The first ever CBeebies Prom is coming to the channel on Monday 25th August 2014 at 9am and 4.45pm – and we can’t wait! In the meantime, we talked to the show’s producer, Angela, to find out more about the making of the programme…
The CBeebies Prom cast with producer Angela at the Royal Albert Hall
So what exactly is the CBeebies Prom?
The CBeebies Prom is the first BBC Prom concert to be aimed at the pre-school audience and it’s an introduction to orchestral music and the Proms for pre-schoolers and their families.
There were two CBeebies Proms at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July 2014. The Sunday morning concert was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and there will be a television programme of the concert broadcast on CBeebies on Monday 25th August.
The CBeebies Prom features some of your little ones’ CBeebies favourites alongside the BBC Philharmonic performing energetic orchestral music and much-loved CBeebies themes. Andy, Cat, Chris, Katy, Gem and Mr Bloom, along with Salty dog and Jack (Bernard Cribbins), are all part of the show at the Albert Hall, while Robert the Robot sets off on a special Proms mission out and about in London.
Why did CBeebies decide to make a Proms show?
Over the years there have been various family concerts at the Proms – Doctor Who, Wallace and Gromit, and Going on a Bear Hunt to name just a few, and this year the Proms team approached CBeebies with the idea of a concert for the very youngest audience. I’ve got some experience of the Proms as I’ve been involved in directing and producing the Blue Peter Proms as well as writing scripts for the family concerts before. I’ve worked as a producer in CBeebies for a number of years, so I was asked by our Head of Production to tackle this exciting first for the CBeebies audience, producing the concert performances, the TV programme and our interactive content.
How did you approach the challenge of making classical music accessible for young children?
When developing the concert we thought long and hard about how much young children could take in and learn about the orchestra from watching the show, so it was important to find 4 pieces that would feature the 4 main orchestral sections, as well as making sure they captured the audience’s attention instantly.
We also needed something that would enable the audience both at home and in the hall to interact with the presenters and join in with the performance so we commissioned a special piece to do just that.
Some of the script and the musical ideas were also inspired by the incredible space that is the Royal Albert Hall – we wanted children to really be able to engage with and enjoy the hall.
Finally I wanted to make sure there were lots of really recognisable CBeebies elements that children would know and feel at home with but with the added twist of a live orchestra playing the music.
What can viewers expect from the show?
The show is a journey to find sounds and aims to encourage the audience to hear music all around them, as well as hopefully giving them the inspiration to make music themselves – whether that’s clapping, singing, shouting or marching.
The BBC Philharmonic are amazing, there’s fantastic storytelling from Bernard Cribbins as Jack, Salty becomes the first animal ever to appear in the Proms, and Robert the Robot visits iconic London venues to find different sounds. There are plenty of chances for everyone to join in with the CBeebies presenters, and it’s a chance to see lots of CBeebies favourites all performing together!
Robert the Robot and the Albert Memorial
Can you tell us a bit about the performance itself?
The performance was so exciting as hundreds of children and grown-ups arrived expectantly at the Albert Hall. From the moment the lights went down to the very last note of music, the hall was absolutely buzzing.
How was the experience of filming the CBeebies Prom?
The whole experience of being at the Royal Albert Hall and at the Proms for a CBeebies show was incredible. It was also incredibly busy for the presenters and for the small production team that were working on the event.
We started rehearsals on the Thursday morning, but had to fit our stage and auditorium time around the other Prom rehearsals and concerts that were going on that week. This year there are 76 Prom concerts, with at least one and sometimes two performances every single night – so there are a lot of rehearsals to be slotted in.
The presenters rehearsed on and off stage, and were also busy being interviewed for BBC Breakfast, as well as filming extra material all around the hall for the CBeebies website and CBeebies Grown Ups.
We spent a lot of time with the composer Barrie Bignold getting each section of his new piece of music just right. It was fantastic to be so involved with a new orchestral work from the tiny idea at the beginning to hearing it come to life in the concert.
The TV team didn’t have a lot of rehearsal time – and some of the time they did have was eaten up by technical issues - so the first performance covered by the cameras on the Saturday morning was quite a challenge for the TV Director, Ian, and the team but they did a brilliant job.
What was your favourite thing about making the CBeebies Prom?
It’s impossible with a project like this to have just one favourite thing, so…
Being involved in the creation of new orchestral music especially for CBeebies was amazing! Working with the CBeebies presenters is always great fun and the four days at the Royal Albert Hall with them were tremendous. Filming out and about with Robert the Robot was incredibly funny and working with the lovely Bernard Cribbins and hearing his beautiful storytelling is a memory I’ll keep with me always.
But the looks on the children’s faces in the Albert Hall, and hearing their reactions afterwards was more than I could’ve hoped for when I started planning the Prom earlier this year.
Watch the CBeebies Prom on the CBeebies channel on Monday 25th August at 9am & 4.45pm
Visit the CBeebies Prom webpage
Check out our behind-the-scenes films from the Royal Albert Hall on CBeebies YouTube
Got little ones who are excited about the Prom? Join the chat on the CBeebies Grown-ups social media communities on Facebook or Twitter.
