This Thursday I will be visiting the world’s oldest and last surviving grand music hall called Wilton’s. A wonderful and magical place hidden in the centre of London near Tower Hill. John Wilton built the theatre behind his pub ‘The Prince of Denmark’ in 1858, later know as the Mahogany Bar. A sun-burner chandelier with 300 gas jets and 27000 cut crystals dominated a mirrored hall. The auditorium remained incredibly intact: the original cast iron ‘barley sugar’ pillars support a papier-mâché balcony under paper roses set in a vaulted roof. In Wilton’s day, 1500 people used to cram into the music hall to hear the top acts: artistes from the Covent Garden were lured over in full costume to perform late night arias.

Here, I will be attending The Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky which was recommended to me by J. A music-theatre performance: a mix of drama, music, film and physical theatre. Presented by the world famous Academy of St Martin in the Fields, which joins forces with director Lawrence Evans and internationally acclaimed and highly versatile violinist, Anthony Marwood in a unique production of The Soldier’s Tale, a Faustian fable of a Soldier cruelly tricked into giving his soul to the devil. I’m really looking forward to this, I will bring my camera along *as usual* and will try to catch the perfect moment to share… I’ll be accompanied by Chris that evening and will be wearing my chocolate satin dress that I’ll have to finish tomorrow. I think it will blend in nicely with the magic of the evening…

© G. Allen, The Entrance

© G. Allen, The Auditorium

© Wilton’s, The Auditorium

© Wilton’s, The Auditorium