The Late Late Toy Show Set and eme Revealed

The Late Late Toy Show Set and Theme Revealed

27 November 2015: Get ready for the biggest Late Late Toy Show ever as more than 285 kids join host Ryan Tubridy for the most exciting night in Irish television.

This year is shaping up to be a real beauty. The Late Late Toy Show will be taking inspiration from the classic children's story, Beauty and the Beast, and Ryan and a cast of more than 80 young performers hope to dazzle with an opening number based on the much-loved Disney musical.

They will be part of the biggest cast of children ever assembled for The Late Late Toy Show. Between performers and toy demonstrators, a total of 285 children from around the country will take part in this year's magical extravaganza. The opening performance alone will feature 82 of them and the show gets even bigger from there with another spectacular number planned to include almost 100 children later on. The youngest participant in this year's show is just four-years-old.

More than 200 toys will feature during the show and another 300-plus have used in the set design.

The spectacular set, which has been weeks in the planning and taken many hours to build, was co-designed by award-winning RT production designers Marcella Power and Catherine Sorg. Seven weeks in the planning, taking three weeks to construct and 15 people four full days to install, the set takes its inspiration not only from the famous Disney film but, thanks to Catherine's French heritage, the 1946 Jean Cocteau film La Belle et la B te as well.

It is such a wonderful and evocative story and taking inspiration from not only from the Disney film but going as far back as the 40s version was a real joy, said Marcella.

The RT costume and make-up departments have also been working extremely hard over the past month getting ready for Friday's spectacle.

As with last year, a number of charities have been invited to nominate children to experience the wonders of The Late Late Toy Show set in advance of tonight's show. This year children from Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin; Heart Children Ireland; LauraLynn Ireland Children's Hospice; The Jack & Jill Foundation and Barretstown will all get to enjoy a sneak preview of the set and play with the toys. Their time on set will be captured and screened during the show.

All the toys featured on the show will be donated to charity following the broadcast.

On every Toy Show Ryan's Christmas jumpers are a source of wonderment and this year is no different with some particularly fine examples lined up for the night. The jumper chosen for the press preview of The Late Late Toy Show set was handmade by May Mullarkey from Lucan in Co Dublin. Viewers will have to wait and see what other creations he has chosen to wear.

You can keep an eye on all the action on Twitter by following @RTELateLateShow and @RTEOne and the hashtag #LateLateToyShow with updates on the @RTEOne Instagram account and RT One Facebook account. On Snapchat you can become part of the fun by uploading your snaps of you watching the Toy Show to the RTESnaps account and we will share them on the night.

And no matter where you are in the world, you can get in on the festive spirit by watching the show live on the RT Player International App (iPhone/iPad) or with the RTE Player (Desktop/Android).

A list of the toys featured will be available on the show's website www.rte.ie/tv/latelate following the show.

For more information contact: Gareth Naughton, RT TV press officer, T: 01-2082667; M: 087-9792822; E: gareth.naughton@rte.ie

ENDS

Toy Show Facts:

This year's The Late Late Toy Show

Number of children taking part: 285

Number of children featured in opening act: 82

Number of rehearsal hours: Two full days in studio, many more hours practicing at home

Age of youngest performer: 4

Number of toys featured in the show: 200+

Number of toys featured in the set: 300+

Number of weeks to design and construct the set: 7

Number of days to install: 4

Number of people working on installation alone: 15

Number of people readying the entire set: 30

Square metres of wood used to built it: 250

Number of roses handmade by the set designers: Hundreds!

Last year's The Late Late Toy Show

Average viewership figure was 1.357 million (Live +Viewed On Same Day As Live)

Reach was 2.065 million reach is the number of people who tuned in for at least a minute of the show.

On the RTE Player it attracted close to 150,000 streams for the show, clips and extras. Of this more than 62,000 streams were by international audiences with 40 per cent coming from the UK, 16 per cent coming from the US and 11 per cent coming from Australia.

The most watched clips on the Player were the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opening number and Aimee Keogh meeting Ed Sheeran.

LINK:	http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2015/1127/74956...
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