Zorlu Performing Arts Center is the venue that finally let large international productions play Istanbul without cutting their staging. It opened in 2013 with a main hall of around 2,200 seats and a stage built deep enough for touring musicals.
A season runs across musicals, ballet, opera, orchestral concerts and international touring acts, with a studio hall for drama and stand-up. This is where West End and Broadway productions land when they reach Turkey.
Tickets are sold online and usually go weeks in advance. Curtain is normally 20:00 or 20:30, and the surrounding complex has restaurants for before the show.
From The Soul Hotel take the M2 metro from Şişhane to Gayrettepe — around twenty minutes, which is as close as any hotel in the old city gets.