Theatreland’s Dress Circle

Sometimes London feels as friendly as afternoon tea with your menopausal mother-in-law or, more aptly in this case, the Wicked Witch of the West. This coupled with the perpetual winter of 2007 one could be forgiven for feeling a little melancholy.

Well don’t mope around the cellar waiting for Prince Charming. Tap your ruby-reds together three times and hot-foot it to Dress Circle, a potential antidote for the misery of the summer that never was. With staff that are sweeter than a spoonful of sugar, and more cheese than a pre-sprung mousetrap, you don’t necessarily need a predilection for musical theatre to appreciate Dress Circle. Even the most disconsolate of human beings can muster a toe tap for the sentimental warblings of The Hills Are Alive.

Dress Circle’s life began in 1977 as a stall in the lobby of the Drury Lane Hotel before taking its permanent residence in Covent Garden. Sadly five years ago the store was burnt to, er, a Cinders. There is still some speculation as to whether the act was malicious, though it’s difficult to believe that missing out on the final copy of Darren Day’s recording of Summer Holiday would drive a person to the potentially incarcerate crime of arson. But like an all-singing, all-dancing phoenix rising from the ashes, Dress Circle resurrected itself as bigger and glitzier than ever before, and is now London’s irrefragably finest stockist of all things musical.

Dress Circle has an unrivalled selection of CDs, DVDs and books from the world of musical theatre; their most recent edition being a copy of the Tony Blair musical as performed at this year’s Edinburgh festival. They also stock posters, Libretti, sheet music, soundtracks, nostalgia and merchandise associated with West End and Broadway shows.

Dress Circle
57/59 Monmouth Street
Covent Garden
London WC2 9DG