The day job at Troxy is to play host to some of the capital’s most extraordinary gigs, club nights, award shows, cinema experiences and comedy performances, but we also love to open our doors to filming and TV studios. We might be biased, but we think we make a great set!
Over lockdown, we’ve been opening our doors to location scouts to see if we can host more TV productions, films, music videos and adverts in the future. There’s nothing quite like the buzz of an audience, but we just love the camera!
Most recently Troxy was used as a backdrop in the joyful Harry Styles black and white video, released on New Year’s Day, ‘Treat People With Kindness,’ starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The video saw Phoebe and Harry dancing around Troxy dressed in show-stopping Gucci suits and matching argyle sweater vests!
Director Gabe Turner explained to GQ why the team picked Troxy for the video: ‘We had been to Troxy for the Bugsy Malone Secret Cinema night, so we thought, “That would be a great place to do this”. When you go to the Troxy there’s a hidden stage at the top. [Co-director] Ben Turner had an idea of coming down from the hidden stage to reveal Harry, then setting a scene up of Phoebe at the top.’
In the past we’ve hosted London Grammar as a live artist but also to film the video for ‘Sights’; Bugzy Malone ft Dermot Kennedy shot the video ‘Don’t Cry’ at Troxy – the Manchester rapper dissects his near-fatal 2020 motorbike crash in the track. The video, directed by Myles Whittingham, sees him in the ring at Troxy for a tense boxing match which reflects Malone’s mental and physical journey since the accident. Paloma Faith also filmed her video for ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ at the venue – which is a sumptuous-looking performance from Saul and Si Allen. You’ll recognise lots of parts of Troxy including the reception stairs and we think we look beautiful in red! The video sees Paloma performing the track on the Troxy stage for a lone male whom she has set her sights on.
Other gigs and TV and film location credits include the filming of Mel C’s Summer Pride tour with the beautiful queens from Sink The Pink, where she performed a sold out show after London Pride; The Gaslight Anthem’s iconic show at Troxy in 2013; The Specials in 2016; Robbie Williams performed a special, one-off show at Troxy in 2016, where he was presented with the BRITs Icon award by former bandmates Take That – and was broadcast in full on ITV; the sitcom that centres around formerly famous boyband star turned drug-shamed tabloid laughing stock Maxxx; Netflix’s Giri / Haji; and other filming credits including BBC Drag Race; Sing: Ultimate a Cappella; Question Time and even a Channel 4 News Brexit Special.
Troxy is a self-contained, tiered theatre that has many facets making it an excellent location spot, as well as 7 backstage dressing rooms and 2 backstage production rooms – there’s a huge concrete rooftop with an incredible view of the city; various toilets and breakout areas, all of which work as an authentic backdrop for filming. The venue features bingo booths from the time when Troxy was under the ownership of Mecca in the circle, each with a fixed table and four chairs.
Troxy began life as England’s largest cinema in 1933 with an incredible 3,500 seat capacity.
Much of the East End around the venue was destroyed during World War II, but the building survived to live life as a performance space for The Royal Opera House and a bingo hall. In 1991 it was granted Grade II Listed status and was reborn in 2006 as the vibrant live venue it is today.
For filming requests please contact hello@troxy.co.uk
