Bristol's Open for Business

Did you cope in the June heatwave? With Matilda in Bristol, the Hippodrome took the opportunity to check whether the roof could still open - the first time since the first Matilda tour played there in 2019. The result:

Interval of a matinee performance of Matilda the Musical

Mercifully the Hippodrome’s stalls are air conditioned, so colder air was able to circulate somewhat, however that sudden burst of warm air and sunshine was quite something! The cast and crew coped admirably with the stifling temperatures, and we were able to complete our run in Bristol without a hitch.

We continue to rehearse the new cast of children. As well as their base in Birmingham, they also made the trip down to Bristol a few times so that they could get used to the stage, parts of the set (especially the swings), as well as meet and work with the adult cast. Now that we have all arrived in Birmingham, with performances starting tomorrow, we’re counting down the days to their on-stage debuts!

Back to our time in Bristol, it is always a wonderful city to tour to. Having visited multiple times, I took the opportunity to see a different side of the city. A new set of walks has just been curated: The Bristol Ring (search for it via the Go Jauntly app). Just over 30 miles long, in six parts, I made sure to set aside various afternoons to complete the walk. It covers outer areas of the city that I would never normally visit before, with beautiful river walks, parks, and of course a walk across Clifton Suspension Bridge. A fine way to spend a month in this city!

A fallen tree is sculpted into a dragon in the eastern suburbs of Bristol.

Looking across Clifton Gorge. Didn’t quite manage to snap the Peregrine Falcons below, but certainly heard and saw them!

Stoke Park Estate (often spotted from the M32)

July is dominated by cast change, as you would expect. By the end of our 5-week run in Birmingham, three new sets of children’s cast will have performed a show. Before that, technical rehearsals need to be done - three times each! - whilst also performing 8 shows a week. So if you need any of us, we’ll probably be somewhere deep inside the Hippodrome Theatre this month.