(23rd August 2026)
“Goooood Afternooooon Haaammmmeerrrrsmith!” One ticked off the monkey bucket-list, as it stood on the stage, facing an auditorium packed with… 7 fellow guests and 3 tour guides, really. Must have been its encore of “I Wanna Be Like You”… or just the initial opening bars, really…
Over the course of two August Sundays, just 120 lucky people got a chance to see every nook and cranny of the famous 1932 super-cinema turned renowned music and show venue. True story, when first built, there was a pub where the flyover now is – the venue was behind that.
Back on track, this is no slightly worthy auditorium tour. Met by the sweetest house manager, we were quickly handed over to Adrian, the venue’s long standing maintenance manager. A gent who loves his workplace, and makes a very genial host.
Beginning in the beautifully restored stalls foyer, so wide that it originally had 9 sets of doors (now 7 as the cloakroom and box office occupy two spaces),
he pointed out fabulous Newbury Abbot Trent bas reliefs below the coving.
As the Gaumont Palace they had pride of place, but were lost until the renovations of 2013. Now a Grade II* listed building, even the green colour scheme must be followed to protect as much of the architecture as possible.
Up the main stairs to the circle foyer and through a door marked “Gaumont Bar” – in honour of the original owner.
No ordinary bar. Filled with posters signed by those who performed here, this is where the V.I.Ps hang out before the show.
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The bar is handy, and they can afford the drinks.
It is also Ant and Dec’s dressing room when “Britain’s Got Talent” is filming.
Originally, the space, and the bar above it provided the kitchen to an elegant café where the circle foyer is today.
Connected by a staircase, the walls contain paintings which are commissioned to commemorate long running shows.
Back into the main public foyer. The circle’s foyer bar holds 300 people and is often used for “end of tour” parties once the public has left.
Motörhead immortalised it in their album title, “No Sleep ’til Hammersmith,” anticipating one such occasion.
More restoration has uncovered the 1930s etched glass windows, a pleasure for this Art Deco loving monkey.
Onward, into the circle. The seats are now raised on plinths to improve sightlines, and the side chandeliers run on L.E.D bulbs.
Beside them are not exclusive boxes, but niches designed to assist with the acoustics. Oh, and there is a surprise bas relief to look out for too.
Next major surprise: up a steep and very narrow stairway, there is no voice like a metronome.
There is, though the cooling plant for the venue…
also a small door with a very odd step arrangement to navigate…
Into the biggest thrill (for the monkey) of the entire tour….
The projection room.
Two beautiful 1960s 35mm projectors burn carbon-fibre rods (the brown items our guide is holding) to generate enough light to throw the movie onto the screen.
Bring your own screen, by the way – there isn’t one in the venue.
Between them, Disney supply the latest digital projector for showing movies with an orchestra.
Off to one side, a modern, but now becoming old-fashioned follow-spotlight.
Yes, it is a long way down, and the operator cannot see the entire stage either.
And did the monkey mention the room is not air-conditioned for all the hot machinery? No wonder you may have to “turn off and on again”…
Back downstairs, a lot of stairs, to ground level.
A vast yard contains a shed for storing all the stalls seating when the “all standing” layout is used.
Seated, 3655 backsides can be accommodated.
With standing allowed downstairs, 5300 can squeeze in to rock the night away.
The famous “Beatles Staircase” from the 1964 “Hard Day’s Night” movie runs down the back wall of the venue.
In reality, a “Trigger’s Broom”, having undergone tread and stair rail replacements since then. Still, it is in the original place, more or less.
Now behind heavy gates that massive scenery wagons must reverse through to get equipment to the dock for the show, the object of fan mania… the stage door.
Compared to Shaftesbury Avenue theatre dressing rooms, the triple (one of 7 rooms) the monkey visited is a palace.
Clean, with fridge, microwave oven and ensuite facilities, and just steps from the stage…
Which is where we came in.
Vast, with a grid able to support 20 tonnes of scenery, and often narrowed for shows.
A sweep of the venue from centre stage:
As we take in the view the performers see of us – and notice (at the very top, light blue area) just how far the projection room / spotlight operators are from the stage, we enjoy an included free drink.
Monkey’s lady companion much appreciated the prosecco, monkey stuck to Diet Coke.
A fine way to cool during an extended and highly knowledgeable “Q&A” session.
Still one more thrill to come. The Compton Organ is one of only two remaining (the other is in the Odeon Leicester Square).
Saved only by a tarpaulin when the philistine “Dr Doolittle” musical team evicted it to the yard, and now restored.
Children apparently used to climb up its keyboard to get to the stage, but no more.
Rising and lowering into the floor around row A of the stalls, nobody (including the monkey) would know it is there.
It is hooked up to the sound system, so performances can be recorded. Taking our places in the centre of the stalls floor, the sound is glorious,
… as is our third host’s demonstration of the sound effects it an generate for those silent movie days.
All good tours must end, and with a final burst of questions – mostly whether this special day will ever be repeated (answer: only if they have another period without incoming events next year), time to thank the team for, as the monkey’s companion put it, a “total blast of an afternoon”.