The Pavilions as a building is owned by the council, and for the first year or so of its life was run by them too. But in 1993, the Management team of the Theatre Royal were asked to take over what too many people were calling a "white elephant". Ever since then, Theatre Royal (Plymouth) Ltd has run The Pavs, as we affectionately call it.
Now that means that although we run the venue as businesslike as possible, believe it or not, the Plymouth Pavilions is a not for profit charity. There's no shareholders, no big conglomerate, no-one getting rich. Instead, the approach at the Pavilions benefits from the same attitudes and ambitions that the Theatre Royal as a charity has. As far as the entertainment programme is concerned, our aim is to provide the city and region with the widest possible choice of events that will, at some point, appeal to all.
Now that might sound like a normal thing to say, but unfortunately, it's not. In this modern day of commercialism, venues in towns and cities around the land are often run by private companies, and as their shareholders would expect, are run to deliver the most profit. What that means in reality is that only the shows that generate lots of money for the venue ever happen.
But a venue run as a charity with an objective of enhancing the local culture will put on events that might not make so much money (or even lose money), if it feels it's contributing to local life in some way.
To put the meat on the bones, because the Theatre Royal runs the Pavilions, we're able to bring to Plymouth Male Voice Choirs, Shaolin Monks, Brass Bands, Japanese Drummers and more.
The reason for me writing this today is that I have just come from a classical concert in The Guildhall, where Classical Brit winner and one of the finest violinists in the world, Nicola Benedetti, has just performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons alongside The European Union Chamber Orchestra.
As part of it's charitable objectives, the Pavilions organised, promoted and subsidised this concert.
Every time I visit the place just looks so "dead". A complete misery of a Box Office greets you upon entering the building, and not much better at the Pool - staff obviously don't get much job satisfaction.
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