A MAJOR refurbishment of the backstage areas of Newcastle’s historic Theatre Royal started today (Tuesday, July 15).
The work is scheduled to take a little over a year with a completion date of September 2015.
It will be the first time the backstage area has been refurbished or decorated since 1988, when the whole Grade I listed building was redeveloped.
The work is the second act in a major facelift – act one being the theatre’s award winning £4.9 million auditorium restoration which took place in 2011.
This time the focus will be on the areas that the public do not normally see – the stars’ dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, company manager’s office, stage door reception and Green Room, where performers wait before they are called onstage.
The project has been made possible due to a legacy left by a longstanding friend of the theatre, Joyce Thwaites, together with some of the theatre’s own savings. The Friends of the Theatre Royal have also made a donation of £5,000 towards the project. In total the work will cost £530,000.
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