Resource | Text: Article | |
---|---|---|
Title | Her Majesty's Theatre Sydney 1887-1933 | |
Creator Contributors |
|
|
Related Venues |
|
|
Source | Philip Parsons, Victoria Chance, Companion To Theatre In Australia, Currency Press with Cambridge University Press, Sydney, NSW, 1995 | |
Page | 269-270 | |
Date Issued | 1995 | |
Language | English | |
Citation | Ross Thorne, Her Majesty's Theatre Sydney 1887-1933, Companion To Theatre In Australia, 1995, 269-270 | |
Resource Identifier | 64900 |
Provide feedback on Her Majesty's Theatre Sydney 1887-1933
Theatre in Pitt Street, opened 10 September 1887, seating 1650 on four levels. Architects: Morell and Kemp. Interior burnt out 23 March 1902. Rebuilt on three levels and reopened 1 August 1903. Architect: William Pitt. Closed 10 June 1933. Converted to variety store and offices 1934. Finally closed 2 March 1970 and demolished to make way for Centrepoint.
The most elaborate and best-equipped theatre in Sydney before the Sydney Opera House was Her Majesty's Theatre. It was the first theatre built in strict conformity with regulations that resulted from the NSW Royal Commission on Theatres in the early 1880s. Fire-resistant iron doors protected connections between the auditorium and the public spaces of the theatre, which were in a hotel in front. A thick brick firewall, a 'fireproof’ asbestos drop curtain at the proscenium opening and iron doors in other openings all separated the auditorium from the stage. Every effort was made to use fire-resistant materials, and any inflammable materials were coated with fire-retardant liquids. The auditorium and stage were lit by both electricity and gas. Scene-changing was by the continental European system of flat wings moved along slots in the stage floor on wheeled carriages at the mezzanine level of the stage basement. The Builder and Contractor's News of 22 October 1887 gave the width of the stage as 25.6 metres and the depth as 15.2 metres, but published dimensions varied. The proscenium opening was 11.6 metres square. Iron trusses spanned the width of the stage, supporting a grid for flying scenery, 33.2 metres above the basement. The building was 31 metres in front, 38 metres wide at the rear, and 51 metres deep. The facade was elaborately modelled in a baroque-Renaissance style with applied Corinthian columns, surmounted by a carved pediment and a roof pavilion in French Renaissance style. The building was designed for the Grand Opera Company, which leased the site from the William McQuade estate. The theatre was near completion when financial difficulties saw the site owner take it over. George Rignold then leased the theatre until 21 September 1895 and opened it, some four months late, playing Henry V in his famous production. He interspersed spectacular Shakespeare productions with comedies.