Not retreading the boards
By Mike Martin for The Stage


A year after Brick Lane Music Hall was forced to move from its old home, Vincent Hayes is breathing fresh life into the music hall tradition in a converted East End church. Mike Martin discovers how the impresario is taking the genre forward while staying loyal to its anarchic roots

Could this be a full house for a traditional variety bill in an old converted church on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon? Well, yes, because that is the reality of Brick Lane Music Hall’s present incarnation, its third - and hopefully permanent - home in east London. I was delighted to find such an oasis of entertainment thriving in what is, on the face of it, an unlikely location. This unique venue combines an intelligently designed theatre, spacious yet intimate surroundings, church beauty, restaurant and bonhomie.

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