This August, Brisbane's The Tivoli Theatre christens its brand new room, a 250-person capacity performance space dubbed What's Golden that's set to offer a whole new level of experience to performers and punters alike.
Building upon the legacy already established by The Tivoli Theatre as a live music venue, What's Golden will be a new home for a broad spectrum of entertainers.
“We've been playing with this idea of developing a smaller capacity venue for the past two years, pretty much ever since we took over The Tivoli three years ago,” co-owner and Creative Director, Dave Sleswick says.
“The reason being is that we have this big, beautiful space that resonates very deeply with the people of Brisbane, but we feel a responsibility of when you own space to maximise its potential.”
While the Tivoli's main stage has been the site for shows by some of Australia's (if not the world's) best-known and loved talent, What's Golden will operate as an avenue for performers of all types who are still developing their careers.
“Filling a venue with 1,600 people, 6 nights a week every week is not possible,” Dave admits, “but also we wanted to deepen our connection with all levels of the industry rather than just the bands that can sell that many tickets.”
Dave goes on to explain the intent of opening a space like What's Golden is to greatly extend the reach of what The Tivoli Theatre can offer performers as well as audiences. “We've been thinking about ways we can more deeply engage with local and emerging artists, and with international artists who might be slowly developing their Australian market and might not be filling our main auditorium,” he says.
“It's about having as broad an offering as possible so that we can have genuine conversations with a larger range of people, rather than just the higher end of the industry. Also to minimise the risk for artists, so being able to have a more accessible space, a more affordable space to demystify The Tivoli as a place that is out of people's reach, where actually we're in reach and can do a variety of different things.”
More than iconic, The Tivoli Theatre is a beloved piece of Brisbane with a steeped history beyond its tenure as a live music venue. The building was constructed in 1917 as the first Adams Bakery, then used as the State Library Of Queensland's rare book depository before being transformed into The Tivoli Theatre and Restaurant in 1989 – a marvel of art deco design and old-world charm in a city being gentrified by sterile glass and concrete towers.
Dave assures the people of Brisbane the new What's Golden space has been designed (by Aaron Barton) to blend in with the character of the original Tivoli architecture while establishing its own identity within the structure. “The What's Golden space will be developed in the main auditorium's foyer and we'll be building a stage down in the corner near the bathrooms, and that will face out into the main bar,” Dave explains.
“In terms of the aesthetic and the quality of the venue, the Tivoli building itself is a landmark piece of architecture, it holds its place, so we're aiming to not change the aesthetic of the building.“Everyone is going to feel like they're still inside The Tivoli; it's going to be very much continuing on the old-world feel, very much continuing on its art deco/ art nouveau theming and vibe, and we really want to create a space that feels like people's home.
"It doesn't feel like they're coming in to something foreign or someone else's business, but it feels as if they can own it and be super-comfortable. We want it to be a very inclusive and accessible space.”
What's Golden opens in grand style at the end of August with an invitation-only party featuring top local and international talent. Going forward, What's Golden presents a continuing roster of acts such as Clea and Good Boy as well as risque evenings with Honcho Disko and Betty Grumble.
With a new venue comes some other new additions to The Tivoli Theatre, including a new state-of-the-art stage and sound and lighting rig, renovated box office, updated menu, craft beer and a daytime nook for coffee and Bloody Marys.
It's a new ('golden') era for The Tivoli Theatre, one that will revolutionise how the venue curates and presents its shows as well as how the space as a whole will be utilised, taking it from theatre to arts precinct.
“The main auditorium, the foyer and What's Golden won't operate at the same time, it will be one or the other happening,” Dave says.
“The What's Golden space will be very much a part of The Tivoli, the main auditorium space as well, so during a main stage gig we'll have seating up on the stage where people can come and hang out. It's going to be one operation but with two different brands, two different objectives.
“The beautiful thing is that with the What's Golden space, when a main stage gig is finished we're going to give people an opportunity to stay in the venue. We'll have late-night DJs and people can hang out there. Rather than kicking everybody out into the street and saying 'go find somewhere else', we're welcoming people to stay around as long as they want and to keep everyone in the home.”
