Prince of Wales Theatre (1855-1860)

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Prince of Wales Theatre (1855-1860)

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Venue	Prince of Wales Theatre (1855-1860)
Address	Castlereagh Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
First Date	12 March 1855
Last Date	3 October 1860
Notes	Opened by Joseph Wyatt 1855 and destroyed by fire in 1860.
Related Venues	Is on the site of Prince of Wales Theatre (1863-1872)
Map
Latitude \| Longitude	-33.868990 \| 151.209715
Events	Date Contributor Organisation
	VENUE DESTROYED BY FIRE, 3 October 1860 Macbeth, 5 July 1860 Nabucco, 16 June 1860 Jessie Brown or, The Relief of Lucknow, 30 April 1860 The G. V. Brooke Fever, 14 January 1860 King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Romance and Reality or The Digger in London, 4 May 1859 Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Old Fidelity or, The Way and The Will, 26 March 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Il Maestro de Capella, 5 May 1857 Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 La Sonnambula, January 1856
	Lee Family Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Nelson Family Romance and Reality or The Digger in London, 4 May 1859
	Ada Hart - Actor Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Edward McLean - Actor Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Charles Poole - Actor-Manager, Lessee Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Old Fidelity or, The Way and The Will, 26 March 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Charles Miran - Actor, Adaptor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Old Fidelity or, The Way and The Will, 26 March 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Twight - Actor Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Samuel Colville - Actor-Manager The G. V. Brooke Fever, 14 January 1860 King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Crosby - Actor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 John Mungall - Actor Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 H Twight - Actor Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Walker - Actor Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Frank Howson - Actor Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Lee - Actor Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 Newton - Actor Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Palmer - Actor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Andrew Torning - Actor, Actor-Manager, Director Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Giuseppe Verdi - Composer Macbeth, 5 July 1860 Nabucco, 16 June 1860 J J Welsh - Actor Harlequin King Bear and the Fairy Of The Enchanted Isle, 23 April 1859 La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Winterbottom - Musical Arranger Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 23 February 1859 Harlequin and Lalla Rookh, 27 December 1858 William Mower Akhurst - Playwright Romance and Reality or The Digger in London, 4 May 1859 Belair - Actor Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Vincenzo Bellini - Composer La Sonnambula, January 1856 Anna Bishop - Actor and Singer Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Dion Boucicault - Playwright Jessie Brown or, The Relief of Lucknow, 30 April 1860 Charles Burford - Actor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Henry Burton - Actor Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Joe Downey - Lessee Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Charles Eigenschenk - Composer, Musical Arranger Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Sara Flower - Actor La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Flynn - Actor Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Ford - Costume Maker Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Maggie Griffiths - Actor Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Guy - Scenic Artist Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Hasker - Actor Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 James Hasker - Actor La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Samuel Howard - Actor La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Hudson - Actor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Harriett Jones - Actor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Maynard - Actor Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Morton - Actor Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 F Paer - Composer Il Maestro de Capella, 5 May 1857 Francesco Maria Piave - Librettist Macbeth, 5 July 1860 Charles Poole - Actor La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Mary Provost - Actor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Joseph Rayner - Lessee Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Joseph Raynor - Actor King Charming or, The Blue Bird of Paradise, 2 January 1860 Felice Romani - Librettist La Sonnambula, January 1856 William Shakespeare - Playwright Macbeth, 5 July 1860 Albert Smith - Adaptor La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Temistocle Solera - Librettist Nabucco, 16 June 1860 K Stewart - Actor Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 Turner - Actor Anna Bishop in Australia or Soprano Sfogato, 5 February 1856 A Wallace - Mechanist Babes in the Wood, and The Good Little Fairy Birds, 26 December 1859 Wigan - Actor La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859 Winterbottom - Actor La Tarantula or, The Spider King, 31 January 1859
Resources	Article: Helen Oppenheim, Wyatt, Joseph (1788–1860), Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, 1967 Article: John West, Sydney's Theatres Royal, On Stage, 13, 4, December 2012, 42-47 Article: Music and Drama. Obituary of Joseph Wyatt, The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 28 July 1860, 5 Ross Thorne, Prince of Wales Theatre, Companion To Theatre In Australia, 1995, 464 Theatre in Castlereagh Street, Sydney, opened 12 March 1855, seating 3250. Architect: Henry Robertson. Burned down 3 October 1860. New theatre opened 23 May 1863. Architect: J. F. Hilly. Burned down 6 January 1872. Joseph Wyatt sold his Royal Victoria Theatre and leased it back in 1849. In 1854 he could not renew the lease so he commissioned the theatre's architect, Henry Robertson, to design another. The result was the Prince of Wales Theatre, a large and well fitted-out house by contemporary standards. The auditorium was 21.3 metres to the orchestra by 18.3 metres across and had four tiers - a pit holding 1500 persons, a dress circle for 500, upper boxes for 750 and a gallery for 500. The fronts of the tiers were in the old style of flat wooden panelling. The ceiling, with a 4.6-metre diameter dome, was 17.7 metres above the pit floor and painted to represent a bright Italian sky. The proscenium opening was 11 metres wide and the stage was 18.3 metres wide by 26.5 metres deep from the gas footlights. Beneath it were the male actors' dressing-rooms, with neither natural light nor ventilation. At first Wyatt leased the theatre to Andrew Torning, who was also lessee of the Royal Victoria. He concentrated on shows there to the neglect of the Prince of Wales, which Wyatt sold in 1858. In 1859-60 the theatre saw a yearlong dispute between Samuel Colville and Charles Poole, who had interlocking leases of Sydney's two theatres, and the actors, who went on strike for a time over pay and conditions. In 1860 fire broke out in a bakery in King Street and wind sent the flames into the pine-framed roof of the theatre. Three Sydney insurance companies' fire brigades and two volunteer fire companies arrived, but their efforts, even in heavy rain, could not prevent two deaths, several injuries and almost total destruction of the theatre. R Fitzgerald bought the site and commissioned the architect J. F. Hilly to design a second Prince of Wales Theatre. Hilly is little known today but in his time he was considered a better architect than the famous Edmund Blacket. Hilly reused the front wall of the first Prince of Wales in the new theatre, which opened in 1863. Like its predecessors, it accommodated the audience on four levels. The auditorium was three metres shallower than in the previous building but the stage was now 30.5 metres deep, framed by a proscenium opening only 9.1 metres wide. The stage equipment was possibly the most up-to-date in Australia. Wing and back flats and borders in grooves were operated by shafts and purchase wheels, drums, winches and pulleys to provide maximum flexibility and simultaneous changing of all flats from scene to scene. There was a mezzanine floor beneath the stage for the operation of traps and a stage cellar below that. The second theatre opened under a firmer arrangement than the first, with W. S. Lyster taking a three year lease and alternating seasons of opera and drama. Fire destroyed the second Prince of Wales Theatre on 6 January 1872. The front wall survived again. A new Theatre Royal opened on the site in December 1875. Article: Ross Thorne, Prince of Wales Theatre, Companion To Theatre In Australia, 1995, 464 Article: Ross Thorne, Sydney’s Lost Theatres, Theatre Australia, 4, 1 and 2, August 1979, 14-15, 13-14 Article: Ross Thorne, Sydney’s Theatres Parts 1 and 2, Theatre Australia, 1, 1 and 2, November 1977, 22-23, 22-23 Map: City of Sydney – Detail Plans, 1855 Websites / Online media: Ailsa McPherson, Prince of Wales Theatre, Dictionary of Sydney
Data Set	AusStage
Venue Identifier	4549

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