There is a theatre tradition that not everyone is aware of,  it is where a light is left on in the centre of the stage when the theatre is ‘dark’.  A ghost light.

This is of course completely practical ,making sure the stage is  safely lit to avoid accidents, such as falling off the edge into the orchestra pit by anyone who might be working after a show or working alone in the theatre when there is no production.

Some claim that the tradition began in the days of gas-lit theatres when dim gas lights were left burning to relieve pressure on the gas valves however this tradition of a dim single light on the stage also has a spooky superstition to it.

Older theatres are notorious for having a ghostly presence, so the ghost light allows ghosts in the theatre to perform on stage when there is no-one else in the building. This is meant to please the ghosts so they don’t cause havoc and sabotage shows.

This is also used to explain the traditional one day a week that theatres are closed, Can you imagine the ghosts of the centuries past congregating to perform together once a week in order to fulfill their need to entertain even if it is just other ghosts!

Many theatres have been  forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic and have renewed the tradition of ghost lights as a way of indicating the theatres will  survive against the odds and re-open.

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The famously sewn into leggings worn by the end of film sultry Sandy is the stuff of legends! But this year a wonderful new theatre production is about to make a tour of Uk theatres and some will even feature Peter Andre as ‘teenangel’.

For those of you that by some amazing chance have never seen the film ( were you abducted by aliens since 1978?) and do not know the rock and roll story of ‘Summer lovin’ we are transported to the summer of 1958 where the leader of local greaser gang Danny meets pure innocent Sandy and they fall in love.

They never think they will meet again but the story really begins when Sandy enrolls at Rydell high school and they  are reunited and their romance takes on twists and turns of teenage angst and fun . With songs that are timeless and fun, you can jin in with the Pink ladies and the T birds in finding ‘the one that you want’ in a ‘greased lightening’ production full of ‘electrifying’ choreography songs and vitality. 

You can find the dates and tickets of the tour here. 

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Disney’s classic movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks is about to make an amazingly magical and thrilling transition to the world of the theatre with a spectacular musical complete with the original songs by the legendary Sherman Brothers  featured in the film from 1971.

The story follows the adventures of the three orphaned Rawlins children  ( Charlie, Carrie and Paul) who are reluctantly evacuated from wartime London to live with the mysterious  Miss Eglantine Price. 

Charlie blackmails Miss Price that if he is to keep her practices a secret, she must give him something, so she takes a bedknob from her late father’s bed and places the “famous magic travelling spell” on it, and only Paul can activate it.

Their first journey is to a street in London, where they meet Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson), former headmaster of Miss Price’s witchcraft training correspondence school.

Miss Price tells him of a plan to find the magic words for a spell known as “Substitutiary Locomotion”, which brings inanimate objects to life. This spell will be her work for the war effort.

The magic begins when they discover the startling secret that Eglantine  is actually a trainee witch and in return for keeping her secret she enchants a bedknob with a magic travelling spell and the children  take her to search for a secret spell that will defeat the enemy  once and for all. 

A spell known as “Substitutiary Locomotion”, which brings inanimate objects to life. . Armed with the enchanted bedknob, a bewitched broomstick and a magical flying bed, they encounter surprising new friendships on their journey from Portobello Road to the depths of the beautiful briny sea.

This magical new musical flies into Theatreland this year! Look out for details of

Bedknobs and Broomsticks UK tour and get tickets here.

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