2012 is the 100th Birthday of Manchester’s Opera House theatre, and today they were inviting families to celebrate with them. They hosted a free open day, which will form just part of their celebrations in the run up to their actual birthday on Boxing Day, and will also include a gala performance of this year’s pantomime Peter Pan.
The open day was aimed mainly at families with children, with dance and drama workshops, storytelling sessions and face painting as part of the schedule, but sparking an interest with adults were the technical demonstrations, theatre tours and an exhibition of their costume, prop and promotional material archives. As a theatre and costume fan, I thought I’d pop in to see the exhibition, as I’ve actually been on the interesting theatre tour before, and I enjoyed a chance to see a selection of costumes from the productions I’ve actually seen, including Spamalot, Sister Act, Legally Blonde and South Pacific.
I hope anyone who took their children today had a great time – this would have been right up my street as a young’un, and think it’s great to see theatres engaging with the community.
I also want to say massive Happy 100th Birthday to the Opera House, where I’ve seen many fantastic shows, and which has seen plenty of iconic moments, including the exciting world premier of Ghost last year. Here’s to many more years to come!
English Rose from Manchester's Blog 