar during the show
2. Getting the bass guitar ready before the show
3. The finale
4. Playing the bass guitar on stage
5. Doing the quick change & playing the bass guitar side stage
6. Playing the bass guitar on stage
7. Playing the bass during the show
8. Getting the bass ready before the show
9. Playing the bass on stage
CARLY MERCEDES DYER
Last year, even before Anything Goes opened at the Barbican Theatre, I spoke with Carly about doing some backstage shots. Sadly because of covid restrictions it couldn’t happen, but luckily the musical came back and we could finally do our behind the scenes shoot.
Carly is the funniest and nicest person to be around and I had the best time following her around for the day. She took the title ‘Access ALL Areas’ very seriously and literally showed me around the entire building. She shares a dressing room with Nicole-Lily Baisden, but both of them have their own separate parts and wardrobes.
During the show Carly has a fair amount of breaks. Some breaks are long enough, that she is able to squeeze in a fierce game of uno in wardrobe village with the female ensemble members (and this time she won). The backstage area and the wings at the Barbican are massive. I have never seen anything like it before, there’s so much space for EVERYTHING from costume changes, set pieces, waiting for entrances and even photographers.
At the end of the first half, during the title song ‘Anything Goes’ Carly and Nicole-Lily sometimes watch the performance from the wings, and it was wonderful to see them dance along/support the entire cast. The cutest moment ever.
Near the end of the second half of the show, she has her big 11 o’clock number, ‘Buddy Beware’. She starts off hidden from the audience in a little boat and it was so cool to see how she gets into it and covered over before she starts the song; all of this happening on stage when one of the curtains is down.
Carly was such an amazing and hilarious part of the huge ensemble cast of ‘Anything Goes’, and I cannot wait to see what she will do next!
1. Finishing make-up in her dressing room
2. Shots from the wings during her first scene on stage
3. Playing uno with other cast members in between scenes
4. Shot from the wings in the Stateroom
5. Quick change behind the stage
6. Watching the title number ‘Anything Goes’ from the wings
7. Shot from the wings during ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’
8. Getting in the boat just before ‘Buddie Beware’
9. Quick change into the wedding scene
10. Shot from the wings taking her bow
ZIZI STRALLEN
The last couple of months I've seen Mary Poppins a couple of times and I knew that following Zizi around would be interesting as she's on stage for almost the entire show, but being there we realised there was actually only 1 proper moment where we could chat and where she has a break and that was the interval haha.
Zizi has played Mary Poppins for a couple of years now, she opened the UK tour and then opened the show in London. And for the people who don't know it... her sister played Mary Poppins when it first opened in London. How cool!!
As soon as the show started I barely saw Zizi anymore, but the stage manager made a proper list with her entrances, exits and where she had her costume changes. There is one costume change (during 'Jolly Holiday') which is around 20 seconds and she has 3 people helping her. She then goes on for another 4 minutes, finishes the song, comes back off and changes into another costume in 20 seconds.
Everytime when she came off stage and had a couple of spare seconds she found a mirror and checked her lipstick. I'm sure she checked it more than 10 times throughout the show. A big part of the set is the family house where a lot of scenes are happening and at the back of the house there is a tiny space built where Zizi can retouch her make-up after 'Step In Time'.
The show is full of magic tricks but personally I think the most special thing is when she flies over the audience and I've always wondered what it looked like up there after her flight. As soon as she's at the end of her flight at the top of the theatre, she has to crawl through a little gap and comes backstage, she then has to run a million stairs downstairs which leads her back into the wings. There she has a costume change and then has to run on for the bows + do a megamix? No words.
1. Finishing the iconic red lipstick in her dressing room
2. Getting ready to fly on at the end of the first act
3. Checking lipstick on her teeth
4. Shot from the back of the stage
5. Quick change during 'Jolly Holiday'
6. Having her only (1 minute break) on the stairs
7. Shot from the wings during 'Let's Go Fly A Kite'
8. Crawling through the gap after the flight over the audience
9. Retouching make-up in the little room at the back of the house
10. Checking make-up before going on stage
MARCUS HARMAN
(COVER VERSION)
I’m so mega excited to launch this part of the series with someone who’ve wanted to follow around for over a year! Marcus and I met at ‘The Show Must Go On’ concerts last June and we connected from the moment we said hi. From that moment I said I wanted to come to Dear Evan Hansen to see what he gets up to before and during the show.
Marcus is the alternate for Evan Hansen which means that he is in the building every day, but has 2 scheduled shows per week. He’s in the building just in case Sam needs to go off and does both of the matinees in the week because it’s a very very hard show to perform, especially twice a day. And he also does the shows when Sam is on holiday.
He has been with the show since before the pandemic and has done around 100 shows over all. He luckily never had to go on midway through a show. For the people who’ve seen the show, the role of Evan goes on quite a journey and is very difficult to just step into.
He rehearsed with the rest of the cast in New York City and then had the regular rehearsal process in London. But because he is the alternate he wasn’t in the ‘regular’ rehearsals and watched Sam’s direction and then made things his own in his own time.
When I got to his dressing room he was doing some physical warming up (yoga) and vocal warming up, which made me laugh because he was walking around holding this tongue with a t-shirt so he could do a proper warm up for the big songs. He then said that he most of the time sings through ‘Waving Through A Window’ and ‘If I Could Tell Her’ because these are the hardest songs.
Evan is a character that has a broken arm so he walks around with a cast on his arm for the entire first half of the show. It’s a new cast every show and all real. His dresser gets it on him 20minutes before the show and it’s ready after around 10minutes. In the interval they cut it off his arm which is not even 1 minute work haha.
It was such a big honour to follow Marcus around as I realise that the character is so hard to play and having me in his space must have been interesting, but I’m so thankful he and the team said yes.
1. Shot from the wings during ‘Waving Through A Window’
2. Getting ready before the show
3. Shot from the wings during the opening scene
4. Waiting in the wings for first appearance
5. Shot from the wings during ‘For Forever’
6. Getting the cast ready before the show
7. Shot from the wings
8. Vocal warm up before the show
9. Shot from the wings during ‘Only Us’
10. Waiting in the wings to take his bow
MAISEY BAWDEN
Maisey is the Resident Director for The Drifters Girl and has been with the show since the beginning, because it’s an original British production she had an input in creating parts of the show.
The resident director is responsible for maintaining the show, watching weekly and noting the cast as well as managing cover rehearsals, and cast change rehearsals and also auditioning/rehearsing/putting in new children into the show every 26 weeks! Maisey has a ‘bible’ with all the information about what every character does at any point as well as dialect notes/choreography videos and spreadsheets of each characters track.
So she watches the show a few times a week. Normally she goes backstage before the show and checks up with the cast and then goes to the auditorium to find an empty seat to watch. She reckons that she has seen the show more than 200 times now, haha and knows the show inside out! She can quote most of the lines and knows every plot for every character. She still find new things every time she watches it.
During the show I saw her writing now and then and interestingly enough (I always thought the resident director was there just for cast members) some of the ‘notes’ were for the stage managers and the lighting/sound team.
1. Going through notes with Felicia
2. Going through notes with Michael
3. Sitting in the box during the show writing notes
4. Going through notes with Vanessa
5. In the interval going through notes
6. Going through notes with Adam
7. Going from dressing rooms to the auditorium
8. Sitting in the box going through notes
REBECCA RIDOUT
(COVER VERSION)
I’ve known Rebecca for almost 4 years now (from when she was in Phantom Of The Opera) and we tried to make a photoshoot happen for so long and we finally could make it work. She’s currently working on the Les Miserables UK & Ireland Tour as the Dance Captain AND Swing covering 8 (!!!) tracks!
I was very lucky because I followed her around on a show day where she had her dance captain tasks to do, but she was also on for the show in a 2 person split track.
Focussing on her dance captain job first: a lot of people (including me to be honest) always think that the DC is the cast member who’s the best dancer, but often that’s not the case (in Rebecca’s case - her words!). The job role involves being responsible for the physical warm up before every show, making sure everyone knows their track for the evening and whenever cast members are off the show the main responsibility is figuring out how they have to be replaced by swings/other ensemble members and how the show will look. She needs to make a “Show Set Up” spreadsheet with which swing is on and how many people they cover. After warm up she tells everyone who’s covering what moment and makes sure everyone has the blocking ‘notes’ about what to focus on for the show.
When I followed Rebecca around there were 3 ensemble girls off and only she and one other swing were there to replace them. So they had to make a cut show. What basically means that the 2 of them had to replace 3 people. So in the spreadsheet she wrote exactly who plays who in what scene and which ‘character’ was left out for that scene and what that means for everyone else and their blocking.
The female ensemble is on for a lot of scenes in the first half and I wasn’t allowed to stay in the wings because of the set coming on and off and not enough space for me to survive in the wings, so I kept saying hi and bye to Rebecca after a costume change and she had 7 changes in the first half. Wow!
In all honesty I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who’s more proud of their job and does it with such joy as Rebecca. She really showed me the love she has for theatre, the show and everyone around her.
1. Getting into costume before the show
2. Shot from the wings during ‘One Day More’
3. Leading the warm up and blocking some scenes
4. Waiting in the interval
5. Playing games in between scenes
6. Creating a split track show
7. Waiting on the barricades in between scenes
8. Getting ready in the quick change area
9. Getting her wig on before the show
10. In between scenes walking off stage
SALLY ANN TRIPLETT
First of all I have to say: Sally is such an icon with the most impressive career and I’m so honoured she said yes to an Access All Areas shoot. Well, to be honest, it’s not a full Access All Areas shoot… i had never been to the Leicester Curve Theatre (which is glorious and so stunning) and therefore had no I idea that the theatre has no wings and the foyer is the ‘backstage area’.
The production (sadly) finished a couple of weeks ago, where Sally played Mrs Wilkinson, the ballet teacher in Billy Elliot the musical which is such a heavy roll and she’s on stage a lot in the first half. She is one of the last cast members to join the stage in the first half so during the opening scenes while everyone else is on stage she has some time to wait outside and get into character and do some vocal warming up.
She has a few quick changes during the show, but as I said before- there are no wings, instead there is a little corridor where everyone changes (sadly there was no space for me (I walked through it and it was so mega tiny). But after every costume change she came back to the foyer and made sure she got all her accessories. Going from one side to the other side of the stage goes via the foyer. So she leaves stage left, comes back to the foyer and goes back on stage right again. It was so interesting and cool. You never really see cast members running around in a foyer.
1. Going on stage
2. Last vocal warm up before the show
3. Going down from her dressing room to the stage
4. Getting ready (outside the theatre) for first appearance on stage
5. Getting her hair done
DANIELLE STEERS
Ok, saying that i was excited about this shoot is an understatement….since Danielle told me she was in auditions for The Cher Show I just knew I wanted to take pics of her as Cher and a couple of weeks ago they were over in Milton Keynes so I took the train and lived my best life.
It was the first show at the week at a new venue, so Danielle arrived early at the theatre to do sound check (sadly I couldn’t make this timing wise) and arrived when she was getting her wig on. Before every show she goes up to Sam’s dressing room and they pick a lucky card that describes the mood for the show. Funnily enough this was Sam’s first show as Star in the Cher Show (she covers the role) so it was extra special.
What I loved most was seeing the connection between the 3 Chers. Even though this was Sam’s first show with Danielle & Millie on stage & backstage it looked like they have been doing this for forever. Danielle was such a proud friend and watched Sam do every scene from the wing. She has 5 different costumes but has lots of quick changes (one of them on stage!) and they’re quick. I literally saw her run off stage, go into the quick change booth and run back on. This was the first show I’ve seen where they have ‘quick change booths’ so it’s not a change in the wings, but it’s a little portable dressing room I guess.
Danielle is on stage for almost the entire show and has no moment rest, if she’s not on stage, she’s changing costumes of getting props ready. Her voice is literally unreal and hearing her vocals from so close was an ultimate experience!
The Cher Show is currently on tour in the UK: the costumes are stunning, the set is incredible and the lighting is insane!
1. Shot from the wings to the stage during the opening scene
2. Waiting at the back of the stage to go on
3. Waiting in the wings with Millie
4. Hiding on stage behind the set
5. Getting into costume for the finale (mega mix)
6. Getting ready before the show in the dressing room
7. Quick change on stage fun
8. Laughing in the wings with the stage manager
Earlier this week the wonderful people at the Mayflower Theatre welcomed me to follow the cast of the Color Purple Musical (UK Tour) around for a show at their theatre. I always see so much love for the Mayflower Theatre and from pictures on Google it looked so big and beautiful but I had sadly never been before, so it was very cool to see the theatre in real life.
I was very lucky to follow the cast around from the warm up already so I got to walk on stage and look at the beautiful auditorium with 2300(!) seats. And after warm up the cast stayed on stage to very briefly rehearse some of the dance numbers because there was a cut show (some of the ensemble members were off the show so swings had to cover it, but there weren’t enough people to cover so some people had to step in for more roles). And then there was a fight call (there is a lot of aggressive interaction in the show), which is very helpful and interestingly I never knew that a fight call is rehearsed in different levels. They started with 10%, then went up to 40% and then 85%.
There are so many dressing rooms in the Mayflower that there was even a special hair & make up room where the cast members got their wig done. Oh, and there were also a lot of steps, the dressing rooms are all on different floors and to go down you have to take the stairs :-)
During the show people keep running on and off stage, in my opinion it’s a very busy show with things happening and there aren’t really moments of rest for the cast. But whenever there was a moment there was fun in the wings.
This version of the Color Purple was created in between lockdowns at The Leicester Curve and is now nearly near the end of the UK Tour. And the story is so beautiful with gorgeous music and it’s such an emotional piece that it would be sad to miss it!
1. Shot from the wings during ‘Dear God - Sofia’
2. A look into the hair & make up room
3. Waiting in the corridor in between scenes
4. Kayla Carter just after a quick change
5. Cast doing prayers just before the show
6. Shot from the wings during ‘Hell No’
7. Anelisa getting her wig on
8. Deearna in physical warmup
9. Neil waiting in the wings
10. Joshua heading down the stairs backstage
THE COLOR PURPLE
(SPECIAL EDITION)
COURTNEY STAPLETON
On the last day of Beauty And The Beast at the London Palladium I followed Courtney around for a show as Belle, perfect on time just before they’re off to Bristol and Dublin to finish off their UK & Ireland Tour.
I saw the show a couple of weeks ago and just knew I wanted to see what Courtney gets up to backstage during the show. Even though she’s on stage for almost the entire time, I just needed to see some of the iconic costume changes and backstage fun.
Funnily enough she doesn’t come across anyone backstage, apart from one little moment in the first half and in the interval. The other short moments she’s off stage, she has a costume change or waits in the wings to go back on. Throughout the show Belle has 3 different costumes and 3 different wigs and 5 changes in total. For me the most special one was changing into the big ballgown. She had 4 people around her helping with shoes, the dress, wig and make up.
It’s also her favourite moment in the show. She said that the first time she appears in the dress (when a curtain goes up and she’s standing on top of a staircase) she can hear the audience response and especially the response from all the kids in the theatre.
During ‘Be Our Guest’ there is a massive dance and tap break and I think it was about 8 minutes long and Courtney does the entire number. She ran off stage to change into tap shoes, ran back on stage to do the number, then had a dialogue for an entire scene and then changed back into normal shoes again. Crazy!
Courtney’s version of Belle is so wonderful and beautiful and she absolutely nails the big numbers off the show!
© Disney | Danny Kaan
1. Shot from the wings during the opening scene
2. Waiting side stage to go on
3. Walking in the corridors at the end of the show
4. Shot from the wings during ‘Be Our Guest’
5. Having a break in the dressing room
6. Costume change
7. Waiting in the wings before the show starts
8. Shot from the wings during the opening scene
9. Getting ready before the show
LOUIS GAUNT
With this series I try to go to as many different shows as possible and not revisit the same show very soon, but I saw how much fun Louis has playing Bert and I knew I had to capture that in his final weeks. He played Bert for a limited time and now Charlie Stemp is back in the role.
Bert has always been a dream role of Louis and in the 3.5 months he only missed 2 shows (because of an injury) which is insane. He has SO many heavy and long dance numbers and I have no idea how he survives double show days. I followed him around on a Saturday evening (his second show for the day) and he has so much energy.
When I followed Zizi (Mary) around she was on stage throughout the entire show and all her costume changes happened in the wings, where Louis only has 2 changes in the wings and all the others are in his dressing room. Bert is a Chimney Sweep and all of his costumes are multiple layers and it looks so warm and are so heavy. And then dancing in them as well makes it even warmer so every now and then his dresser stands in the wings with tissues and towels to take the sweat away. Especially after 'Step In Time' one of the biggest dance numbers ever and he walks around the stage and goes upstairs, his costume has different layers and is so warm.
I think that Louis' personal character matches Bert SO well as both of them are loved by everyone around him and while following Louis around I saw how much fun he had with everyone. He has a laugh with everyone in the building and is the nicest people to be around.
The show is sadly closing early January (8th) and I’d highly recommend to watch this magical show ✨
1. Waiting in the wings for the final scene
2. Getting ready in the quick change area (underneath the stage)
3. Interval fun with Zizi (Mary Poppins)
4. Getting ready before the show
5. On stage during the last scene of the first half
6. Waiting in the wings with his dresser
7. Smiling before going on stage
8. Putting smug on his face
9. Waiting in the wings
10. Ready to go on stage
JAMES PHEBY
Last week I followed James around for a show (Eureka Dat) at the Old Vic Theatre. It was the show’s last weekend but James did more than 60 shows and was responsible for all the lights and video projection.
James only joined the team a couple of days before the shows started so he did part of the programming and tech rehearsals and then did most of the shows. Every day he’s responsible for all the lights for the show. Because it’s a play that’s set in life in 2017/2018 the lighting is very natural so there aren’t many cue’s or special effects. With a musical there are so many lighting changes per song to make it all more energetic but for a play it’s often just a couple of changes throughout the show. During the show he also has to monitor the show state including video media servers, projections and moving light positions
He comes in on a normal day around 6pm to check if all the lights are working in all the different lighting settings and then has a break up until the show starts. The reason why he has to be there so early is just in case some lights won’t work and they need to be replaced or settings need to be changed there is time to do so.
James is still in college and studies BA Stage and Events Management at Rose Bruford. He previously worked on Sister Act The Musical (Hammersmith Apollo version) and is now off to Get Up, Stand Up The Musical. And does lots of freelance lighting, video and sound services.
1. Checking moving lights
2. Running generic light rig checks
3. Rig and video check
4. Using the video server
5. Walking to stage
6. Operating the show
AMY DI BARTOLOMEO
& CLAUDIA KARIUKI
Just before the most recent cast change at Six The Musical I was lucky enough to not follow 1 but 2 Queens around for their show in Six The Musical. It was Amy's (and other cast members') last weekend at the show so it felt very special to be in the building and see the whole group together.
I came in on a double show day so they just finished their break and started doing their makeup. Because it's a double show day the physical and vocal warm up was already done before the matinee, so I missed that part.
There's so much choreo in the show therefore they sweat the makeup off and need to fully redo it for the next show. There's a full schedule with who's going to the wig room at a certain time and who's getting dressed and interestingly they both get dressed around 30 minutes before the show starts. This was the first time I actually saw someone get dressed so long before beginners, but they get it done in case something happens and breaks with the costume, there's time to repair it quickly.
The wings at the Vaudeville Theatre are VERY small so there wasn't much space for me to walk around and take pictures from, so I got to enjoy the show and during the MegaMix I was hidden in the corner to take a couple of snaps of them on stage.
The atmosphere in the building was so joyous and lovely and everyone was celebrating each other, I thought it was extra special because of the last shows, but they told me it's every day like that. How amazing to have such a wonderful group of people around you to work with every day. Especially for a show like this I think it's so great to motivate, support and embrace each other.
Special note: Amy has left the show now, but you can still see Claudia as Jane Seymour with a wonderful new cast.
1. Laughing in the dressing room
2. Amy getting her wig on
3. Final pose during the Mega Six
4. Claudia finishing their make up
5. Amy walking down the stairs to the stage
6. Amy finishing her make up
7. Claudia just before the show starts
8. Amy during the Mega Six (shot from the wings)
9. Sneak peek into the dressing room
10. Walking off stage after the show
ZARA MACINTOSH
(COVER VERSION)
Even before I started this part of the series I already reached out to Zara to see if we could make this work. That's how much I wanted to have her involved and it was so worth it! The show in general is so great, but spending it running after Zara was so much fun. Zara is the alternate Juliet in &Juliet The Musical and often the alternate track means that they stay in the building and have certain shows to play. But Zara has an ensemble track too; she does 7 shows in the week and then every Friday afternoon (and whenever Miriam is on holiday) she plays Juliet.
She shares a dressing room with the other ensemble girls and normally gets ready in that dressing room (even when she's on for Juliet), but because there would be too many people in the room we decided to use the Juliet dressing room to get ready. But in the interval Zara went back to the girls dressing room to chill with her friends. Especially because in the show she doesn't really come across the ensemble, she does the big numbers with them, but doesn't really have acting scenes with them.
When the show started Zara waited in the wings from the start of the show and during the opening number she still sang her lines from her ensemble track. Her mic was obviously off because someone else was singing them, but just to get into the show she sang along to the lines in the wings.
During the show she doesn't really have time off, and whenever she has a moment she has a costume change or it's just to get some water. There isn't much space in the wings, so all the cast members go back to their dressing rooms in between scenes or wait in the corridor.
I love Zara's version of Juliet so if you're free on a Friday afternoon... go go go!
1. Shot from the wings during ‘…Baby One More Time’
2. Dressing room chats in the interval
3. Singing along with the opening number in the wings
4. Shot from the wings during ‘Show Me Love’
5. Warming up
6. Getting her wig on before the show
7. Waiting in the wings before her first entrance
8. Quick change in the corridor
9. Shot from the wings during ‘Confident’
SAMANTHA WOMACK
When the team from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to follow Samantha Womack around for an Access All Areas shoot I instantly said yes! Whoever has seen the show knows there is a lot of magic and special effects in the show and while I saw the show early July I just really wanted to see what was going on backstage.
Sam plays the Witch and starts the show in a totally different look as she does the rest of the show with and she’s literally on stage for only a couple of minutes in her first look and then changes into the iconic witch costume, wig and make up. Oh, also brings her dogs to the theatre every day so this was one of the best dressing room experiences ever.
The biggest part of Sam’s costume is the big coat and wooden ‘car’ but underneath that she just wears a white basic dressing gown. So in her white dress she walks up and down the stairs to her dressing room and the coat (which is so heavy) stays upstairs in the wings. Because she stage at the Gillian Lynn Theatre is very much in the centre and the seats are around the stage, the wings are very tight and with the big witch & lion costumes there isn’t much space. So most of her costume changes are back in her dressing room or in the stage management office (next to the stage).
A really cool moment in the show is when she gets to fly on stage. She gets into a harnas that clicks to the fly system and she does the finale of the first half up in the air.
Just a special mention to Grace (Sam’s dresser) for guiding me around throughout the entire show, without her I would have been stuck in the wings many times.
1. Finalising make up for the witch costume
2. Walking down the corridor
3. Drawing the ice cry in the wings
4. Playing with the dog before the show starts
5. Shot from the wings to the stage
6. Getting into the big coat in the wings
7. Walking to the stage
8. Waiting in the wings before her final scene
9. Costume change in the stage management room
10. Getting her crown on
IVANO TURCO
(COVER VERSION)
Following Ivano around has been the weirdest Access All Areas experience so far, not in a bad way but he’s never off stage so it was a very lonely trip for me. I saw him before the show started, in the interval and then afterwards.
Ivano is the alternate for the role of ‘Bob Marley’ in ‘Get Up, Stand Up The Musical’ what means he only does certain performances during the week. When I arrived he was already in his costume and had his wig on but was physically getting ready for the show.
In the opening of the show the person who plays Bob Marley introduces every character on stage and also says their actual real names, which I find so cool and fascinating and I’ve never seen that before. And because every day there’s a difference cast (with swings and understudies) he learned the cast list out of his head before the show.
We then had some time in the wings where he got ready and had some time with his fellow cast members. As I mentioned before he’s on stage for the entire show and sings 19 out of the 20 songs in the show, crazy!
During the curtain call and encore at the end of the show I was allowed to go to front of house and take some images from the view from the audience and it felt like a real concert. So cool!
1. Shot during the MegaMix
2. Learning the cast list before the show
3. Getting ready in the interval
4. Waiting in the wings
5. Waiting in the wings
6. Getting ready in the interval
7. Shot at the end of the MegaMix
8. Waiting in the wings
9. Hugging before the show
10. Shot during the MegaMix
GEORGINA CASTLE
Even before Georgina even started rehearsals we were already planning this photoshoot, that is how much we wanted it to work and luckily we could fit it in the busy Christmas schedules. We might have rescheduled it 3 times, but in the end we finally found a moment, haha.
Following Georgina around was one of the easiest jobs ever as she’s one of the nicest people to be around and also SO stunning from all angles. She’s currently playing Jovie in Elf The Musical at the Dominion Theatre and while doing 8/9 shows a week she’s also in rehearsals for Dirty Dancing. Wow.
It was such a joy to follow her around because it’s such an uplifting show. We started off in her dressing room while she was getting ready and getting into her Christmas Elf costume (which is so cute) and in between scenes she has time to go back to her dressing room and has a costume change. She actually never leaves the stage and comes back on in the same costume. Every scene is a different costume. Her dressing room is 2 floors above the stage… so the amount of steps… is a lot.
One thing I hadn’t captured yet is people rollerskating on stage, but it’s part of Georgina’s role. In the show she goes on a date and the whole scene is on roller skates. I’m not gonna jinx anything, but she told me she only fell once and that was in rehearsals.
Her track is quite ‘lonely’ and she doesn’t really come across any other cast members. Not on stage but also not off stage. Most of her scenes are just with Simon who plays Buddy and whenever she is off stage the rest of the cast is on stage. Apart from the last scene when she has a very quick costume change (20 seconds) in the wings and then runs on with the rest of the cast.
1. Walking off stage before the bows
2. Waiting in the wings
3. Shot from the wings during her first scene
4. Getting ready in the interval
5. Changing hairstyle in the quick change area
6. Waiting in the wings for her bow
7. Shot from the wings during the ice skating scene
8. Getting ready before the show
9. Final mic check side stage
10. Getting ready in the quick change area
BRITT LENTING
I’m so excited to share these images cause Britt and I have been fantasising over behind the scenes images for so long and we finally had a chance to make it work. Britt is my fellow Dutchie here in the UK and it was just soooooo nice to follow someone around and speak Dutch the whole time.
Years and years ago I saw Britt play Ursula in the Dutch production of The Little Mermaid and didn’t know her personally then but became obsessed. Now she is just finishing Panto all the way in Plymouth where she plays the villain (typical) and I do have to say that playing a ‘bad’ character is MADE FOR HER. She’s soooooo good in being angry and scary on stage and then come off stage with the biggest smile and nicest personality.
Panto season means double show days most of the time and I followed Britt around for a matinee performance. While she was doing her make up I thought she was kinda posing for me and halfway through I said, ‘oh there is a bit too much darkness on your cheek now, do you wanna take it off?’ And she laughed out loud and said that was part of her character (oops).
Throughout the show she has only one costume and then changes into another costume for the bows. So in that case a very easy track, but the vocals that came out of her mouth wow. She opens the show with an insane evil laugh and then belts out the opening number.
She has some breaks in between scenes, but only one long break where she has time to go back to her dressing rooms, for all the other small breaks she has her own chair in the wings and chills with the boys from the ensemble.
Oh, well… i mean at a normal performance she does that… while i was around it was time for a little photoshoot every time she came off stage :-). We still followed the usual rhythm and stuff she normally does, but Britt loves the camera and we found the nicest spots backstage.
1. Found a mirror backstage to check make up
2. Lifted in the dance during her solo number
3. Getting ready before the show
4. Walking down the stairs to the stage
5. Final mic check
6. Posing in the corridors
7. Shot from the wings to the stage
8. In the quick change area
9. Getting ready before the show
10. Waiting in the quick change area
THE COMMITMENTS
(SPECIAL EDITION)
2 weeks ago The Commitments UK Tour settled down in Wimbledon and I was very grateful to have been asked to come and follow the cast & crew around for an Access All Areas backstage shoot.
I came in on a double show so everyone was half ready and already warmed up from the matinee, so I just followed them around from the moment the show started.
The whole cast and crew looked like one big family where everyone worked together and had the best time.The ‘good’ thing of the show for me was that the set is very basic and stays on stage the entire time so both wings were free for me to walk and it wasn’t dangerous to be anywhere at all (apart from the fact there is an actual motorbike that they use on stage).
In both wings there were quick change areas and the cast used them a lot. Most of the cast changes multiple times in these small areas and have wig changes/make up touch ups just before they go back on stage.
Also a really cool thing is that some of the cast members play instruments live on stage (i didn’t know this before oops) but it was so mega cool to see them run off stage, grab their instrument, play a song in the wings and run back on stage.
1. Stage manager reading the script in the wings
2. Quick change wig
3. Stage manager waiting in the wings
4. Nigel waiting in the wings
5. Getting ready during a quick change
6. Playing an instrument in the wings
7. Motorbike waiting in the wings
8. Shot from the wings to the stage
9. Getting ready in the quick change area
10. Spare sound desk
ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES
(SPECIAL EDITION)
Last week I was lucky enough to follow the cast of Only Fools And Horses around for a show and there were so many moments where I forgot to take pictures because I was laughing :-) the cast was an absolute joy to follow around and are so busy throughout the show.
The Haymarket has a lot of dressing rooms on different floors and A LOT of stairs, so the cast doesn’t really go back to their rooms during the show cause it’s a workout just to do that a couple of times per night, haha. The show is also very much an ‘ensemble’ piece where there are a couple of main characters but almost everyone is on stage the whole time. And if not, they’re changing characters in the wings or singing backings.
The stage is very cool for the show and with a revolve in the middle you can get on the stage from so many entrances. At the back of the stage are some curtains that open and close to make sure the audience can’t see the back of the stage where the quick changes and set changes happen.
Some of the ensemble actors are playing so many different characters that sometimes they literally have a 20/25 second change from one into the other but also have to run to the other side of the stage and/or have to run down some stairs.
The show is such a laugh and just announced their closing date for London in April this year… but it going on a UK Tour later this year!
1. Dressing room fun
2. Shot from the wings to the stage
3. Dressing room fun
4. Shot from the wings to the stage
5. Getting ready before the show
6. Shot from the wings to the stage
7. Walking down the stairs
8. Quick change area side stage
SHAN AKO
This one is very very very special because since I’ve known Shan she always spoke about how much she wanted to play Eliza in Hamilton and now a couple of years later she has done over 200 shows!
I followed Shan around on a double show day and came in before the matinee so she started with a warm up. Surprisingly she doesn’t do the main warm up on stage with the rest of the cast but she goes to a separate room to do some skipping rope and stretching. We then went to the stage for vocal warm up but she told me she’s always hiding on her own at the back of the stage because if she’s with the rest of the cast she keeps chatting and get distracted haha.
She then gets ready for the show in her dressing room and gets her extra hair piece in. Because the theatre is massive there are separate rooms for costumes and changes (Shan’s and the other sisters is under the stage). Throughout the show she goes back there a couple of times to change dresses. I think she only had one or two changes in the wings and that was to add the pregnancy piece.
I never realised how often Eliza is on stage during the show. It’s a character that keeps going on and off stage. Even if it’s just a scene where she’s in the background or just have to cross the stage, but she’s very often on stage. Interesting fact is that there is no way to cross the stage from one side to the other as it’s all an open space, you have to cross underneath the stage.
After the song ‘It’s Quiet Uptown’ she and Hamilton walk off stage and wipe down their tears and give each other a big hug in the wings. She told me she cries every performance and during this one she prayed for people in need. So beautiful!!!!
1. Getting ready in the change area downstairs
2. Vocal warm up at the back of the stage
3. Walking down the corridor with Joel
4. Shot from the wings to the stage during ‘Helpless’
5. Quick change in the wings
6. Skipping rope cardio warm up
7. Waiting in the wings with the 2 sisters
8. Getting ready in the change area
9. Wiping down tears after ‘It’s Quiet Uptown’
10. Walking on stage during the first entrance
ROB MADGE & ROSIE MORGAN
Today is the 100th show of ‘My Son’s A Queer, (but what can you do?) and I was so honoured to follow Rob and Rosie around for a show the other day. They started this journey (and have done all shows) together at the Turbine Theatre last year, went to the Edinburgh Fringe, had a limited run at the Garrick Theatre and are now open at the Ambassador’s Theatre.
Rob and Rosie have their own dressing rooms right next to other, but most of the time they just chill in one room (and when not they both keep their doors open and just talk loud to each other).
Because it’s an one person show the set up is quite easy and chilled. Before the show Rob does some steaming and gets into costume and very important: cuts the confetti before every show. They told me they still get nervous before each show but the nerves go away as soon as they step on stage. They have 1 big quick costume change where they go from 1 outfit into 3 big dresses (on top of each other). And the wings are so tight that there is almost no space to walk around so the last dress they put on on stage (when the curtain is down).
Rosie has her own desk upstairs in the wings and has more than 100 cues during the show. She’s in control of sound, lighting, video and haze cues and has a little monitor to watch the show.
Afterwards Rob & Rosie go together through the entire show (for the show report) and point out the moments where the audience responded and where they didn’t.
Everyone has to see this beautiful one person show with the most beautiful story AND a very important message. The show is only an hour long and they do 8 shows a week. So get yourself some tickets and run to the Ambassador’s Theatre!
1. Shot from the wings to the stage
2. Shot from the wings to the stage
3. Rosie and Rob chatting before the show
4. Shot from the wings to the stage
5. Rob chatting to their dresser after the show
6. Rosie at her stage management desk
7. Rob steaming for vocal warm up
8. Shot from the wings to the stage
9. Quick change at the end of the show
10. Rosie filling in the show report at the end of the show
DEATH DROP
(SPECIAL EDITION)
A very iconic Access All Areas as I travelled all the way to Nottingham last week to follow the Queens from Death Drop around for a show. After I did the production shots a couple of weeks ago I knew I wanted to go back and follow them around for a look behind the scenes.
In all honesty, I was very surprised when I arrived at the theatre at 6pm (2 hours before the show) and most of the cast members hadn’t even started their make up yet. I always thought drag make up takes so long, but these Queens are so experienced that it takes them around an hour to get ready.
I was so intrigued to see how they do their make up before the show and to follow the journey step by step cause they always look so stunning.
Everyone has their own dressing room and to get their wig they just have to go to the wig room just before the show starts. During the show most of the cast is on stage for the entirety of the show and sometimes comes off stage in between scenes.
I feel like the show is such fun to work for cause I saw the stage managers and dressers laugh throughout the entire show.
Sadly I had to leave just after the second half to make my last train back to London and the tour almost comes to and end, but the last venues are Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham so if that’s a venue near you, go go go!
1. Waiting behind the stage before the show starts
2. Kitty Scott-Claus getting her wig on
3. Shot from the wings to the stage
4. Victoria Scone waiting behind the stage
5. Getting ready in the interval in the corridor
6. Getting ready before the show
7. Jujubee waiting in the wings
8. Ophelia Love getting something from the stage manager in the wings
9. Stage managers in the wings
10. Jujubee getting ready before the show
SANDRA MARVIN
The people that know me well enough know that all I want to do is become a nun and join Sister Act the Musical so following Sandra around for a show as Deloris was the ultimate dream.
I joined Sandra just before she got her wig and costume on and then followed her to the wings. She's on stage for almost the entirety of the show and whenever she's off stage, she's either changing costumes or drinking some water. She has no rest throughout the show apart from the interval where she takes off half of the nun's habit to calm down after the 2 big numbers.
There were a couple of moments where she ran off stage right (where I stood) and I tried following her to the wings on the other side but she was already on stage, so even off stage there is a lot of running around. Luckily the theatre was quite big so at the back of the stage there was a quick change area and walkway to go from one side to the other.
There are 2 moments in the show where she completely changes from Deloris into the nun costume and the same way back. The first change is about 5 minutes. So she has enough time to walk to her dressing room and take the wig carefully off and change into the costume in her own time, but the second change is under a minute and goes very quickly in the wings.
You can see how much fun Sandra (and the rest of the cast) have doing the show. There is so much joy on stage and the happiness in Sandra's eyes comes across really well.
Sandra is the mum of the group: she is the warmest and most caring person and the way she spoke and/or interacted with her fellow cast and crew members was so beautiful to see. The show is touring all over the UK until this summer so get your tickets and see her shine!
1. Shot from the wings during 'Raise Your Voice'
2. Walking backstage behind the stage
3. Drinking Berocca in the interval
4. Waiting in the wings
5. Shot from the wings during 'Sister Act Reprise'
6. Getting ready before the show
7. Quick change in the wings
8. Shot from the wings during the last scene
9. Waiting in the wings before her first number
10. Shot from the stalls during the bows
JACOB FOWLER
As soon as Jacob opened as JD in the Heathers UK Tour I messaged him about an Access All Areas shoot. Personally I'm very happy he's doing the tour as the backstage space at the Other Palace is very small and tight and luckily on tour the wings are much bigger.
I think JD is one of the hardest (if not hardest) male lead characters to play and I followed Jacob around for a matinee on a double show day (no idea how he does that). When I arrived he was about to start some extra vocal warm up in his dressing room where he sings along to the cast recording of Freeze Your Brain. He says he does that before every show and if that goes well he knows his voice is in the right place.
Throughout the show he doesn't have any costume changes. But does have a moment where he takes his shirt and coat off (just before Dead Girl Walking). He also has a nice balance of stage and off-stage time, where in between his scenes he has around 10 minutes breaks. In every break he has a little toilet break... I don't think I've ever seen anyone go to the toilet more often during a show than him.
He also has some backing vocals to sing along to from the wings, where he stands at the side of the stage to sing his harmonies. After 'Meant To Be Yours' (his big mental breakdown song) I expected him to come off stage being totally crazy and mental but he was so chilled.
My favourite moment was that at the beginning of the show just after Veronica's quick change and before she runs on stage, Jacob stood in the wing and waved at her before she ran through the doors. And then at the end of the show during the bows he did the same thing from the other side of the wing. Full circle moment.
1. Shot from the wings before ‘Seventeen’
2. Vocal warm up in his dressing room
3. Shot from the wings during ‘Freeze Your Brain’
4. Mirror shot just before the last scene
5. Singing back up vocals during ‘Beautiful’
6. Shot from the wings during ‘Our Love Is God’
7. Walking back to dressing rooms in the interval
8. Shot from the wings during ‘Seventeen’
9. Getting ready before the show
10. Waiting in the wings before his bow
PIA DOUWES
Honestly the fact I just wrote down ‘With Pia Douwes’ gave me goosebumps. I’m so grateful that I was able to fly to the Netherlands and follow Pia around for a performance in ‘The Prom’.
I’m from the Netherlands and I grew up watching Pia star in all big shows and on television and I’ve always wanted to meet her and work with her in a certain way (this was even before I started photography, her character and work spirit have always inspired me).
A couple of years ago Pia lost her voice and after YEARS of singing the most iconic scores she had to learn how to sing again, which sounds so crazy but luckily it’s going so great now and she made it BACK to the stage playing ‘Dee Dee’ in the Dutch Tour of ‘The Prom’.
Pia started with her make up and then had to do a sound check on stage, because the show is on tour the entire cast has to sound check daily. After the sound check she joined the warm up (which literally was a full work out) and then got her wig on. This all happened an hour before the show which comparing to any show in the UK felt so early.
All costumes were stored upstairs in the wings and she also had her own chair to sit down during scenes. Even though there weren’t many moments for her to relax, sometimes after doing full choreography on stage it was needed to have a little sit down. She has a lot of costume changes and the quickest one is in between the last scene and the bows where she has around 20 seconds to change into an entire different outfit.
I loved watching Pia interact with other cast members backstage and I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone more generous and heartwarming backstage. She takes care of everyone you can see the proudness in her eyes watching the younger generation.
1. Getting ready in her dressing room
2. Shot from the wings during the opening scene
3. Waiting in the wings
4. Warm up on stage
5. Shot from the wings to the stage
6. Getting ready in her dressing room
7. Shot from the wings to the stage
8. Quick change in the wings
9. Shot from the wings to the stage
10. Shot from the wings to the stage during the finale
FRANCES MAYLI MCCANN
Last week I finally got to follow Frances around at a performance of Bonnie & Clyde. This is her third run playing Bonnie and all runs have been different. The first time was a staged concert version, the show then transferred to the Arts Theatre and is now playing at the Garrick Theatre for a limited run.
When I arrived Frances was about to start the physical and vocal warm up on stage. She does this together with the rest of the cast and then has a short fight call where they ‘rehearse’ the fight scenes of the show.
She then went to her dressing room to get ready before the show. She does her own hair & make-up and then gets her wig on. Her dressing room is on the same floor as Jodie’s and Jordan’s and they have an open door policy, so they keep walking in and out each others room. Plus point: Jodie had her dog with her and he kept coming to Frances’ room to pick up some carrots.
In the last version at the Arts Theatre the cast includes two kids who played the young Bonnie & Clyde, but this time around Frances & Jordan play the young versions of their characters. Because of this after a couple of minutes on stage she already has a quick change into her iconic red dress costume.
She actually has a couple of quick changes in the wings (some are VERY quick) but for some of them she also has time to go back to her dressing room to change there and have a mini break. She said that at the Arts Theatre there was no cross-over (a walk way at the back of the stage) so sometimes she got ‘stuck’ in a wing and had to change/wait there.
Frances is so nice to be around and you can just see that everyone is happy when she is nearby. She has the nicest connection with everyone and it was such a joy watching her shine.
1. Waiting for the bows
2. Chatting with Jodie in the dressing room
3. Shot from the wings during ‘Dying Ain’t So Bad’
4. Quick change in the wings
5. Costume and wig change in her dressing room
6. Shot from the wings to the stage
7. Waiting in the corridors before the show
8. Vocal warm up chats with Nick (musical director)
9. Shot from the wings to the stage
10. Feeding Jodie’s dog some carrots
SIMONE KLEINSMA
Another 'pinch me' moment writing this caption and following the Icon of Dutch musical theatre around for a show as Mrs. Lovett in the new version of Sweeney Todd. The show had a very limited run (5 weeks only) but I knew I had to give it a try. The role is very special to Simone as she played the same character 20 years ago in the Original Dutch Production.
The show only opened the week before i came in and I was backstage during the last try-out (preview) performance- the day before opening night. When I came in Simone had been there already for a couple of hours to discuss the show from the night before and already started her make-up. She then went straight to get her hair done and then had a sound check on stage and last rehearsal on stage. The rehearsal was with Samir Hassan who plays Tobias and they rehearsed the song 'Not While I'm Around' a couple of times.
Before the show and in the interval Simone is in control of her own props (and there are quite a lot) so she needs to make sure they're in the right places in the wings and on stage. Luckily for her she doesn't have any costume (or wig) changes, so whenever she has a moment off stage she has a moment to sit down.
Because this is a completely new and modern version Simone is on stage for almost the entire show. Even when she's not active in certain scenes, she is still on stage in the background. Which gave her only a couple of moments in the wings to refresh, have some water and check the script to check lines.
I've followed Simone's career for as long as I can remember. She has played the biggest parts in almost every show (I've seen lots) and always watched her on TV with my grandma. So spending a couple of hours with her and following her around for a show was very special.
1. Getting ready in her dressing room
2. Getting ready in her dressing room
3. Waiting in the wings before the show
4. Shot from the wings to the stage
5. Having her hair done before the show
6. Shot from the wings to the stage
7. Getting her props ready before the show
8. Warm up with Samir
9. Shot from the wings to the stage
10. Taking her bow
LUCIE JONES
Lucie was the first person who opened some doors for me to take pictures during a show. So I was very excited to come back and follow her around for a performance as one of the most iconic characters in musical theatre.
She played Fantine in the concert version of Les Misérables 2 years ago (just after lockdown) and is now back in the full show at the Sondheim Theatre. With only one month left I got to see the fun she gets up to during the show.
When I arrived in the dressing room (that she shares with Cosette, Éponine and Madam Thénardier) she got her Fantine wig and costume on. Amazingly the woman who does Lucie’s wig has worked there for over 20 years and also worked with Lucie when she played Cosette.
*spoiler alert* when Fantine dies in the show, Lucie joins the cast in the ensemble and famously cuts potatoes in the background but is also a part of big numbers like ‘One More Day’. She’s called her character ‘Beatrice’ and is actually on stage more than I thought.
I’ve done a couple of Access All Areas shoots at Les Misérables now, but this was the first time I was allowed in the busy wings, with a massive thank you to the stage manager Harrison who guided me around throughout the entire show (legend).
It was so special to see Lucie take on this beautiful character and see her wipe down her tears every time she came off stage. She has only one month left at the barricades so i was very happy we could make this one work!
1. Getting ready in her dressing room before the show
2. Walking out of her dressing room
3. Just after the quick change
4. Fun in the dressing room
5. Shot from the wings to the stage during the final scene
6. In the dressing room with Nathania & Lulu-Mae
7. Quick change side stage
8. Quick change in the wings
9. In the corridors with Josh
10. Getting ready for her ‘Beatrice’ track