Janet Muir - Britannia Panopticon
Thu, Feb 1st 2024 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Janet will talk about Glasgow's Britannia Panopticon The world's oldest surviving Music Hall.
Host: Allan Scott
VoT: Hugh Graham
James Gibbons introduced Janet Muir as our guest speaker at tonight’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Motherwell and Wishaw.
Janet spoke about the Britannia Panoptican Music Hall which is based at 113-117 Trongate, Glasgow and is the oldest working Music Hall in the World.
The Britannia was developed from an old Georgian warehouse in 1857 to entertain the booming population of Glasgow with 1,200 people flocking in for every show up to six times a day.
In 1896 moving pictures were added to the bill of fare and in 1906 a Yorkshire showman, A.E. Pickard, became the new manager and added an attic carnival, wax works, freak show and zoo to the entertainments and renamed the building Panopticon which meant to see everything. As ‘Panopticon’ was difficult to say, the locals nicknamed it ‘the Pots and Pans’
Janet said that the Britannia Panopticon entertained the citizens of Glasgow for over 80 years but sadly, by 1938, it was too outmoded to accommodate modern cinema and variety and it was closed and the balcony and loft were hidden above a false ceiling.
For over 60 years it lay unloved and forgotten until 1997 when Judith Bowers persuaded the owners to give her access to the building. Judith fell in love with the old music hall and since, then, with the help of an amazing group of trustees, volunteers and the Friends of Britannia Panopticon the music hall is once again open to entertain with traditional music hall shows, classic cinema nights, comedy, drag, fairs, exhibitions and much more.
The Britannia Panopticon is a real hidden gem and a step back in time to the Victorian city. They restoration is moving on with the 1920's stage being reinstalled and the next phase of work is to restore the balcony front.
Admission to view the music hall is £2 for Adults and £1 for children and all proceeds go to help further the campaign to fully conserve and protect this invaluable vessel of entertainment and social history.
After Janet answered questions from members, Hugh Graham proposed the vote of thanks.
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