Britannia Panopticon Music Hall

Have visited this Victorian-​era music hall (the oldest surviving music hall in the world apparently, and the venue where Stan Laurel made his debut) a couple of times — once during Doors Open Day, and most recently for a Nightmare Before Christmas themed cabaret show.
It’s a really interesting place, staffed by volunteers committed to the conservation of the venue, and made an atmospheric setting for a vaudevillian variety show. The acts in the show we attended included circus sideshow style magic, musical numbers, burlesque, drag, sketch comedy, hula hooping, etc. and our host told various stories throughout the night about the venue’s chequered past. Entrance to shows is through donation and the money goes towards the venue’s preservation so check out their website and go along to support an intriguing piece of Glasgow history.

I recently visited the Panopticon for the first time for the Section 33 pop up restaurant and wow. What an incredible hidden gem we have in Glasgow!
Absolutely loved the building, all the old signage, the ceiling… It’s beautiful inside.
Also loved that as a nod to the Panopticon’s history, Section 33 had silent movies playing accompanied by live musicians. Incredible experience (but so cold!!!)

I was fortunate enough to not only enjoy seeing inside this amazing old music hall and variety theatre, but to actually eat a full-​on posh meal here at a hip restaurant pop-​up, serenaded by talented performers!
I’ll write-​up my experiences of the pop-​up restaurant separately (it’s called Section 33 by the way). In the meantime, this review is focused on the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall itself.
The building is the most originally intact early-​Victorian surviving music hall in the country, but sadly it’s far from a functioning theatre. Sitting on the Trongate, the building façade was cleaned several years ago (it used to be a dirty sky blue colour) and houses an amusement arcade in the ground floor. Because of the amusement arcade, visitors enter from a side door up the lane. The building hosts occasional events, including tours on Doors Open Day weekend, it’s closed to the public at all other times.
Stan Laurel performed here at the beginning of the last century, Cary Grant too apparently. The building also housed a basement zoo and waxworks and hosted freak shows, contortionists, singers, and variety acts.
If you get an opportunity to visit, get along; this is a fascinating piece of living history in the heart of Glasgow, rarely open to the public.

There are many old spaces in Glasgow, and over the last few years the Panopticon has undergone a wonderful, if still to be finished, transformation.
We were there to see a variety show — which was pretty good — but the star of the show is this wonderful old building.
It’s being renovated, slowly as they are raising funds as they go, but just to see the old posters, the stage backdrop, even a Victorian era trapeze bar!
Points to note, do not go here and expect a polished, finished building. They are still awaiting their license to serve drinks, there is no heating but it’s great see such a historic place being put to use, hosting a variety show much like it did when it first opened.

I love this hidden gem hiding just off Argyle St near the Tron Theatre.
It was a music hall built around 1860 and the current volunteers are doing an amazing job not just preserving it but keeping it alive. I made a wee video of it today
during doors open day but often at the weekend they have variety acts, silent films and other events on.
You need to go down a lane to enter the building and there are stairs to go up so currently it’s not fully accessible but when inside you are transported back and it’s not hard to imagine how it would have looked in Victorian times.
The main thing to remember is it’s free to get in but you have to pay to get out, well leave a donation ;-)

So good we held our wedding here !
The Pani IS Glasgow. An utterly magical place, steeped in atmosphere & history.
What truly makes it however is the volunteers who run it and slowly but surely are helping to restore it. Judith the manager is an incredible character — I believe she rediscovered the Pani and slept in it to stop developers taking it apart. A force of nature and a truly inspiring woman. You could probably list her as a tourist attraction on help !
We held our wedding at the Pani — we wanted somewhere unique, memorable and truly Glaswegian. Despite the fact it was the venues first ever wedding, Judith ensured the day exceeded all our expectations. In addition to working to our somewhat loose (!) brief she arranged a few extra surprises which truly added to the ceremony. She even kept the phone stealing ghost monkey under control ;-)
The beaming faces of the volunteers in period dress truly blew us away. I think they were truly delighted to see the space come alive in a brand new way.
Don’t hesitate If you get the opportunity to visit — you’ll come away smiling and be dragging your friends back to show it off.

I must admit I wasn’t aware of the Panopticon until last year when I attended a Nokia Slow Club gig, but it really is somewhere special.
The first time I visited it was a little hard to find and had to be accessed via the amusements, but on my last visit the side door was open leading directly to the main hall.
Inside you’ll find the world’s oldest surviving music hall which now hosts small scale events, cinema nights and gigs. Its a really intimate setting and although its kept very dark inside for the most part, the spot lighting, old cinema props and the architecture of the place give it a real warmth.
The place is free to the public (although relies on donations to keep it going) and is only open on certain days. The website lists all upcoming events and I’m tempted to try a film night at somepoint.
I enjoyed taking some photos in the Hall and I think its lovely to have a place with such history in Glasgow, and would urge others to pay it a visit.

This has to be one of my favourite places in the city. Where else can you walk through a normal looking door in a Glasgow side street and be transported back in time. It is a truly beautiful building with history in every object and poster on display. It is the oldest surviving music hall in the world and we’ll worth a visit!
We went for a silent movie night, where we watched a number of silent short films which were accompanied by Gladstone’s Bag’s wonderful soundtrack. Everything from Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and lots of smaller films were shown. The staff and volunteers were extremely knowledgable about the films, the history of the films and even the unusual instruments of the era that the band were playing.
The tea and biscuits and everyone huddled round watching old films felt like a wonderful group experience that I would definitely recommend. It is really is a hidden gem.

I’m not quite sure how, but this lovely building has escaped my noticed until a couple of weeks ago. Strolling down the Trongate with my dear mother, having just been at the Barras, we blundered into the doors open day for the Panopticon.
A Victorian music hall /​circus /​freak show? In Glasgow? And I’ve never BEEN? What blasphemy is this?!
So naturally, we went in for a wee nosey. To my delight, there were all sorts of artifacts from the Theatre’s hay day scattered about the theatre hall. From original costumes to pictures of the members of the freak show cast, to props… And vintage hats that you can… nay, are encouraged to try on! With volunteers milling about in period costume, this was almost like stepping into a living museum.
I liked it so much that I went back on Saturday last to see one of the free music hall shows! Music Hall is all about variety, so we were entertained with musical numbers, comedians, magicians, and a mind reader. It was a lot of fun.
Although the shows are free, the idea is to garner donations from the audience. All donations go towards the restoration of this piece of Glaswegian history. The performers are all volunteers and are not paid for their talents. If you fancy it, you can even put your name down in the volunteer book and you can perhaps become a part of the show yourself. I do believe they are particularly looking for pianists at the moment.
In short, it is a great place for both the general public and fledgling performers looking for somewhere to première their talents. Go! Go! Go!!!

I love this place. It’s a great little piece of Glasgow history and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I’ve been quite a few times over the years. They often put on free events. I recently went to see The Wizard of Oz as part of the Merchant City Festival. It’s always a delight to come back to the Panoptican. Who would have thought the Argyle Street Amusements would be hiding such a treasure!

Biased as I’m now part of the committee that runs it however this charming little hall stole my heart the minute I walked in. It’s such a shame to see it in such a state of disrepair. Let’s hope we can raise the cash to transform it back into the pride of the Trongate!

I looooooooove this place! I was first introduced to this old girl back in 2006 through the Ministry of Burlesque.
I saw a burlesque dance class advertised on the Ministry’s website that ran for 4 weeks and I thought, och why not. I had done a couple of Club Noir classes but I was looking for more dance based workshops.
I was a little apprehensive as the entrance I had to use was to cut through the Mitchell’s Amusements. I thought ok this is weird. Well I found the stairs which is located pass the amusements staff room. I headed upstairs, I was quite excited and low and behold I wasn’t disappointed. It was a hidden treasure with soooo much beauty.
There’s memorabilia at each side of where the audience sits and much more on the small stage. It’s absolutely stunning. I also find it weird looking at the God Save The King flag but every time I see a photo and I see the flag in the background you know instantly it’s in the Panopticon.
It’s a beautiful building and the exterior has been recently been renovated to it’s traditional stone colour from the blue it had dorned for many years. The actual main stage is hidden behind a partician on the small stage as the original stage is very delicate and can’t be used or you’ll probably end up downstairs on a puggy machine.
I have rehearsed and performed here so many times now and I have to say out of all the places I have performed this is my favourite venue. It had adequate changing space and just an amazing atmosphere.
The Panopticon also runs music hall memories with tradional songs, Laurel and Hardy film nights as the famous Stan Laurel performed at the Panopticon many many years ago and they’ve now starting running Bazaars.
There’ s much history to this place and Judith who takes care of the old girl wrote a book which is a must buy. Stan Laurel and other stars of the Panopticon, The story of the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall. She is very knowledgeable and has such amazing stories.
The Panopticon is one of the oldest music halls in possibly the world. If you ever get the chance this is a place you’ve just got to visit. Pop along to one of the shows as you are guarenteed a great performance by a very talented cast.

I love this hidden gem of Glasgow’s music hall era.
It’s a fascinating step back in time, and blows you away the first time you step in. It is like a time capsule, and you feel as if you have travelled back in time.
Brilliant shows and wonderful displays of items from when the Hall was in regular use. Well worth a visit!

I don’t think any word I used to describe the Panopticon would do it justice. It’s a living memory of another era of Glaswegian theatre — from the scattered, well preserved memorabilia to the flaking walls of the upper auditorium. It’s gorgeous.
After lying tragically empty for decades, it has been re-​opened by the Panopticon Music Hall Trust to host a number of smaller quirky showcases. I’ve attended a couple of burlesque shows in here, and today went for a look around a burlesque and rockabilly fashion fair held within its four walls.
The music hall trust rely almost entirely on donations from the public to keep this place open. It would be nice to see the Panopticon returned to its former glory, as it was once pivotal to the Glasgow music hall scene. Seeing her come apart at the seams is a sombre and somewhat moving experience, but it would be nice to see this glorious old building get the lick of paint and renovation it deserves. As one of the main players on Glasgow’s culture scene in the last century, it should be treated with the respect it deserves!

The Panopticon is one of Glasgow’s old vaudeville theatres: it has been on the BBC and taken up by a band of enthusiasts who hope to restore it to something of its past splendour. While it is unlikely that thsite will ever again be home to a circus in the basement, it has become an occasional venue for both cabaret and live music, and the trustworks towards fixing it up.
At the moment, the interior is a beautifully evocative ruin: exposed floor boards and timbers, fragments of memorabilia scatterred around the room, and the indefatigable presesnce of the trust’s volunteers. The events here are often out of the ordinary: local decadents The Creative Martyrs, and the burlesque Movers and Shakers event have appeared on the stage. Sometimes it is possible to catch an afternoon of acoustic musc, or a selection of real old time music hall acts. There are also guided tours, and this is a fascinating glimpse of how Gasgow enjoyed itself in the previous century.
And Stan Laurel made his stage debut here.