General News
25 August, 2026
A Mum's World: Holding it all together backstage
Handcuffs made from foil, runaway wigs and giant bees. Our long time columist Yolande Grosser said one week backstage in the theatre proved every bit as entertaining as the show itself.
My week in the theatre was an escape to the ridiculous, which was simply magic for me.
Did you know that I could form a pair of handcuffs purely using tin foil? Neither did I until I tried!
Plaiting ponytails and zipping up costumes comes pretty naturally to me, as does moving furniture, but looking back over my memories from the week, many of them seem to feature me standing around holding onto things for other people: props, programs and proper perspective.
Occasionally I had the honour of holding one of Anna’s wigs side stage for her hairdresser, as the character of Anna in Frozen goes through about eight hairstyle changes.
While speeches were happening after the final show on Saturday night, there was one wig left tantalisingly unattended and draped enticingly over the back of blush velvet sofa.
In the semi darkness I had a strong urge to try it on to see how long curly russet locks would look on me.
I resisted the temptation and adulted my way out of the situation by getting stuck in the sofa instead, so someone already holding onto two large bouquets of flowers had to haul me out.
I disgracefully disappeared to take down my decorated dressing room door signs and started lugging my foyer display into the carpark, packing away the tiaras from the photo opportunity.
Every one of the five packed performances included tears, trip ups and triumph, so each day once home, I’d regale my husband with all the drama not included in the ticket price.
By the end of the energy sapping show run, unexpected emotions surfaced quickly for some.
Misunderstandings and misplaced props led to frayed tempers and tears.
Words of encouragement helped sooth hurt hearts.
When ‘the show must go on’ had us all living on adrenaline, a gentle reminder about entertainments’ relevance to a life and death situation restored some perspective.
To watch the invisible crew side stage singing and dancing silently to the songs was joyful.
I couldn’t join in because I’m too shy, and anyway, I was holding two huge white poles with brightly painted timber bees tightened to the end, so that when the crew finished moving the bridge off stage and out into the loading dock, they could come back to wave those bees around while Olaf sang his song.
When I wasn’t holding props, I was holding programs, getting them into the hands of audience members with the help of costumed cast members.
We proudly sold out, but then again, there were triumphs happening all over the place as people learnt and grew skill sets.
I was constantly impressed by the grit, determination and toughness of the teens I worked alongside last week and I’m still on a high from being amongst it all.
I feel honoured that I had the opportunity to hang around holding onto stuff for these young adults and I’m certainly okay with the songs still playing on repeat in my head, “Let it go”!