We were just at the Pantages, but we had another night out there the night after seeing “Cinderella“. But this time, we weren’t there to see a show. Because we have season tickets, we were invited to an open house and backstage tour of the theater! I was so excited to get to do this for a couple of reasons. I am a huge theater nerd and wanted to see what all the backstage stuff was like. Plus, I love to learn how things work and all the technical weirdness. So this was something I was thrilled to get to check out!
When we were at Wood & Vine the night before for dinner, the manager told us that they were one of the restaurants that would be featured and have free food. And he told us about a few of the other restaurants that would be there. We figured out that we wouldn’t be there right when the open house started, but he said that would be fine and that there would be lots of food and fun no matter what time we got there.
He also promised to take a photo of the theater empty since that wouldn’t be possible for us to take when the open house started. And he was right that the empty theater is an incredible sight to see.
We arrived about 30 minutes after it started and the lobby and many parts of the theater were almost empty. But when we got to the stage where all the food was, it was packed! They had a much larger crowd than normal at the open house so many of the restaurants were running low on what they were serving. But we did get to have the Nutella Bombshell from Wood & Vine again along with a few other nibbles. While we were looking forward to the food, the main reason we were there was to check out all the stuff we normally can’t see.
The tour of backstage was more of an exploration. So many different areas were open for us to check out and take photos. We first went to the star dressing rooms which were on the stage level. In the biggest dressing room there was a poster with signatures of so many actors who had used that room while doing a show at the theater.
And of course, with the dressing rooms having giant mirrors we had to take some silly photos in them.
Then we went below the stage to see the ensemble dressing rooms. The star dressing rooms are nice because they are big, but to me I think the ensemble ones feel a bit more exciting because I think about all the performers sitting next to each other getting ready for their show.
In all the dressing rooms, people had signed their name in different areas. I didn’t get photos of them, but the smaller mirrors with wooden frames had signatures all over them as well as under the tables. It was fun to see the casts from shows we saw recently who autographed various pieces of furniture.
I was hoping we’d be able to check out the orchestra pit area, but that was closed to the public (only a few spaces were closed off to us, but that was one of them). But next to the orchestra pit was where the lift area was created for when “The Lion King” was performing there. I don’t know if they use the lift area for more than storage now, but I feel like there have been some trap door stuff in shows I’ve seen so they must still use it.
We continued to wander around the various rooms below the stage. Since “Cinderella” closed the night before and the next show wasn’t going to be in the theater for a few days, most things were pretty empty. It would have been cool to see some of how they organize the props, costumes, and set pieces; but I understand why it would be difficult to do an open house when there is a production using the space. Maybe one day in the future I’ll have a friend in a show there so I can explore some more backstage while I show is running.
When we got back up to the stage level, we checked out the restaurants that were still there and got a bit more food. We also took a look at some of the random things on the sides of the stage like a collection of rubber ducks that were just off stage and the photos on the walls of various production crews from the shows that recently toured there.
Things were starting to clear out a bit when we were getting ready to leave, but it was nice to see things with not as many people crowding the stage. I took time just to look out at the audience and take it in. I don’t perform in front of an audience that often so it was nice to feel that sort of feeling I had when I used to do plays again. And of course I took a look at where our seats were located to see what it looks like looking at our seats from the stage (compared to the stage from our seats).
I don’t know what I was expecting when we found out about the open house, but it did exceed my expectations in a bunch of ways. I just loved getting to see a different part of the theater than what I usually get to see as an audience member. And I think all of us just enjoyed having another night out too. We’ll be back at the theater in a few weeks for our next show, but I think it will feel different watching now that we know what the view is like for the actors on the stage.
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