Theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, opened in 1856 as White's Rooms. Architect: George Kingston. Altered to form Garner's Theatre, seating 1326, 1880. Renamed Hudson's Bijou Theatre 1892. Altered and reopened as Tivoli Theatre 20 June 1900. Architects: Backhouse and Backhouse, in association with English and Soward. Renamed Rickards's New Tivoli Theatre 1901. Renamed Star Theatre for films in 1913. Rebuilt and returned to live shows as Majestic Theatre 1916. Architects: Williams and Good. Became Celebrity Theatre Restaurant 1967-69. Returned to films as Warner Theatre 1969. Demolished 1981.
In 1856 an Adelaide architect designed a development consisting of two shops, offices and a large assembly room for concerts and balls. The front part of the building became the Shades Hotel and Restaurant. The entrepreneur Arthur Garner took over the hall in 1880, added a dress circle with rear amphitheatre and generally remodelled the interior to produce Garner's Theatre. Thomas Hudson renamed it Hudson's Bijou Theatre in 1892 for his vaudeville acts which within a few years included moving pictures. Harry Rickards leased the theatre in June 1900 and the architects Backhouse and Backhouse remodelled the theatre for him, adding a sliding roof. After Rickards's death, the theatre was renamed the Star Theatre for films in 1913.
Fullers' leased the theatre for vaudeville and instigated a major rebuilding in 1916. A fourth storey was added to the hotel and both the theatre and the hotel were widened and renamed Majestic. Only fragments of the original walling of White's Rooms were retained. The new auditorium was typical of small intimate theatres of the time. Two banks of private boxes, two boxes high, were adjacent to the proscenium at each end of the orchestra pit. The single tier above the stalls extended between the boxes on each side in a tight horseshoe. In 1928 Fullers' bought the theatre together with the hotel and other buildings in the block between Grenfell and Pirie Streets.
During the 1930s Greater Union showed films at the Majestic. Films and live shows alternated after 1942, when Fullers' again took over the theatre. After a period as the Celebrity Theatre Restaurant in the late 1960s it became a cinema again in 1969 as the Warner Theatre. The historic theatre building, only slightly modified since 1916 and in good condition, was demolished for a multistorey office block in spite of efforts in 1980 to save it.
Venue
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