Sterling Opera House 1-23-2014

Walking along the curved balcony walkway inside Derby’s historic Sterling Opera House, these antique theater seats stopped me in my tracks. Seeing the wooden flip-down seats and cast-iron frame filigree still standing after so many years is a testament to early manufacturing quality.

This close perspective emphasizes the rich grain of a worn wooden seat pan in the foreground before leading your eye down the curved seating tier. Natural daylight entering through arched exterior windows illuminates the distressed plaster walls, ornamental iron armrests, and dust-covered wooden stairs. Warm mahogany, muted crimson, and dusty gray tones give this interior frame fantastic organic character.