Whitehall Theatre is bringing the ‘heart and soul’ back to the stage with its first performance since the beginning of lockdown.
The Dundee theatre will finally raise the curtain on Friday to unveil its grand reopening show, Magic of the Musicals
Scott McRuvie, theatre manager, said everyone was ecstatic to finally be reopening.
“A theatre without anything going on is just an empty building,” he said.
“We’re excited for it to get it’s heart and soul back.”
The concert show will feature classic songs from well-loved musicals, with some celebrity appearances.
Brian Leys, who has performed in the West End’s version of the Lion King and is currently in River City, will be performing.
While Donna Hazelton, who won Channel 4 Musicality and has starred in a West End performance of Chicago, will also belt out a few well-known numbers.
Getting back to the stage
The cast staged an online version of the show during lockdown, to keep morale among the team high.
It was such a hit, that they came back to perform a second time.
But on Friday, the performers will finally retake centre stage.
“We thought it would be quite a nice, almost a full circle situation, for us to bring it to the stage with a live audience,” Scott explained.
“We put it up on our YouTube channel. And we noticed that it is being watched by people in Canada, Australia, America and all over the world.
“It’s amazing to know people across the globe are watching something created at the the Whitehall theatre in Dundee.”
Going dark during lockdown
The theatre has lain dark since March 2019, after being forced to close due to the Covid pandemic.
“The theatre has been completely closed, which has obviously been mentally challenging as well as financially challenging,” Scott said.
“It’s been a really difficult period.”
However, the staff didn’t rest while the lights were out during lockdown.
They have taken the time away from the stage to consider the future of the theatre.
Scott said: “We’ve taken time during the pandemic to almost stop and reflect on the venue, looking at what works well, what doesn’t work so well, so we can improve our performances moving forward.”
The team has also taken the time to improve the venue itself, refurbishing some seating that was “looking a bit tired”.
New Covid measures have been set up in the theatre, with sanitising stations, as well as an outdoor bar area to allow for greater social distancing.
Staff have also set up a new box office website, so tickets can be purchased directly from the theatre online.
“It’s all exciting, ” Scott added.
“We’re all just poised and ready to go and ready for people to come back.”