If you’ve followed my socials over the last week, you’ll know that I went on a very stagey holiday to Vienna. One show I saw was round three of Rebecca Das Musical (I’ve now updated my review), and I had one massive treat that came with it: I was kindly gifted a backstage tour of the Raimund Theatre by VBW’s amazing PR team.
Unfortunately no photography or video were allowed for copyright reasons, so I’m going to run through each step of the backstage tour and reveal my thoughts on the overall experience. Spoiler alert: I couldn’t have asked for a better time.
*None of the photos below except for the auditorium and stage are of the Raimund Theatre.
Auditorium
The backstage tour started in the auditorium, where the host gave a run through of the Raimund Theatre’s history. Built in only six months, the Raimund Theatre (name after playwright Ferdinand Raimund) opened in 1893 and was founded by the Viennese People’s Theater Association. Created to stage folk plays that spoke to the people, in the 19th century it would eventually become a major venue for operettas.
With the boom of the European mega-musical in the 1980s, the Raimund Theatre became a venue that would stage musicals, starting with the Austrian premiere of A Chorus Line in 1987. Going on to premiere other transfers including The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Beauty and the Beast, it wasn’t until the 1990’s that the Raimund Theatre would stage and premiere Austrian works Including Mozart, many productions of Tanz Der Vampire (it’s no surprise many on the backstage tour assumed that was the first musical performed there), Elisabeth, Schikaneder, I Am From Austria (a show inexplicably staged in Japan) and of course, Rebecca in 2006.
Stage
Funnily enough the backstage tour truly began on the actual stage. Here the host discussed Rebecca’s iconic staircase. Weighing in at a whopping 3.5 tonnes (more than the boathouse set that comes in at 2.5 tonnes), it uses 2 litres of gas to light up the stairs each night for the dramatic fire sequence. For anyone concerned about the actor playing Mrs. Danvers being so close to the flames, her costume for the sequence is sewn with fireproof thread and made out of fireproof material. Why does it weigh so much compared to a house? A) It sometimes has to hold a large number of actors onstage and B) it has its own mechanical system hidden in the bookcase.
Dressing Room
Going through a door stage right, we went backstage into one of the dressing rooms for the ensemble where one of the performers just happened to be getting ready by the time we arrived. Makeup artists are always on standby to check that each look fits with the brief and a hairdresser comes in to prep and store the show’s 40 wigs. One little detail I loved seeing was the facial hair meticulously labelled for each performer based on their principal, understudy and ensemble roles.
Costumes
Next we were taken into the closet that stores just some of Rebecca’s gorgeous 450 costumes. Some are kept on standby if a quick change is required, and a seamstress is always at hand in case any of the costumes rip or there’s a wardrobe malfunction during the performance (apparently there’s been more than one incident just before a performer has gone onstage). Because some of them are so big such as the lavish Caroline de Winter costume above, we were let into one age old theatre secret: Some costumes are usually cleaned by spraying vodka!
Stage Management
Just before going down to the basement, the host showed us the stage management desk and discussed what a stage manager’s role is in a show. If you’re interested in this line of work, they’re always on standby during the performance to ensure everything goes smoothly including lighting, sound, set and blocking cues.
Basement
We moved downstairs to the Raimund Theatre’s basement, where the host revealed Rebecca uses a separate platform from the usual one because of all the complex needs for the staircase and sets. Going even further down, she led us to a small room with musical instruments and revealed possibly the most surprising fact: Because all of Rebecca’s massive 25-piece orchestra can’t fit in the pit, percussion has their own room with three monitors where they watch the conductor so they’re always on cue throughout the performance.
Perhaps this is how the Charing Cross Theatre will work around their ambitious 18-piece orchestra for Rebecca’s English premiere…?
Stage Door
The final step of the backstage tour happened where the performers, crew and musicians start and end their day’s work: the stage door (for anyone curious, look for the Bühnen Eingang). We ended up leaving to a crowd of fans, and the tour couldn’t have ended at a better time as the amazing Willemijn Verkaik made her way into the theatre while meeting people who waited to show their support for her final performance in Rebecca that night. Given the number of people there, she was very patient and kind with everybody and made sure nobody missed out. As we saw other performers coming, most of us on the backstage tour decided to stay around before that night’s show.
What was my overall experience on the backstage tour?
Given that this was my very first backstage tour for one of my favourite musicals, I had the most amazing time. The host was so lovely when explaining why I had no ticket as it turned out PR had already informed her one of the tourists was English. While it was all in German (I caught some bits from the limited German I can understand through the musicals I love), she explained everything to me in English afterwards. If you happen to be in Vienna for a show or are interested in how a show works behind the curtain, definitely get a ticket for a backstage tour if you can.
While I got my tour for free, they only cost nine euros!
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