Dress Circle The Dress Circle is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 specialist store

Specialist store

A specialist store is a shop that caters to one specific retail market. Examples of specialist stores include camera stores, pharmacies, stationers and bookstores. In other words, a shop that specialises in one breed of products...

 located near Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

History

The store gets its name from a theatre's dress circle. The shop was founded in 1978 with the intention of providing an unrivalled selection of musical theatre

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 and cabaret

Cabaret

Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

 related merchandise. It claims to be the longest running show business

Show business

Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....

 and musical theatre shop in the world and celebrated its 30th anniversary

Anniversary

An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...

 in 2008. In 2011, Dress Circle announced financial problems with the business and that closure would be imminent. London's Stage newspaper reported the story on the front page of its issue. Shortly after this announcement Dress Circle reported an 'immeasurable amount of support' from the performance community. Actor/producers Stuart Matthew Price and James Yeoburn were quick to arrange a series of in-store events and fund-raising galas under the name Dress Circle Benefit. Theatre performers, composers and celebrities from across the world came together in support of their mission and Dress Circle's small Covent Garden shop played host to the likes of: Barry Manilow, Ramin Karimloo, Alex Gaumond, Laurence Mark Whythe, Matt Rawle, John Owen Jones, Scott Alan, Oliver Tompsett, Lance Horne and Lucy May Barker in a month of weekend productions.

Merchandise

The Dress Circle sells the following merchandise:

• A selection
  Selection
  In the context of evolution, certain traits or alleles of genes segregating within a population may be subject to selection. Under selection, individuals with advantageous or "adaptive" traits tend to be more successful than their peers reproductively—meaning they contribute more offspring to the...
  
   of official
  Official
  An official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority .A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public...
  
   merchandise from West End
  West End theatre
  West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
  
   and Broadway
  Broadway theatre
  Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
  
   shows.
• Musical theatre cast
  Cast member
  A cast member is:* An actor who performs in a theatrical production, motion picture, or television program. The actors who perform in the show are collectively referred to as the cast....
  
   and soundtrack
  Soundtrack
  A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
  
   cd and dvds.
• Libretti printed music and Books.
• Backing tracks
• Theatrical posters

Theatre Evenings

The Dress Circle frequently organise Theatre Evenings which typically includes:

• A top price seat at a specified West End Show or Cabaret Performance. (Generally with a discount to the face value of the ticket.)
• A private pre-show drinks party held in the basement of the shop.
• A discount voucher for any items bought at the shop prior to the performance.

Depending on the actual show the theatre evening may also include:

• A voucher for a free interval drink at the evenings performance.
• A free souvenir programme or brochure
  Brochure
  A brochure is a type of leaflet. Brochures are most commonly found at places that tourists frequently visit, such as museums, major shops, and tourist information. Brochure racks or stands may suggest visits to amusement parks and other points of interest...
  
   of the selected performance.
• An opportunity at the end of the performance to meet the cast.

Previous theatre evenings have included performances of Oliver!

Oliver!

Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....

, Love Never Dies, The Drowsy Chaperone

The Drowsy Chaperone

The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It started as a spoof of old...

, and Avenue Q

Avenue Q

Avenue Q is a musical in two acts, conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The book was written by Jeff Whitty and the show was directed by Jason Moore and produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, and Jeffrey Seller...

. Upcoming events include Flashdance The Musical, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Shrek the Musical

Celebrity Signings

Many stars of the West End stage use the Dress Circle as a vehicle

Vehicle

A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....

 to promote their latest CD, DVD or autobiography

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 by attending specially organised signings.

Elaine Paige

Elaine Paige

Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...

, John Barrowman

John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...

, Kerry Ellis

Kerry Ellis

Kerry Jane Ellis is an English stage actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music...

, Jodie Prenger

Jodie Prenger

Jodie Prenger is an English actress and singer. She was the winner of BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything on 31 May 2008. She was also the winner of the second series of The Biggest Loser on Living in 2006...

, Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews

Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...

 and Idina Menzel

Idina Menzel

Idina Kim Menzel is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is widely known for originating the roles of Maureen in Rent and Elphaba in Wicked.-Early life:...

 have all promoted their work in this way.

Original Cast Albums are frequently promoted in this way also; recent examples being The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...

, The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings (theatre)

The Lord of the Rings is the most prominent of several theatre adaptations of British author J. R. R. Tolkien's epic high fantasy novel of the same name, set in his world of Middle-earth. The show includes music by A. R. Rahman, Christopher Nightingale, and the band Värttinä, with book and lyrics...

, Sister Act, Les Misérables (musical)

Les Misérables (musical)

Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....

, Legally Blond and Avenue Q

Avenue Q

Avenue Q is a musical in two acts, conceived by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who wrote the music and lyrics. The book was written by Jeff Whitty and the show was directed by Jason Moore and produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, and Jeffrey Seller...

. Future signings include principal cast members of the new live cast recording of the Les Misérables 25th Anniversary.

External links

• http://www.dresscircle.co.uk Dress Circle website