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Post by partytentdown on Jan 6, 2019 15:24:34 GMT
I saw a mention of the old Dress Circle shop in another thread and it made me think of my visits there back in the day, maybe it would be nice to share some memories.
They had notoriously grumpy service - I remember asking the difference between two particular cast recordings and receiving a queeny sneer. Ah, those were the days.
Anyone else have some special memories to share?
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Post by anthony40 on Jan 6, 2019 15:55:16 GMT
Does staff that were bitchy queens count?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 15:56:18 GMT
This one sounds almost like I'm making it up which is...frankly peak Dress Circle. Someone was buying cast albums and had a child with them of about 10 I think, I heard the child say 'Whose Angela Landsbury?!' fair question small child, to wihch whomever was serving that day scoffed 'Whose Angela Landsbury? bet you know who Idina Menzel is'
I actually never had any rude service myself, I always had some quite pleasant encounters there...for which I kind of feel a bit cheated now, like a theatrical right of passage was missed.
I will say I do miss it for keeping up with Broadway performers albums, which used to be a real highlight. And indeed keeping up with more obscure new musicals, the type that Ghostlight records put out. Because in mooching around on a Saturday I was much more likely to pick up something I'd otherwise not know was out.
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Post by sf on Jan 6, 2019 16:34:18 GMT
I never experienced rude service in there either, and back in the day I was a very regular customer.
I lost any enthusiasm for spending money with them when they went into liquidation then began trading again under a different company name before they'd paid off their creditors. That's - well, the nice word is 'cynical', and there are a lot of appropriate words that are less nice than that one.
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Post by richey on Jan 6, 2019 18:24:12 GMT
I used to love shopping there when I travelled down to London. It was my first introduction to many cast recordings.
I'll never forget going in there one time after I'd been to see Priscilla and I turned around and bumped into Tony Sheldon who was also browsing the cd's
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Post by alece10 on Jan 6, 2019 18:31:20 GMT
The staff were never rude just indifferent unless you were young, male and attractive or an actor.
However I loved the shop and spent many a Saturday there browsing the cds and listening to what was new. Spent a fortune there.
Loved the cd signings too and went to quite a few. Also their group theatre outings where you could get a good discount in the days before Today Tix and the likes.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 19:08:09 GMT
I liked it for their selection of old recordings, but you did have to assume you'd spend half your time browsing and half your time waiting for the person on the till to deign to serve you.
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Post by Rory on Jan 6, 2019 19:29:45 GMT
I used to love going in there and thought the staff were great. John was the one I used to speak to the most. I do miss it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 20:37:30 GMT
In all the many times i had been in there, the staff were never rude. They were always ready to suggest something new or old based on something else i liked. Michael was always working there whenever i went in. In fact i bumped into Michael earlier this year at the Southwark Playhouse and he remembered me which was very nice. He hasn't changed much at all!
My best memory there was being introduced to John Kander, by a friend who had worked with him previously. He was very nice and chatted away.
They always did great CD signings too, even though there was never much space for it.
It always sold great show tshrts that were hard to get elsewhere, and lets not forget the DC chat site, where many of us first met!
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Post by Marcus on Jan 6, 2019 20:51:23 GMT
I never found any of the staff rude.
I have very found memories of feeling like I had found ‘my people’ whilst browsing this store. I loved looking at all the Broadway souvenir brochures featuring names I adored. I also bought many t-shirts there and a few books. I enjoyed that is was always playing some gorgeous cast recording and the gems you found in there.
Plus the DC forum was brilliant back in the day.
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Post by steve10086 on Jan 6, 2019 22:44:53 GMT
I can totally understand where the customer service comments are coming from, but personally I had great experiences there. Michael, especially, was very helpful and friendly. The theatre posters I have at home are still in the frames I bought at Dress Circle, and I’ve never found any as good as the ones they sold.
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 6, 2019 23:31:16 GMT
Look out – here comes a tonyloco anecdote linked to Dress Circle.
Back in 2007, I produced a 3CD compilation set of all of June Bronhill's EMI recordings under the title June Bronhill – The Platinum Collection released only in Australia, but due to a cock-up between Abbey Road and EMI Australia, one of the tracks from Robert and Elizabeth was not actually the Bronhill version but was sung by Angela Richards.
I had previously asked the staff at Dress Circle (probably Michael) whether they could sell such a Bronhill compilation and they were very enthusiastic, so when it was released in Australia they ordered a sizeable quantity which apparently sold very well. As soon as I discovered the mistake I immediately suggested that Dress Circle should tell anybody that bought the album about it but they said they were sure their customers would be much happier discovering the mistake for themselves!
Do you know that not one single customer came back and reported they had spotted the fact that one track was sung by somebody other than June Bronhill. I took it therefore that Dress Circle's customers were not the aficionados they pretended to be if they couldn't spot the ringer among the rest of the 61 June Bronhill tracks!
I am joking here but it did surprise me since Dress Circle had sold quite a lot of copies, and I can now take the opportunity of asking whether anybody reading this post has a copy of June Bronhill – The Platinum Collection and, if so, did you realise that 'You only to love me' (I think) from Robert and Elizabeth is sung by Angela Richards?
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Post by anita on Jan 7, 2019 10:19:11 GMT
I always visited whenever in London & never found them at all rude. I found them very friendly & knowlegable. I used to get all the rumours from them about forthcoming shows & they didn't tire of my questions. Spent quite a bit with them. I went on a few of their theatre trips & lots of signings.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2019 17:47:29 GMT
This one sounds almost like I'm making it up which is...frankly peak Dress Circle. Someone was buying cast albums and had a child with them of about 10 I think, I heard the child say 'Whose Angela Landsbury?!' fair question small child, to wihch whomever was serving that day scoffed 'Whose Angela Landsbury? bet you know who Idina Menzel is' Quite right too. They're lucky not to have been thrown out on the street like an old bin bag of clothes outside an Oxfam shop. I used to love that store, could have spent days in there and the staff were always delightful to me. But then, with these cheekbones that's perfectly understandable. |
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Post by alece10 on Jan 7, 2019 18:25:44 GMT
Many. Michael's advice building up my collection, Tanya and the DC board, their kindness when my book came out and I was called in 3 Mondays running to sign them (why they couldn't have just posted me the 3 in one package...)... walking in and invariably buying whatever was playing, the 1984 catalogue (duplicated pages stapled together) in which for years I ticked off my buys and wants. Saving 10 paper tokens to get £10 off. It goes on. I forgot about the tokens. I'm sure I still have a few in a drawer. The £10 off would buy about half a c.d in that place. |
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Post by tommy on Jan 7, 2019 18:32:36 GMT
Don't we all miss this iconic (musical) theatre shop? One of the London shops you HAD to visit as a regular theatre goer..
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jan 7, 2019 18:34:52 GMT
One of the staff has since cruised me a couple times (must stop going to previews). I just ignore him but really I’m tempted to say I would do but after that customer service all those years ago ...
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Post by tysilio2 on Jan 7, 2019 18:54:36 GMT
Many. Michael's advice building up my collection, Tanya and the DC board, their kindness when my book came out and I was called in 3 Mondays running to sign them (why they couldn't have just posted me the 3 in one package...)... walking in and invariably buying whatever was playing, the 1984 catalogue (duplicated pages stapled together) in which for years I ticked off my buys and wants. Saving 10 paper tokens to get £10 off. It goes on. Your book?  |
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Post by tysilio2 on Jan 8, 2019 9:09:42 GMT
A decade ago. Still on Amazon. Title? Author name? (presumably not Theatremonkey), Link? DM me if modesty prevents...... |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2019 9:17:45 GMT
You know you can literally just type "theatremonkey" into the Amazon search box and it will find said book for you?
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Post by tysilio2 on Jan 8, 2019 9:28:43 GMT
You know you can literally just type "theatremonkey" into the Amazon search box and it will find said book for you? I was (wrongly) assuming 'theatremonkey' didn't form part of the title. Silly me! |
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Post by viserys on Jan 8, 2019 9:45:25 GMT
Don't we all miss this iconic (musical) theatre shop? One of the London shops you HAD to visit as a regular theatre goer.. I visited regularly, but rarely bought, admittedly as prices were fairly high. I still have a few signed CDs from Dress Circle though. What I loved was that even when you couldn't make it to a signing (which I never could, being stuck on the wrong side of the channel) they would still send signed CDs out. All this talk reminds me of the times when collecting international cast recordings was a big deal - I used to collect Cats in every conceivable language and spent so much time running after the Starlight Express recording of the Japan/Australia tour. I wish there would be some sort of fusion between the current Theatre Cafe and Dress Circle - a place to drop in for a cup of coffee and to meet other theatre lovers, admire the signed posters, enjoy some live performances once in a while, etc. BUT also be able to buy albums, show merchandise and so on. PS: I might have some of those Dress Circle tokens somewhere too, never collected enough for £10 off, I think. |
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Post by anita on Jan 8, 2019 9:58:59 GMT
Many. Michael's advice building up my collection, Tanya and the DC board, their kindness when my book came out and I was called in 3 Mondays running to sign them (why they couldn't have just posted me the 3 in one package...)... walking in and invariably buying whatever was playing, the 1984 catalogue (duplicated pages stapled together) in which for years I ticked off my buys and wants. Saving 10 paper tokens to get £10 off. It goes on. Your book? Yes I bought it in Dress Circle. It is well thumbed now. |
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Post by daisy24601 on Jan 8, 2019 18:11:19 GMT
It sounds great, wish it was still around!
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Post by tommy on Jan 8, 2019 19:01:11 GMT
Don't we all miss this iconic (musical) theatre shop? One of the London shops you HAD to visit as a regular theatre goer.. I visited regularly, but rarely bought, admittedly as prices were fairly high. I still have a few signed CDs from Dress Circle though. What I loved was that even when you couldn't make it to a signing (which I never could, being stuck on the wrong side of the channel) they would still send signed CDs out. All this talk reminds me of the times when collecting international cast recordings was a big deal - I used to collect Cats in every conceivable language and spent so much time running after the Starlight Express recording of the Japan/Australia tour. I wish there would be some sort of fusion between the current Theatre Cafe and Dress Circle - a place to drop in for a cup of coffee and to meet other theatre lovers, admire the signed posters, enjoy some live performances once in a while, etc. BUT also be able to buy albums, show merchandise and so on. PS: I might have some of those Dress Circle tokens somewhere too, never collected enough for £10 off, I think. I might be wrong but perhaps part of the success of this shop was during a time when musical theatre stars where still mostly known from the theatre itself (not from television), they became a name purely because of their stage work. |
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