On Saturday 21st September, our Company Principal, Amanda Murphy and her partner were thrilled to be part of the studio audience at Strictly Come Dancing!
The special opening night of the competition was filmed at the famous Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, where Amanda grew up (Hertfordshire, not Elstree Studios!)
Amanda and her partner Martyn, spent the day, watching the studio get prepared and then enjoying the actual show itself from the audience. They even enjoyed the free photo booth in the guest marquee, where they got to pose for lots of silly ‘Strictly’ photos – Here is the ‘Keeeeep Dancing’ one!
Amanda tells us all about the ‘strictly’ experience….
After an early morning start to get our tickets validated, we returned to our hotel to get spruced up for the evening – The dress code was ‘strictly glamorous’ which made a change from wearing my Musicality polo shirt!
We returned to the studios for 4pm , where we were held in a marquee whilst waiting to enter the main studio – From just outside the marquee, we had a sneaky glimpse of some of the dancers and celebrities, as they popped out to see their families and friends in their dressing gowns and slippers!Once inside the actual studio,we were seated in the audience just behind the visiting celebrities and their families, such as Jamie Lang, Dr Raj, Ian Waite and Vincent Simone. We had a fabulous view of the dance floor, but I was just as interested in the ‘stage management’ of it all, the lights, cameras, band rehearsals etc. and how it compared to staging a musical theatre production.
The atmosphere was electric and everything you’d expect it to be. Of course the highlight of ‘Strictly’ is the dancing, and the professional dancers are extraordinary close up. To top it all, the judges mentioned ‘MUSICALITY’ three times, (Thank you Shirley and Bruno!), so if you get a chance to watch the show, listen out for our special ‘whoops’!
All in all, it was an incredible day and we even made it onto the telly a few times! This was a fabulous experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a bit of glitter and showbiz!