Every Saturday and Sunday for three weekends, from Sept. 13 to Sept. 28, “The Layaway” will take over Greek Hall, a small auditorium on the 3rd floor originally used to showcase pianos and stage music performances. It has not been accessible to the public in decades.

The room’s wood-paneled walls, tall, stained-glass windows and ornamented ceiling panel moldings reflect John Wanamaker’s extravagant, fin-de-siècle tastes when it was opened in 1911.

For “The Layaway,” the room has been outfitted with cabaret tables, each fitted with a tasseled lamp. The walls are adorned with strings of moon-and-star silhouettes cut out of perfume advertisements. The stage is built as a round platform with 360-degree uplighting, illuminating the singer from all sides.

The cabaret bar is actually a large, three-sided desk that the Bearded Ladies’ set designers salvaged from the old office of the Army Corps of Engineers, which vacated the 6th floor nearly three years ago.

“We asked people what would be the reason for us doing something like this, like, what is needed right now,” Ollove said. “We kept hearing that people wanted a place of retreat, a place that they could go to and not ignore what’s happening in the world, but where they could take off their armor for a little bit, crack open their hearts and be treated softly and gently.”

“We’ll still have drag and a lot of camp, of course, but we’re trying to be very intentional to make sure that we’re choosing things that will sound very luxurious and luscious in this space,” she said.

When it opened 114 years ago, Wanamaker’s Department Store was the largest retail store in the world. Its luxurious interiors set a high bar for the shopping experience.