Music School
The Music School houses the Winton Thomas Recital Hall, with supporting classrooms and practice rooms.
More information
Theatre Hire
Great Hall is available to hire during Leys School holiday periods and selected weekends; offered to theatre users as a ‘dry hire’ venue, so you have plenty of flexibility and freedom to put on your production or event.
Our current clients include WCB Comedy, Cambridge Theatre Company, Supreme Dance Competition, Theatretrain, The Guitart School of Performing Arts, Bodywork Dance & Theatre School, Cambridge University Dance Society (CUDS) and the University of Cambridge Primary School (UCPS).
Other past clients include Anglia Comedy, Cambridge Operatic Society (CaOS), PQ Academy, Cambridge Handel Opera Company (CHOC), Theatre Tribe, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, KD Academy, Emil Dale School of Performing Arts, Cambridge Suzuki Young Musicians, Cambridgeshire Heidelberg Montpellier Youth Orchestra, and Cambridgeshire Holiday Orchestra.
All lettings are supported by our in-house Theatre and Events team. Our duty technician is always on hand to provide advice and assistance with our technical systems, plus we provide a duty manager for performances. We pride ourselves on the level of support offered in comparison to other dry-hire venues. We often receive positive feedback from organisers who have been impressed with our venue and our staff, particularly with the hands-on help we are able to provide when required. We always try to ‘go the extra mile’ to ensure that your event is a success.
We can provide basic stage lighting for concerts and other simple events, or your technical team will have full access to the majority of our stage lighting stock and technical equipment to use as you wish (see Technical Information). There are very few things for which we charge ‘extras’ so the hire price you agree beforehand is the final price you will pay.
We have also partnered with a local bar company to provide a theatre bar for your performance.
I wanted to express how wonderful our experience was. They are very communicative, well organised and accommodating to new groups. Adele went above and beyond to enhance the performance with technical skill and creativity, and Paul made time to answer any questions and checked-in with me throughout our booking. The online information and videos were very helpful to pass onto staff members, and we had some fantastic feedback from parents about the show and theatre facilities.
Everywhere was so clean and well presented for us to come in and make the space our own. The technical team were so helpful throughout our stay and nothing was too much trouble or effort, and it just made our lives so much easier and stress-free. We have had so many wonderful comments about the theatre and how beautiful and professional it was.
I'm consistently impressed by the way we are supported by the Leys, and just how friendly and helpful everyone is... (This is definitely not the norm in all venues!)
Facilities
- Flexible seating configurations, including retractable seating and adjustable forestage area (flat, stepped or thrust stage), to suit capacities from 129 to 337.
- Auditorium designed for acoustic performance, plus adjustable acoustic curtains to suit drama or music.
- Air-conditioned auditorium.
- Large, bright foyer spaces, including Stalls and Circle bar areas, and Box Office.
- Stage performance space of approx. 9.6M width x 8.5M depth.
- Large backstage area, including vehicle ‘get-in’ dock, workshop, green room and 2 fully-accessible dressing rooms.
- Additional changing rooms for 100+ performers.
- ‘Ladder-free’ technical access to over-stage bridges and Tension Wire Grid over auditorium.
- Motorised flying bars for suspension of scenery and equipment.
- Spacious control room with ETC lighting console and Allen & Heath digital audio mixing console.
- Basic lighting rig and sound system available for concerts and smaller events.
- Large lantern stock, including modern LED fixtures for maximum flexibility and minimum energy consumption.
- C. Bechstein D280 grand piano (available to hire for selected events at extra cost).