:00:08. > :00:13.Tonight, raising the curtain on the spruced up Jewel in the Crown on
:00:13. > :00:19.Britain's favourite street. It's played host to some of the nation's
:00:19. > :00:24.best loved actors. It's the great grandeur of the Victorian theatre.
:00:24. > :00:29.Newcastle's probably got the best in the world. It's played a part in
:00:29. > :00:33.every northerners history. One of the plays that sticks in my mind
:00:33. > :00:37.was hamlet starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. This is a set
:00:37. > :00:43.that needs more than a touch of stage paint. People have been
:00:43. > :00:47.coming up to me saying, "What are you doing to our theatre?" That
:00:47. > :00:51.makes you realise how important it is to the people of the city.
:00:51. > :01:01.Tonight, inside out follows the year when the Theatre Royal becomes
:01:01. > :01:17.
:01:17. > :01:21.Was going on here? I don't believe it, after all these years. The poor
:01:21. > :01:26.bairn. Do you think I've made a mistake? Yes! Do you think I've
:01:26. > :01:31.made a mistake? They've been putting on panto here for more than
:01:31. > :01:36.147 years -- 100 years. It's a building that means so much to so
:01:36. > :01:40.many. I remember going to panto there. That was my introduction to
:01:40. > :01:43.theatre. I couldn't afford the entrance money. I used to hang
:01:43. > :01:47.around the entrance to the gods and latch onto the pack of any party
:01:47. > :01:52.going in with it, with a chunk of tickets and hope that the usher
:01:52. > :01:56.couldn't count the number. It's the ideal show-off place. I love it
:01:56. > :02:00.when I have friends coming to stay. I always try to see if there's a
:02:00. > :02:03.show to see. I know they'll walk through the doors and be wowed by
:02:03. > :02:07.this amazing place. There's a smell in this place. That's important in
:02:07. > :02:10.a theatre. If you had a blind fold on, you would know you were in the
:02:10. > :02:15.Theatre Royal Newcastle. Every actor wants to go to Newcastle.
:02:15. > :02:18.It's had the RSC there for years. The audiences are wonderful.
:02:18. > :02:22.They're very intelligent. They enjoy the theatre. They appreciate
:02:22. > :02:27.the theatre. It's a place of sad times. We've lost a general manager
:02:27. > :02:32.here in the time, who sadly died in the theatre. As one we stood on the
:02:32. > :02:36.theatre with heads bowed and cried over, that you know. It was such an
:02:36. > :02:41.emotional thing. Of happy events. It's a massive part of my life. I
:02:41. > :02:46.married the flyman. This is my son who was created from Theatre Royal,
:02:46. > :02:51.you know. It has lots of fond memories. And falling in love.
:02:51. > :02:55.theatre is very special for me. I came to do pantomime in 2007. I
:02:55. > :03:05.liked it so much here in Newcastle, I actually met my husband here and
:03:05. > :03:07.
:03:07. > :03:11.like today so much that I stayed. This year's panto is just as
:03:11. > :03:15.romantic, Sleeping Beauty, a timeless classic just like the
:03:15. > :03:24.theatre itself. Princess, I want to snog the face off a roufty tufty
:03:24. > :03:29.man. No, what I meant was... On New Year's Eve 1901, it was The Forty
:03:29. > :03:33.Thieves. It was the first show here after the inside of the theatre was
:03:33. > :03:36.completely rebuilt following a devastating fire. For the next
:03:36. > :03:39.century, the North East public converged in their hundreds of
:03:39. > :03:45.thousands on this Geordie cultural temple for their dose of romance,
:03:45. > :03:52.passion and laughter. An iconic building, a theatre for the stars.
:03:52. > :03:58.One of the highlights for me was when I got toint view Jack Lemmon -
:03:58. > :04:05.- to interview Jack Lemmon on stage. I called him "Mr Lemmon." He said
:04:05. > :04:09."Jack." I explained it must be three minutes. We did this
:04:09. > :04:14.wonderful interview with this great guy, so lovely. The producer
:04:14. > :04:18.clicked his stop watch exactly three minutes. What a pro that man
:04:19. > :04:24.was. This is the first time that I played outside the London, you know.
:04:24. > :04:30.And it's fun. It's great. 21 years since Jack's visit, and outside,
:04:30. > :04:37.the theatre has barely changed. Inside, the auditorium, beautiful
:04:37. > :04:45.though it is, is now beginning to look a little tired. The theatre
:04:45. > :04:48.needs a serious makeover. For the last five years, the country's
:04:48. > :04:54.leading theatre restoration expert has been planning the face-lift of
:04:54. > :04:58.the old lady of Grey Street. It's an scieding time. We've been
:04:58. > :05:02.talking about this for the best part of five years. Here we are
:05:02. > :05:06.stood in the foyer at the Theatre Royal. It's all just about to
:05:06. > :05:10.happen. You can never go back to a purist sense of 1901 or whatever
:05:10. > :05:14.date you're working to. I always say to people, we're contaminated
:05:14. > :05:19.by the 21st century. What we have to do is to respect the heritage,
:05:19. > :05:23.move on, provide things that people expect today, like disabled access
:05:23. > :05:28.and elements of that kind and integrate them sensitively into
:05:28. > :05:30.this fantastic building. It's tight. We've always known it's going to be
:05:30. > :05:36.tight. Everybody's going to have to put the shoulder to the wheel to
:05:36. > :05:41.deliver this fantastic project. theatre is raising almost �5
:05:42. > :05:46.million to spend on the refit. Most of it is being paid for by theatre
:05:46. > :05:52.goers themselves through a small levy on each ticket sold. The
:05:52. > :05:58.building will only be shut for six months. It's a huge task. It has to
:05:58. > :06:01.be on time. We have sold tickets for September, The Madness Of
:06:01. > :06:05.George III. It's a big moment, a very exciting moment. There's a
:06:05. > :06:15.point of no return now. It's going to happen. It just has to happen on
:06:15. > :06:16.
:06:16. > :06:22.time. For David Willmore there's a wider importance. It has two Grade
:06:22. > :06:26.I listed theatres. This one is fantastic. In 1914, there were 1200
:06:26. > :06:32.theatres in the British Isles like this. Today, there are just over
:06:32. > :06:35.100. That gives you an idea of the losses that the theatrical heritage
:06:35. > :06:40.has suffered since the First World War. We have to protect what's left
:06:41. > :06:50.and we have to make sure that it's fit for purpose for the next 100,
:06:51. > :06:53.
:06:53. > :06:57.soo years. -- 150 years. We start with a run of 18 seats... The first
:06:57. > :07:02.job to flog off the unwanted fixtures and fittings to raise
:07:02. > :07:08.extra cash for the project. We have seats. We've got curtains from the
:07:08. > :07:14.boxes. We have some signs. They may seem like ordinary things, but it's
:07:14. > :07:17.an auction of memories. These seats have witnessed all sorts of
:07:17. > :07:22.productions. They've been sat in by all sorts of people. They buy you a
:07:22. > :07:25.piece of history. There are 1200 seats to sell, including some
:07:25. > :07:33.sponsored by celebrities who've performed here. Ian McKellen, what
:07:33. > :07:43.shall we say, �50 for his seat? 70, your bid. Are we all done at �270.
:07:43. > :07:44.
:07:44. > :07:53.Thank you. Some celebs, it seems, can command more than others.
:07:53. > :08:02.Denise Welch, �50 anywhere? �30, come on. Done at �30. Sold. Ridley
:08:02. > :08:06.Scott's seat. �70 here. �75 thank you. At �80 - sold to you Madam.
:08:06. > :08:11.I'm quite excited because he's my favourite director. That's why we
:08:11. > :08:16.came to the theatre hoping to get it. That or Ian McKellen. She's
:08:16. > :08:21.bought me the chair. So thank you honey, I love you. The auction
:08:21. > :08:25.raises more than �5,000. The success of the sale is proof the
:08:25. > :08:31.building has a special place in the hearts of many. I think the thing
:08:31. > :08:35.you notice about Newcastle and the Theatre Royal is just the grand
:08:35. > :08:39.architecture, the walk way up Grey Street, there it is, in the middle,
:08:39. > :08:43.like a Colosseum. It is stunning. It's beautiful from the outside and
:08:43. > :08:46.beautiful on the inside. When you first go on the stage, it is quite
:08:46. > :08:49.daunting, and it's awesome. It's beautiful and you think, oh, my
:08:49. > :08:56.heavens are they going to hear me here. It's almost like an opera
:08:56. > :09:00.house. Whu tillly do a play, you feel as if the audience are close
:09:00. > :09:06.and friendly. You don't feel as if you're isolated miles from the
:09:06. > :09:11.audience. It has to be the most beautiful building in Newcastle, if
:09:11. > :09:17.not the North East. It stands and it says - I am a theatre, come in.
:09:17. > :09:21.The tingle starts when you see the pillars. You get into reception,
:09:21. > :09:25.for me, when you get into the auditorium, the buzz of the
:09:25. > :09:35.audience, building and building, I get as excited as the actors back
:09:35. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:43.Alice, you're very late you know. Come on inside. Before everything
:09:43. > :09:50.is ripped out and taken away, there's one last performance, it's
:09:51. > :09:52.a charity variety show. I knew you were from Newcastle. It's famous
:09:52. > :09:56.for two things - football and beautiful women.
:09:56. > :10:06.CHEERING What position do you play?
:10:06. > :10:16.
:10:16. > :10:21.# This was the last thing on my mind #
:10:21. > :10:31.And the curtain goes down for the very last time before work begins.
:10:31. > :10:38.
:10:38. > :10:42.The task is to clear the entire auditorium of all the fittings that
:10:42. > :10:45.get in the way of the builders, so when the builders arrive it's an
:10:45. > :10:49.empty shell. Everybody from across the building is playing their part
:10:49. > :10:53.today. The stage crew are here unscrewing the seats. The marketing
:10:53. > :10:58.staff are carrying the poster frames round and thipbgdz like that.
:10:58. > :11:03.I spend almost every Christmas here because I do the pant miems. You
:11:03. > :11:13.spend more time in here than you do at home. You have pictures of your
:11:13. > :11:14.
:11:14. > :11:23.family on the walls. We found a Malteseer. But franc sucked it
:11:23. > :11:30.before I got hold of it. Four weeks later,... The scaffold
:11:30. > :11:32.is to get us all the way up into the centre of the auditorium, to
:11:32. > :11:42.the main ceiling level. There's a lot of restoration to be done on
:11:42. > :11:46.
:11:46. > :11:50.that. We have up to ten demolition contractors in there. There's up to
:11:50. > :11:53.ten scaffolders. It's a very labour intensive job, getting the material
:11:53. > :11:57.here, there's no mechanical way of getting it in. Everything you see
:11:57. > :12:03.has had to come in through a single door, handed up, hand over hand, to
:12:03. > :12:12.get it into place. We have five, six electricians, stripping out,
:12:12. > :12:20.isolating electrical works. It's dirty, dusty. We just want to get
:12:20. > :12:23.the muck out of the way. Then we can start putting back in. The most
:12:23. > :12:29.challenging thing as far as the fabric of the building is concerned
:12:29. > :12:32.is the historical features in the auditorium. Really the ornate
:12:32. > :12:42.ceilings, balcony fronts and the last thing we want to do is damage
:12:42. > :12:50.
:12:50. > :12:56.The builders' brief is to restore the interior to the way it was in
:12:56. > :13:00.1901, the classic Edwardian design by one of the greatest theatre
:13:00. > :13:04.architects Frank Matcham. Born in 1854 Matcham was a pioneer, thought
:13:04. > :13:10.to have designed more than 120 theatres and music halls around
:13:10. > :13:15.Britain. He was famed for his opulent intier yorz. He was loved
:13:15. > :13:19.by actors and audiences alike. Matcham theatre has wonderful
:13:19. > :13:23.acoustics. That is such a joy, really good acoustics are, you know,
:13:23. > :13:28.they've built new theatres where they're using throat mics. People
:13:28. > :13:31.can't be heard in modern theatres. It's tragic, isn't it. Whereas the
:13:31. > :13:35.Matcham theatres, everybody's heard, even at the back of the gods.
:13:35. > :13:39.Pretty much every actor in the country that goes on tour would say
:13:39. > :13:44.that the Theatre Royal in Newcastle is probably one of the top two or
:13:44. > :13:49.three most beautiful. Often it's the Georgian ones in Bath and Bury
:13:49. > :13:54.St Edmunds and what have you that stay in the mind. But Newcastle are
:13:54. > :13:58.in the top two or three. To stay true to the design, old drawings
:13:58. > :14:04.and photographed were studied during painstaking research.
:14:04. > :14:09.have two drawings by the Matcham office, 1900 and 1901. They are for
:14:09. > :14:12.the same level, the pit or stalls level. It's about understanding the
:14:12. > :14:18.construction of the building as it is about the pure restoration as
:14:18. > :14:23.well. By understanding these drawings, it helps us mitigate
:14:23. > :14:28.unforeseens when we get onto site and start to carry out various
:14:28. > :14:31.demolitions. Sometimes you ask the question - why has that been done
:14:31. > :14:34.like that? There seem noes logic of it. The rule now is quite obvious,
:14:34. > :14:39.don't question it and then reject it. It's been done usually for a
:14:39. > :14:46.reason, so put it back the way it was, if you can. Otherwise it may
:14:46. > :14:52.come and bite you laterment Later. Nine weeks to go, Simon and
:14:52. > :14:56.his team are working flat out. There was a lot of dust and mess in
:14:56. > :15:01.the deconstruction of it. We've gone a long way now to putting
:15:02. > :15:06.everything back in. It is extraordinary the way it has come
:15:06. > :15:12.on and it's incredibly exciting. You're beginning now to get a sense
:15:12. > :15:16.of actually just how beautiful it's going to be when it's all finished.
:15:16. > :15:22.It's also a little bit terrifying. It's starting to make it feel more
:15:22. > :15:26.intimate. The amphitheatre barriers going on, plaster being restored.
:15:26. > :15:30.Carpets going down already. I do wake up in a cold sweat. I just,
:15:30. > :15:34.just hope that it all happens. I have, equally, I have complete
:15:34. > :15:41.confidence in the builders. My biggest concern, I think, is that
:15:41. > :15:44.the seating won't quite match everybody's expectations. I suppose
:15:44. > :15:49.that's impossible. It's actually the bum on the seats, that's the
:15:49. > :15:52.fundamental of theatre. It's the day before the Tyne-Wear derby.
:15:52. > :15:56.Simon, a Newcastle United fan has big concerns about the colour
:15:57. > :16:00.scheme for the walls. The red and white stripes, we have a few lads
:16:00. > :16:04.from Sunderland, who thought it would be funny to put them in.
:16:04. > :16:09.However they will be covered over with the maroon wall paper, so you
:16:09. > :16:13.won't see them. Long before Newcastle or Sunderland had kicked
:16:13. > :16:17.a ball for the first time, the Theatre Royal was dominating
:16:17. > :16:20.cultural life in the north-east. The building we know today dates
:16:20. > :16:25.from 1837, replacing the old Theatre Royal off Moseley Street.
:16:25. > :16:29.It became the iconic centrepiece of Richard Grainger's grand design of
:16:29. > :16:35.the city centre. Through the Twentieth Century it was a mecca
:16:35. > :16:45.for the true stars of stage and screen. Hollywood greats like
:16:45. > :16:46.
:16:46. > :16:51.Vivien Leigh, Michael Redgrave, Laurence Olivier, geel geel geel --
:16:51. > :17:01.John Geilgood, Judi Dench with the Royal Shakespeare Company. All the
:17:01. > :17:03.
:17:03. > :17:09.perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. There was Orson
:17:09. > :17:14.Welles and Charlton Heston, the legendary Ian McKellen. And all our
:17:14. > :17:19.yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Richard Burton
:17:19. > :17:25.and Claire Bloom in Hamlet. For a 16 or 17-year-old would-be actor,
:17:25. > :17:31.can you imagine the thrill of seeing these two greats on stage? I
:17:31. > :17:40.have to confess, my first thought, when Richard Burton walked on stage
:17:40. > :17:44.was "he's only about my height. "And I loved him ever more! Because
:17:44. > :17:48.neither of us grew any further, never mind. I remember seeing
:17:48. > :17:53.Laurence Olivier and Michael Redgrave doing uncle Vanya, which
:17:53. > :17:58.sticks in the mind. And Tim West playing king leer when he was about
:17:58. > :18:03.30. He did it again 30 years later. In modern times, it continued to
:18:03. > :18:09.attract some of the country's finest performers. Everything from
:18:09. > :18:15.drama to comedy, to dance. Back at the restoration, the builders are
:18:15. > :18:18.focused on the frent. There are just two weeks to go. The central
:18:18. > :18:22.lighting system, called the sunburner, is hoisted into place.
:18:22. > :18:29.Before we started the restoration, there was a chandelier hanging
:18:29. > :18:32.there. It was incorrect. We wanted to put back the original 1901
:18:32. > :18:36.sunburner. It's also an architectural function as well as
:18:36. > :18:40.vents laigs function. It forms the centrepiece of the ceiling. I hope
:18:40. > :18:49.you agree, it looks splendid. a bit like a cherry on top of the
:18:49. > :18:54.cake. The big day is here. 1200 people are expected for the opening
:18:54. > :18:57.night. But there is still loads to do. It's a busy day. Five hours to
:18:57. > :19:01.go before curtain. It's an exciting time now. We have the show in.
:19:01. > :19:05.They're about to start lighting rehearsals. Works going on in front
:19:05. > :19:11.of house and outside we have a bit to do. The paint will be dry by
:19:11. > :19:15.7.30pm, rest assured. It's mad today. Four hours to go, non-stop.
:19:15. > :19:18.Everyone is flat out, cleaning, polishing, moving this and that.
:19:18. > :19:22.It's terribly exciting. We can't wait for the audience. Partly
:19:22. > :19:26.because it will be over. We can sit down and have a cup of tea. I'm so
:19:26. > :19:33.looking forward to that. The team running the new theatre restaurant
:19:33. > :19:37.are serving something stronger than tea. 6.30pm we have VI pifr drinks.
:19:37. > :19:43.In the interval 180 people being served drinks, as well as serving
:19:43. > :19:49.the other patrons. After the show, at 10pm, we're serving 180 people
:19:49. > :19:56.can pays and drirchings. At 11 o'clock we are doing a supper for
:19:56. > :20:00.the chief exec and the architects. Whilst the work goes on, there's
:20:00. > :20:04.potential disaster waiting in the wings, many of the cast on their
:20:04. > :20:08.way from London are stuck, because of the high winds. There's some
:20:08. > :20:11.power lines down, which means some of the trains have had to go back
:20:11. > :20:15.to Darlington. They got stuck part way. We've had actors going up and
:20:15. > :20:22.down the line for the last two or three hours. We're trying to get a
:20:22. > :20:27.taxi for them. They should all be here in time to do the show. What
:20:27. > :20:32.is lovely about this is it's bright, it's sharp with its texture of
:20:32. > :20:36.colour and I think it's a wonderful monument to Frank Matcham, the man
:20:36. > :20:40.who designed all these theatres and various build gdz around the
:20:40. > :20:43.country, all those years ago. These monuments are being restored and
:20:43. > :20:48.will be left for generations to come, because they don't build them
:20:48. > :20:51.like this any more, they really don't. I suppose my only gripe is
:20:51. > :20:56.they spent all this wonderful money on the theatre, but they always
:20:56. > :20:59.forget us poor souls back there, you see. That never changes. I'd
:20:59. > :21:04.love it one day if they thought of the actors and the people would
:21:05. > :21:09.work in the theatre. Today's opening is a big news event.
:21:09. > :21:15.Welcome to the restored Newcastle Theatre Royal. It looks spectacular.
:21:15. > :21:18.It should do, six months of work. It's literally glittering. 37,000
:21:18. > :21:23.pieces of gold leaf were used in the restoration. The new look gets
:21:23. > :21:28.the thumbs up from a familiar face, guest of honour on the big day.
:21:28. > :21:34.is incredible. I don't know how they've done it. They raised so
:21:34. > :21:39.much money. The place is quite beautiful and it's the grandeur of
:21:39. > :21:46.the Victorian theatre. Newcastle's probably got the best in the world.
:21:46. > :21:50.I'm still getting my breath really. I played here three, four times. I
:21:50. > :21:54.played Richard III here and of course King Lear, I was really
:21:54. > :22:00.moving in that. It was wonderful to play a theatre like this. But now,
:22:00. > :22:05.now, I have to try and get a job! I'll have another go and try to get
:22:05. > :22:11.it right, love. This is the moment they've been waiting six months for.
:22:11. > :22:14.The first play stars David Haig in The Madness Of George III, an
:22:15. > :22:19.appropriate title for a Theatre Royal. It tastes not good, Sir,
:22:19. > :22:29.this idleness, that is why you are fat. Do not be fat Sir. Fight it.
:22:29. > :22:32.
:22:32. > :22:36.Fight it! We're here doing the madness of King George III and
:22:36. > :22:40.George III gave the theatre the original license which is more
:22:40. > :22:44.appropriate, as we come here with the play. It looks terrific, it
:22:44. > :22:52.really does. It's rich, opulent, welcoming for the audience. I think
:22:52. > :22:56.it's going to be great. I told you we'd be here on time. The show
:22:56. > :23:01.would go on. Nobody would believe me. Everybody wanted to say oh, you
:23:01. > :23:06.have a lot to do. Sure as eggs is eggs we're here. I think
:23:06. > :23:09.everybody's enjoying it. The way they've refurbished it to the
:23:09. > :23:14.original setting, it's gorgeous. You can feel as if you were there
:23:14. > :23:18.at that time. It's been so sensitively restored. They've
:23:18. > :23:24.managed to recreate the theatre of 100 years ago without losing any of
:23:24. > :23:28.the 21st century comforts. It's such a relief to see that many
:23:28. > :23:33.people in there enjoying it and get the atmosphere of a play, which is
:23:33. > :23:37.what it's all about. It's a relief to get to that stage now and see
:23:37. > :23:44.something going on in what I think is, actually, a delightful interior.
:23:44. > :23:47.So, I'm very pleased to see it. Newcastle, you've got a beautiful
:23:47. > :23:53.theatre here. I'm sure that the theatre will be enjoyed by many
:23:53. > :23:57.generations to come. We are a Theatre Royal, we are one of the
:23:57. > :24:01.greatest theatres in the country. We have some of the greatest shows
:24:01. > :24:08.in the country is just perfect. A wonderful end to six months of hard
:24:08. > :24:12.work. It's back to business for the staff. What do they think of their
:24:13. > :24:18.new theatre? Words can't describe it. It hits you. It's opulent, rich
:24:18. > :24:24.and it's got that atmosphere and all the actors say the same "wow".
:24:24. > :24:27.We have a carpet on the floor in here. They have gone to town with
:24:27. > :24:31.us. We have a nice ceiling and air conditioning, all the comforts you
:24:31. > :24:37.would expect. Being a local lad, there's nothing better than coming
:24:37. > :24:43.here and seeing such a fantastic example of a Matcham theatre in my
:24:43. > :24:49.home area and seeing this view, it's quite astonishing really. It
:24:49. > :24:53.took my breath away. Now comes the new-look theatre's biggest test,
:24:53. > :25:00.the Christmas panto. Failure for Sleeping Beauty would be a
:25:00. > :25:05.nightmare. It's 80,000 people. It's �1.5 million. It's huge. One of the
:25:05. > :25:08.biggest pantos in the country. It's gruelling work. The pantos box
:25:08. > :25:11.office income is fundamental because a lot of people are
:25:11. > :25:15.introduced to the Theatre Royal through coming to the pantomimes.
:25:15. > :25:21.It's the very first panto of the run. There's less than an hour till
:25:21. > :25:25.curtain up. The boys back stage are pulling out all the stops. We could
:25:25. > :25:29.be working right up until begin ers call, repairing the scenery or in
:25:29. > :25:33.some of the props in the show. Everybody's got their role to
:25:33. > :25:37.fulfil. We know how each other works and how we fit into the
:25:37. > :25:44.bigger picture. Show must go on, even though it's just a Tuesday
:25:44. > :25:54.matinee, it's a sellout. Come on everybody, hey!
:25:54. > :25:57.
:25:58. > :26:02.ALL: Hey! My name's His Majesty his Clive I. His name's muddles.
:26:02. > :26:09.not called muddles any more. What are you called now? The sports
:26:09. > :26:14.direct comedian. Muddles is an idiot. I'm not an iriot. He gets
:26:14. > :26:21.all his words muddled up. I don't get my words puddled up. He thinks
:26:21. > :26:24.he's a real smart fella. I am a real fart smeller. It's a show for
:26:24. > :26:29.the family. It's like a West End show, the size, the scale, the
:26:29. > :26:33.special effects, the comedy. It's just phenomenal. We have a lot of
:26:33. > :26:38.West End people here. One of the cast, when she finishes here, goes
:26:39. > :26:44.into Sweeney Todd in the West End. We go into the Jobcentre. Yes!
:26:44. > :26:49.average child now from six to 16, the audience we have, are all on
:26:49. > :26:53.the Xbox. They see all the films with CGI and special effects. We're
:26:53. > :26:56.trying to put those special effects into the theatre, which again has
:26:56. > :27:00.never been done. But they're not afraid to get back
:27:00. > :27:05.to real old-fashioned slapstick from time to time. Even throwing in
:27:05. > :27:15.a gag or two about the theatre's restoration. Shall I throw it over
:27:15. > :27:15.
:27:15. > :27:22.this side? All the people at the front? This is the theatre manager,
:27:22. > :27:26.we've just spent �5 million on a restoration and �19,000 on a pair
:27:26. > :27:30.of curtains, don't throw that bucket over the audience.
:27:30. > :27:35.theatre looked back for its inspiration for the refit. Now it's
:27:35. > :27:40.looking forward by making plans to market its 175th anniversary next
:27:40. > :27:43.month. This is one of the finest theatres in the country. It's not
:27:43. > :27:48.often you're 175 years old. We want to make sure people remember this.
:27:48. > :27:52.It's very special. People will always love theatre, because it
:27:52. > :27:56.takes you out of this world, no matter what play you're seeing,
:27:56. > :28:01.whether drama or comedy, you've gone there to get rid of whatever
:28:01. > :28:05.worries you might have during the day. The theatre and the Theatre
:28:05. > :28:09.Royal in particular gets rid of those worries for you, for a couple
:28:09. > :28:12.of hours at least. You can't ask for more than that, can you? This
:28:12. > :28:17.is the Jewel in the Crown of arts in the North East. We've got to
:28:17. > :28:22.look after it and protect it and keep up these fantastic standards
:28:22. > :28:25.that have been achieved, because generation after generation will
:28:25. > :28:28.come here, hopefully to see a pantomime, and then want to come
:28:28. > :28:32.back to see something else. It's really important. We would never