The Grand Tradition
The Hackney Empire is a music hall in the grandest of grand traditions, a monument to Victorian folly and excess (well, the Victorians who WERE foolish and excessive; I think it's clear that wasn't all of them...) and recently (2004) gloriously restored to its full gold and velvet splendour.
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It fronts Mare Street, along the side of the same square as the town hall, opposite the library, so is nicely central to Hackney Central, and everyone knows it and loves it. I've been inside a couple of times for various events, but as they were always performances I couldn't ever get any snaps. Until today...
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I was passing on my way to the Round Chapel (Work #2; more on that later) and saw the signs up advertising London Open Day, which I hadn't even known was this weekend... the Empire was open for just two hours, 10am - 12pm, and it was just after 10.30 when I was passing... and again, I had my camera. So in I went...
3 comments:
All that plush red and gold. Yes, it is the "grandest of the grand". Also splendid, sumptuous and even sensual!
And the moral of the story is: In order to capture the serendipitous moment continue to carry your camera at all times!
oh, I intend to ;)
after all, it was something that swayed me to buy this particular model (Olympus C-765 Ultra Zoom, for those who like details) - it's top end, for a non-SLR, and has the famous 10x zoom, and yet is relatively small and streamlined and fits comfortably in a bag :D
Hackney Empire! Reminds me of a book that captures the last days of the Empires and the vaudeville companies that toured around UK - Lost Empires by J B Priestley - well worth reading!
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