Members and visitors at this month’s Paisley & District U3A’s meeting were treated to the spellbinding history of the Britannia Panopticon.
Guest speaker Judith Bowers shared many hilarious moments and just a few tragic stories about famous entertainers who appeared on this music hall stage. One was comic actor Stan Laurel who made his debut there aged 16, without telling his own father, who happened to be in the theatre that same night.
Judith Bowers also detailed an exciting restoration project for the building and drew a few enthusiastic U3A members to sign up to help.
U3A chair Kathleen O’Donnell said: “In its heyday, Glasgow’s popular music hall tradition drew huge audiences. Hundreds of fans lived nearby but others would travel miles from neighbouring towns like Paisley and surrounding districts to watch their favourite acts.
“Author Judith Bowers gave us a witty tour de force presentation on the history of Scottish entertainment since the 18th century. My favourite line was how over the ages some Panoptican music hall fans ‘left no turn unstoned’ and threw everything from fish guts to metal rivets at stage performers.
“We really enjoyed Judith rounding off this fascinating talk by asking us to sing a couple of the most popular music hall songs with her.”
Judith Bowers, who has written a book on this music hall, added: “The Britannia Panopticon Music Hall is a legend and is still a venue for performers. If you want to support it, please go to www.britanniapanopticon.org”
Photo: Britannia Panopticon speaker Judith Bowers with Paisley & District U3A chair Kathleen O’Donnell
Photo Credit: Allana Parker/P&D U3A