| Abstract/Description |
At 73 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, once the site of carriage builders, there opened the National Sporting Club in 1902.
contained club rooms, bars, billiard rooms and an athletic hall seating 2000 people, where boxing contests were regularly
held. On December 1906, James Brennan, after some alterations and retaining “National” from the former name, put on a variety bill at popular prices. Brennan’s National
Amphitheatre, as he called it, was an immediate success.
In 1912 Brennan’s company acquired new half owners, the brothers Benjamin and John Fuller who quickly took over control. The Fullers had brought over from New
Zealand, their architect Henry White, to build or rehabilitate a number of theatres in their circuit. The National was rebuilt
as one of the smaller model -- on two levels with a rather shallow, typical vaudeville, flytower stage. It seated in the stalls
(762), dress circle (546) and side boxes (28) a total of 1336 people according to the licensing authoriy in 1919.
Shortly after the Great Depression started the National converted to showing sound films and was renamed the “Roxy”. It
soon was renamed again -- this time to the “Mayfair” in 1932.
Architect, Charles Bohringer was commissioned by Fullers Ltd to do a makeover in September 1934.
A new Art Deco facade replaced the older one; a new auditorium ceiling and proscenium in Art Deco style fibrous plaster
were fitted. The latter wrapped atound the sides to cover the former boxes. The form and structure of the dress circle remained
but it was re-seated. During the 1960's the facade was converted again to be a flat cement-rendered sheet
for huge painted film advertisements; and a new screen and
curtain curved around in front of the stage and the rear back stalls was converted to new foyer space.
After films were discontinued in the theatre it was periodically leased for “live” theatre during 1978/79 until Hoyts
Theatres (who now owned it) sold it in 1980. Shops were built in its foyer and back stalls space, then it was onsold again and
demolished for redevelopment. |
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