Return to Copenhagen: The Court Theatre and Theatre Museum

Don saw a tiny blurb in the Lonely Planet's Pocket Copenhagen guide about a theater museum. This launched a quest where we zigzagged the streets of Copenhagen darting between competitors in the Ironman competition. You just can't make this stuff up.

After much searching, and ending up in the wrong place at least twice, we finally found the museum near Christiansborg (not near Ameliasborg and also not near the Royal Theatre). All I can say was I skipped breakfast before going to church and my brain was not acting on all cylinders. 

Happily we find the Theatre Museum. Unfortunately their credit card machine was down. I've mentioned this in other posts, but the main way to pay for anything from a postage stamp on up is by credit card. The docent took pity on us and declared the only solution was we go in for free. Funny, I was thinking the only solution was to scrounge for whatever money I had in my purse (Danish Kronan, Euros, US Dollars ... ) and play "Let's Make a Deal." I liked his solution much better.

The Court Theatre celebrated its 250th anniversary last year. While it does not currently have a theater troupe associated with it, The Court Theatre still puts on productions.

We had the place mostly to ourselves. We could hang out in the royal boxes, walk all around the stage, visit the Green Room, see the "Throne Room," play with the sound machines (the old-fashioned ones, not the control panel Ashley is standing next to). The docent took us behind the rope and showed us their giant paint brushes. 

The stage is about 27 meters long (almost 90 feet), about the same as the space where the audience sits. It has a one meter (three foot) rise making it easier to see the people in the back. 

In the wings and hallways are props and costumes from past performances. 

There are three different sets of royal seats. I don't remember the third one, but the first was for the king and the second was for the countess when the king was not in attendance. I noted "countess" instead of "queen," so there must be a story.

A model of the museum and the different wings

 The green room was stunning.

The king's "throne" room. Let's hope the glass door is a new addition.

In the area around the stage (the fancy formal name escapes me), actors have signed their names over the years. They are only visible if you are on the stage, looking for the autographs. 

 Collection of paintbrushes used to paint sets that are on the floor. Easier on the back this way. Each one is about 3 feet long (as a guess, maybe 4-5 feet long). Don and Ashley, who have both painted sets, felt that was genius.

Ashley in her favorite spot in a theater -- near the control panel. Yes, it is a bit modern for a 251-year old museum, but it is still a working theater with modern needs.

Overall, the museum is probably not worth visiting on its own. However, had we planned better we could have done a combination ticket with Christiansborg Palace, which is worth seeing (though we were too tired from Russian castles and Frederiksborg Castle that we did not visit it). The ticketing structure overwhelmed me -- it was a la carte, but then you could do a combination ticket. 

However, if you are into theater, I would recommend visiting it. If your visit is as quiet as ours was, you will be able to enjoy all of it.