Delivering Amazing Experiences Through a Diverse Range of Events & Activities
Live Music Performance
Live music is the second most popular art form enjoyed by people in England and has overtaken live theatre. The value of the industry is worth 1.1bn in the UK and the audience is nearly half of the UK’s population, standing at around 29.8m.
Though a venue the size of the Gaumont Palace won’t attract the really big names it can attract some pretty good ones. From Wishbone Ash to East 17, The Teskey Brothers to Toploader, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to EAGA Gospal Choir, the possibilities are endless, and with the addition of themed music festivals and weekenders we can deliver an amazing music programme.
Live Comedy Performance
Taunton has a pretty good comedy scene, but very small venues so can’t attract the well-known names that require larger venues. With 1100 seating capacity the Gaumont Palace can deliver even greater comedians from the UK and international circuit.
We also intend to run a regular comedy festival and mixed comedy nights like Live at the Apollo. Not forgetting some of the musical comedy theatre that can perform here too. So, with all the great acts that can perform at a venue of this capacity, we can invite local people and visitors from afar to enjoy a great night out in Taunton. So, start thinking who you would like to see perform at the Gaumont Palace and visualize that night of laughter and fun.
Dance Events & Tours
With Gaumont Palace being a multi-purpose venue, we can open the ground floor for amazing dance shows or performances on stage. From Strictly Come Dancing professionals on tour to specialised themed dance events and even dance competitions.
How about sensational international dance shows that bring together a diverse variety of traditional dances. For example, Australian waltz, Brazilian samba, New Zealand Haka, French Renaissance dance, Chinese ribbon, umbrella and dragon dance just to name a few.
There is also scope to feature contemporary dance productions and with our connections with dance organisations in the UK the diversity and reach would bring dance to the masses.
Low Cost Community Cinema
With the Gaumont Palace originally designed for film screening it would be improper not to hold on to that heritage and bring back the movies to this wonderful building.
Just like the town of Dorchester, who have the big chain Odean in the town but also have a low-cost cinema called the Plaza. Both have coexisted for many years, and it is our intention to do the same for Taunton. We’ll also ensure we don’t compete with national opera or theatre screenings at the Brewhouse Theatre and hope to bring back Saturday Cinema for kids – all at a low cost so those on low incomes can enjoy a family film night out for as little as £20.
We will also programme cinema screenings to include short local films and will be using an advertising model so the ads that are shown can help generate income for the venue.
Indoor Markets & Fairs
Indoor markets and fairs can attract people from far and wide. For example, the Affordable Art Fair attracts 1000’s of people each year. Moreover, it’s important that we support our local circular economy, so having things like art fairs and food and drink fairs, that won’t be ruined by bad weather, we can provide new visitor experiences to Taunton town centre, whether it be winter or summer.
Other themed fairs that are common throughout the UK include Christmas fairs, antique fairs, vintage fairs, book, toy and collectible fairs. As part of our business strategy we will devising these type of events so we can ensure that investment includes the equipment needed to house these events.
Talk & Lecture Tours & TED Talks
There is nothing more interesting than listening to the stories from famous people who share their loves, hates and funny situations that they have experienced. For some, listening to their most admired celebrity can be a high point in their cultural life. Not forgetting the things they will learn about them during that event.
Whether your favourite celebrity is an award-winning artist, telly presenter, Reith lecturer and best-selling author, Grayson Perry, or screenwriter, television presenter, and host of Radio 4’s In Our Time, Melvyn Bragg, or sporting hero Alan Shearer, or space nerd Professor Brian Cox . The possibilities are endless and with connections to their agents we have scope to deliver a diverse range of famous people.
Trade Shows & Exhibitions
Trade shows and exhibitions are a great way to engage with different audiences and support bedrock sectors in Somerset. From technology shows to business expos, from sustainability shows to health and wellbeing ones, even retail and manufacturing. Trade shows can last from one day to several days.
Being centrally located and having a high ceiling means that Gaumont Palace is ideal for shows that need this as a criterion. With bus, taxi and walking locations nearby it brings ease to anyone that is travelling for these types of events.
Cabarets, Banquets & Ceremonies
Gaumont Palace is a Grade II listed building just minutes away from Taunton train station. It’s an impressive venue for a full range of social events: from drinks and canapés to dinners, dances, birthday parties, cabarets, awards ceremonies – in fact any kind of celebration or occasion.
Conveniently located in the town centre, the main hall with its art deco interior design and majestic architecture will leave a lasting impression on any guest. No other venue offers the elegance, atmosphere and convenience of Gaumont Palace.
Sports Events
Sports events are very popular and some tour on a regular basis whereas others may be one off. These events include things you may see on TV such as darts or snooker.
From a licensing perspective a ‘sporting event’ means any contest, exhibition or display of any sport. However, boxing or wrestling entertainment have different licensing rules and our planned research will be looking into this as part of its development plans.
So, whether your sporting fix is to watch cage fighting or sumo wrestling, we’ll be looking at how we can bring sports into the mix.
Variety Shows
A Variety show is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy and normally introduced by a compere or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling and ventriloquism. Today, some feature more adult themes such as burlesque.
The variety format made its way from the Vicrorian era stage to radio and television. Variety shows were a staple of Gaumont Palace in the 40’s and 50’s and it would be great to bring back this form of entertainment.
Staged Circus Events
Circus Shows are one of the most exhilarating types of shows you can experience and often in awe or shock at the same time. Circus shows may include Aerial Performers, Aerial Trapeze Performers, Clowns, Acrobats and more to create an impactful, energetic show for audiences. From the traditional circus tent acts to the international magic of Cirque Du Soleil, circus performers can captivate and engage every person no matter what their age.
Many circus production companies also offer themed productions so whether it’s a horror based one or Alice in Wonderland, or The Greatest Showman, getting such events at Gaumont Palace is a great way to entertain audiences.
Large Conferences & Council Meetings
Large conferences don’t come that often but when they do they can offer sustainable income and profit for venues. However, due to the size of the Gaumont Palace it is only suitable for large conferences. Therefore, existing conferencing providers, who cater for smaller conferences, will not be affected by this competition.
Additionally, as the Gaumont Palace is owned by the Somerset Council and the council chambers may be too small to accommodate large meetings, it seemed right to offer the council the space for large council meetings. With County Hall being just yards away from the Gaumont Palace this also means easy access for those who attend.
Indoor Temporary Installations
With such a large open space at ground floor level, the Gaumont Palace can also be used for temporary installations. From light shows, interactive art, galleries and much more.
Taunton has already seen similar installations such as Luke Jerram’s the Moon or Gaia at Taunton Minster. These structures and events can be exhibited for several days and create a real buzz and attract outside visitors.
Engagement with the arts is essential to Taunton’s arts and culture scene so aspiring for these types of art projects can help boost that engagement for all ages.
Why We Can't Do Technical Theatre
Gaumont Palace is a listed building. Its existing design, space and stage size have limitations. So, to make it suitable for large technical theatre productions it would require expansion of the stage area, and the rear of the building would have to be extended. Unfortunately, there is very little land space at the rear of the building and due to its listed building status, it would take years to get planning permission and add millions of pounds to its development, which would delay the reclaiming of the venue.
Therefore, it is our intention to not do technical theatre productions but there may be opportunities to do non-technical theatre in the future. This we have discussed with the Brewhouse Theatre and see the two venues as complimentary and means that the Brewhouse still needs to exist to continue delivering theatre-based events in Taunton.
With a multitude of other forms of events and activities at the Gaumont Palace there will be plenty of scope to deliver an amazing programme of events. The important thing at this stage is to return Gaumont Palace as entertainment venue at the lowest cost and biggest impact and should the future present opportunities for technical based theatre productions and building expansion this can be looked at as a long term goal.