Do You Remember The Free Theatre Merch In The 90s?

A voucher from the local paper would get you a free musical theatre t-shirt

It’s a bit of a step back in time, some three decades ago, but there was a time when the big touring West End shows coming to the Bristol Hippodrome used to give out free theatre merch. Mostly free because you did have to buy the local newspaper for a voucher.

This was a promotion between the Bristol Hippodrome and the city’s Bristol Evening Post. By taking a voucher published in the paper to the theatre on a specific time and date, you could get a free show t-shirt.

It was wildly popular, with queues extending along St Augustine’s Parade. It was a clever marketing move for Cats, which became a sold-out smash hit in Bristol.

The musical opened to previews on 29 June 1993, with its official opening night on Wednesday 08 July 1993.

It played at the Bristol Hippodrome for weeks. It starred the likes of Rosemarie Ford as Grizabella and Sports star Robin Cousins as Munkustrap.

The musical coming to Bristol was a big deal. The then recent removal of the raked Hippodrome stage meant that the city could finally get major musicals for the very first time.

Tickets for Cats in 1993 started from £6.50 in the upper circle – though there was a £2.00 discount for upper circle seats during previews.

Other West End shows during the same 90s period also ran a free t-shirt offers, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

These days, theatre merch is a big part of the experience and doesn’t come cheap. Sadly, the days of free theatre merch is likely to be just a hazy memory from over thirty years ago.

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