Wilton's Music Hall
Graces Alley
off Ensign Street
E1 8JB
T: 020 7702 9555
Visitor Information
The world's oldest and last surviving grand music hall, Wilton's has been hosting performances since the 1850s – rumour has it that the first ever can-can was performed and promptly banned here. The auditorium remains intact – the original cast iron 'barley sugar' pillars support a papier-mâché balcony under paper roses set in a vaulted roof. In its founder John Wilton's day, 1,500 people would cram into the hall to hear the top acts – artistes from Covent Garden were lured over in full costume to perform late night favourite arias. Today the hall has a licence to seat 300 people. In 1964 the poet Sir John Betjeman campaigned to make Wilton's a listed building to save it from demolition. It was given Grade II status and the support of famous names such as Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers, Rory Bremner and Liza Minelli.