Robyn Riddett

Theatre in Spring Street, opened as Astley's Amphitheatre 11 September 1854. Redecorated and renamed Royal Amphitheatre February 1856. Renovated and reopened as Princess's Theatre and Opera House 22 April 1857. Further modified 1861. Closed 1863. Reopened after major alterations 2 December 1865. Demolished 1886. Replaced by Princess Theatre, opened 18 December 1886. Architect: William Pitt jnr. Auditorium rebuilt and theatre reopened 26 December 1922. Architect: Henry E. White. Theatre reopened 1990 after stage rebuilt and building restored and refurbished.

This century-old theatre, restored as a lyric theatre for commercial productions of major musicals, stands on a site that has been occupied by a theatre since Thomas Mooney opened Astley's Amphitheatre there in 1854, under the direction of George Lewis. Astley's Amphitheatre, named after a famous circus in London, was designed for both stage and equestrian events. In September 1855 a newspaper complained of the transformation of Richard III into 'a monopolylogue' on horseback. By the next month the competition from two new theatres, the Olympic Theatre and the Theatre Royal, caused loss of patronage in the 2000-seat Astley's, and it was auctioned off. 

George Coppin leased Astley's in February 1856, lit it with gas, remodelled it slightly and renamed it the Royal Amphitheatre, but after eight weeks it closed for lack of support. John Black took over the building to reconstruct the interior for presentation of lyric drama and reopened it after minor alterations as the Princess's Theatre in April 1857 with Anna Bishop in the title-role of Bellini's opera Norma. After two further leases the Princess's Theatre again fell on bad times. James Simmonds took it over from Achilles King, who then supervised reconstruction for the new lessee, transforming the inelegant and disproportionate auditorium into a 'perfect gem of a house'.

The Illustrated Melbourne Post of 25 November 1865 shows substantial timber posts continuing up to a deep cornice supporting a slightly domed ceiling, painted with nymphs floating in a cloudy sky. The proscenium was 2.4 metres deep and contained doors giving onto an apron of the same depth. The proscenium opening was 9.9 metres wide, the stage being 17.4 metres deep by 23.7 metres wide. The gross dimensions of the auditorium were 23.7 metres wide, 23.1 metres deep by 9.6 metres high. It was lit by gas and decorated in white, blue and gold. The fronting building, which housed a hotel, the theatre entrances and shops, was substantially built in masonry, but the auditorium appears to have been externally clad in weatherboards.

By 1886 the theatre was neglected, and Williamson, Garner and Musgrove commissioned William Pitt Jnr to design a new one for the site. The substantial Princess Theatre was built in less than eight months. It was favourably compared to major European theatres. The three-level auditorium was lit by electricity and there was ventilation through a central sliding section of the ceiling dome, which opened to a 7.2 metre diameter tube (still in existence) rising to a sliding segment of the roof. The exterior is still almost as it was built, in an Italian Renaissance style with French overtones, although the open terraces were enclosed in 1901 to form a coloured glass wintergarden.

After buying the theatre in 1915 Benjamin Fuller and his brother John entered into partnership with Hugh J. Ward in 1922 to rebuild the auditorium to eliminate the forest of cast-iron columns supporting the two tiers above. Henry E. White designed a new auditorium in Adam style which is not out of place with the remainder of the building. It opened on Boxing Day with an American musical comedy, The O'Brien Girl. Ward left the partnership but Fullers' maintained the theatre until 1929, when they leased it to Union Theatres for talkies. The lease then passed to F. W. Thring, who presented musical comedies and Efftee films.

After the Second World War the Princess returned to live theatre under Carroll-Fuller Theatres Pty Ltd. Garnet H. Carroll took over full control of the freehold and entrepreneurial activity in 1951. He leased the theatre for short terms until he died in 1964, when his son John took control through Carroll Freeholds Pty Ltd.

From 1969 to 1985 the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust leased the theatre. David and Elaine Marriner bought Carroll Freeholds in 1986 and renamed the company Princess Theatre Holdings Pty Ltd on 3 May 1990. After a conservation study, the company had the stage rebuilt to suit the requirements of the entrepreneur Cameron Mackintosh and the remainder of the theatre restored and refurbished. Leased to the Mackintosh organisation, it reopened with the musical Les Miserables in 1990.