Step below the pavements of Soho's Beak Street, and discover the untold tale of the exotic - and scandalous - Murray's Cabaret Club
Step below the pavements of Soho’s Beak Street, and discover the untold tale of the exotic – and scandalous – Murray’s Cabaret Club
Today, 16-18 Beak Street is a burger bar. But don’t let the muddy grey of the whitewashed oak walls deceive you – they once shimmered as they reflected the sparkle of costumed showgirls dancing. For this was Murray’s Cabaret Club, a West End club that, night after night, forged fantasies for deadened aristocrats, served a dish of dreams to Arab businessmen, and provided refuge for the hounded celebrity. In that intimate nightspot, sexy was never sordid, and nude never naked. That is, until the Profumo Affair – a sex-and-spying scandal that involved a love triangle between Murray’s showgirl Christine Keeler, the UK’s Minister of War and a Soviet spy, all at the height of the Cold War. Soho's Secret tells of Murray's visitors (Jean Harlow, Princess Margaret, Winston Churchill, Stephen Ward…), its dancers (Kay Kendall, Gertrude Lawrence, Ruth Ellis…), and – for the very first time – reveals the recently-discovered costumes and designs worn in London’s most glamorous floorshow. Close your eyes and imagine…
